When Giovanni Kiyingi steps on stage, something ancient stirs. The air thickens with rhythm, as though ancestral spirits have taken seats in the crowd.
His fingers, agile and reverent, move across the endingidi, a single-string fiddle whose voice can cry, whisper, or rejoice. Before long, he reaches for the adungu, or the akogo, or the endere flute, layering melodies that sound like Uganda itself: earthy, spiritual, timeless.
For audiences from Kampala to any city in the world, Kiyingi is not just a performer; he is a vessel through which heritage breathes anew.
His story begins not in grandeur but in solitude. “I was born a very weak child, which prevented me from playing with other children. So, I listened a lot. Music became my companion,” he recalls. That quiet listening became his first form of learning. Church, with its hymns and hand drums, became his classroom.
“Many of the instruments I play, I first experienced them in church. I would watch, listen, and try one instrument at a time. ”
Two teachers at St Joseph’s Secondary School Naggalama; Josephine Nabuyungo and Agnes Nsubuga, noticed the young boy’s ear for rhythm and heart for melody. “They wanted me to not only study but also practice my talent. Education was fundamental; it shaped both my creativity and my life,” he remembers.
