Skiffle Bunch Steelband Summer Camp
attracts International Students

Trinidad, W.I. - “Do not beat the pan, it must be played. There are two ways of playing the instrument - the right way and the wrong way.  Because you have to use both your hands, there must be a balance between your both hands.” “Cleaning the pan is vital to the longevity of the instrument”. So said Henry Hudson, Camp Coordinator at Skiffle Bunch Steelband’s Summer Camp 2009 edition at the Coffee Street Pan Theatre, San Fernando, Trinidad.

Hudson who has thirty (30) odd years playing pan (since he was 7) in North and South Trinidad, and has been teaching the instrument for the last fifteen (15) of those, was addressing one hundred-odd youngsters who came to participate in the pan programme.

According to Hudson, the objective of the seven-week programme is to expose youngsters to the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, to bring awareness of musical literacy and an awareness of the socio-historical significance behind the instrument. It is also meant to serve as a recruitment drive to encourage young people into the steelpan institution.

MP & Minister in the Ministry of Culture, Junia Regrello keeps tabs on the workshop

Budding panists participate in summer camp 2009

The project is the brainchild of Member of Parliament (MP) Junia Regrello – the band’s godfather – who realised its crystallisation one year ago, and because it was so ‘nice’ - he decided to do it twice. It is funded by TCL (Trinidad Cement Limited) Group and Skiffle Bunch Steel Orchestra. Participants are expected to purchase a T-Shirt and provide their own lunch/refreshments. Classes run from Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM for elementary school-aged children and from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM for those of secondary school age.

9 year-old Jordan Cato with sister Brittney, aged 7. They both attend P.S. (Public School) 244 in Brooklyn, New York

All the way from Tamilnade, Chennai, South India, 9 year-old Suneeth Akshar Korlepara enjoys playing the cello pan, but would be taking back a tenor to his native Asia

The original concept was meant to attract children from in and around the country’s industrial capital, San Fernando, in South Trinidad. However, that has surpassed all expectations. Present participants’ ages range from five to seventeen, and come from as far as the Virgin Islands, Canada, the USA and Asia.

Michael Brian Bennett from New York

Simone from Maryland & Khalid Jean-Baptiste from Brooklyn N.Y. - both aged 11. Simone is also taking the opportunity to pursue a course in stilt-walking with Kaisoka Moko Jumbies

Drummer Darius Webb (9 years) - from Tortola

Take for instance seven year-old Michael Brian Bennett - a student of Clear Stream Avenue School in New York. Khalid Jean-Baptise, aged eleven also hails from Brooklyn, New York - as does seven year-old Jovel Ryan. Then there’s Simone Francis, also eleven - who is on vacation from Beltsville Elementary School, Maryland; and another eleven year-old, Kadeem Johnson who attends Maple Leaf Public School in Toronto, Canada. Of course there are those who have a natural flair for drums – Darius Webb attends the BVI (British Virgin Islands) Seventh Day Adventist School, is from East Tortola, and currently plays the trap set at the camp. He is following in the footsteps of his father, Charles (Skiffle Bunch’s in-house drummer) who is the coordinator of the camp. Darius has been playing drums seven years now.

Instructors Kevin Mc Leod, Curtis Jones and Hudson Henry

Senior panists focus on the theory of music as imparted by Kevin Mc Leod and Curtis Jones

The camp for juniors runs concurrently with that of the members of the stage side of the host band. Therein, members who are in the main pursuing student careers are also attending classes from Monday to Friday. They, on the other hand, are exposed to music theory and arranging music under the tutelage of instructors from the Pan In the Classroom Project in the persons of Kevin Mc Leod and Curtis Jones.