Nicholas and Christine Moipei, the parents of the Moipei quartet, are proud of the heights their children – Mary, Maggy, Marta, 29, and Seraphine, 27, – have reached in their careers.
Speaking to Nation on Thursday, Mr Moipei revealed that the girls are now based in New York, US, after relocating six months ago to join the world-famous Broadway Theatre District.
Broadway stages performances in its 41 professional theatres located in the Theatre District and the Lincoln Centre in the city.
“They’ve been performing the cabaret style of music. They have performed in some of the greatest theatres. At the Badlands Jazz Theatre and the Lincoln Centre they performed last Friday. They are now preparing to go and do a series of performances in Indiana,” said Mr Moipei.
The girls recently won the 2022 Julie Wilson Award for, “jubilant conquest of diverse stages and cultures; their impact on the entertainment industry and the scope and depth of their many awards and honours,” reads the award certificate in part.
“Cabaret music is one of the fastest growing genres and types of performances – especially live events in the US currently. The girls are back to doing live performances – mostly jazz music but they can professionalise diverse genres because they have classical, African, country and many other styles,” he said.
And added, “What happened was when they were invited to perform there, most of the previous performances were directed towards the jazz side but the girls went and added other genres. That’s why you read in the award article they received last Friday, you can see they were being congratulated for this.”
He is happy that the quartet was able to transform any music genre into a cabaret for their performances. The girls have performed in New York, St Louis, Mexico and many other places to the point the parents claimed they were losing track of the locations.
“They recently graduated but they have anchored their careers around music. They all studied music and one of them is teaching the subject in Kileleshwa, Nairobi. Anything else they chose to focus on could be a side hustle. Music is their main forte,” said their parents.
Parental advice
Asked whether the young ladies, 27 and 29, had vibrant social lives, the parents revealed they had left their children to their devices but advise them accordingly.
“As parents, we opened up the world for them and gave them space to lead their own lives. We have never assumed a role of controlling their social lives; or how they deal with their boyfriends if they have any. I gave them freedom. They can lead celibate lives, they can live lives where they can have ‘friends’, get married – whichever way they want; and I think that is one of the things that have really opened up their confidence towards us as their parents,” said Mr Moipei.
“If you were to ask me how their love lives are going, I wouldn’t be able to tell you because I don’t interfere. I’ve trusted them and they care for themselves. They are in charge of their own lives. Give them space to grow because the many things anchored in traditions no longer play an important role going forward,” he added.
The parents described the quartet as humble, intelligent and go-getters. They added that their children are self-driven, motivated and perfectionists.
“Whenever they do anything, they do not want to deal with half-baked things because they are in the creative world and they are very thorough. They will stop at nothing until it has satisfied them,” said Mrs Moipei.
She added that their girls were a prayerful team that always put God first before taking to world stages as well as social butterflies that are ever smiling and popular.
“Our hope and dreams for our girls are that they succeed in life and be their own people who can map their own futures and be role models for people in their age groups,” concluded the Moipei parents.