Sophia Nzayisenga Quotes

music is a gift. I do it to relax.

When I was about eight, my father started to compose new music for me, which I memorised and played until I was 15, when I started to compose music by myself.

My family was full of inanga players - my grandfather too was a player.

My father was an intelligent and famous musician and he composed a lot of good music.

I can’t remember how much music I’ve composed now because there are so many.

You can see that women enjoy music because they like dancing and singing and we have some very nice singers, like Cecile Kayirebwa and Florida Uwera and others.

I lost my joy because some of my brothers and sisters passed away during the genocide, I think about how we used sing together at home and my heart hurts and I loose the will to play.

Many Rwandan women like music but they don’t take the initiative to play it - maybe they think they won’t be able to do it and only men can play inanga. I think they underestimate themselves.

After the genocide my love for playing went away. But little-by-little I started playing again and I still am now.