A love affair with the cello

Victoria Shikomba’s love affair with the cello began in 2012, when she was in Grade 3. By the age of 10, she had experimented with the violin, harp, guitar and flute.

But with the cello, it was love at first sound.

Now, she is bringing those strings to bigger stages, wedding celebrations and a long-awaited return to the orchestra.

“There was something different about it. I could go deep, I could go high,” she said, describing her first encounter with the instrument.

While other learners were running to the netball court and hockey field after school, Shikomba was heading straight to music school.

Her childhood musical adventures included orchestral performances and the annual Muzikwoche workshops in Swakopmund, where musicians gathered to make music together. Beethoven and Tchaikovsky became some of her favourite composers, with Mozart also earning a spot on her playlist.

The gift reignited

But every musical journey has its intermission.

After leaving the Arts and Performance Centre in Tsumeb around 2018, Shikomba stepped away from her cello for several years.

But her story simply was not over. In 2023, while in her second year at university, she received a cello as a gift from Yona, a music school owner who remembered her from a previous workshop in Swakopmund. A gift big enough to reignite her love for the cello.

Today, Shikomba occasionally swaps everyday life for wedding melodies, with people recommending her for performances after seeing pictures of her with her instrument. “People see me with my instrument and say, ‘Come play at my wedding!’” she said. Sometimes, all she has is a week or two to practise before the big day. But with determination and a love for the art, she always delivers a heartfelt performance.

Shikomba is now set to perform in orchestras and at bigger events such as corporate functions and eventually hopes to host intimate musical gatherings.

She also hopes to keep growing as a cellist and create more opportunities to share her passion for music and opportunities to support upcoming cellists.