Wycombe, England, U.K. - Wycombe is fast becoming a ‘hub’ for calypso music thanks to the launch of a school dedicated to the steelpan drum.

The town’s MP and mayor went along to celebrate the official launch of the School of Steelpan on Friday, at its new headquarters in Lily’s Walk, underneath Abbey Way flyover.

The school has been set up by the ‘St Vincent and the Grenadines 2^nd Generation’ community group (SV2G), which works to promote African and Caribbean cultures in Wycombe.
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St. John’s, Antigua, W.I. - Leon “Kuma” Rodney, the first to sound the alarm decrying last year’s Panorama scoring debacle, is now the first to call for a truce between the embattled factions as his prediction of impending lawsuits looms near.

In an open letter in The Daily OBSERVER in August, Rodney questioned the competition’s tabulation methods that crowned LIME Hell’s Gate Steel Orchestra the winner although they scored five points less than Hadeed Group of Companies AMP Halycon Steel Orchestra.

The pan aficionado wrote, “This is impossible: 282 beat 287? Wow, elections went to court; seems like steel pan heading to court too.”

Earlier this week his hunch appeared to come to fruition when Hell’s Gate threatened not only to file suit against the ABPA and the Carnival Development Committee (CDC), but also to withdraw from the upcoming competition altogether if March’s decision retroactively declaring both orchestras as joint winners was not rescinded.
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North Carolina, USA - Jonathan Scales has a look that suggests both Mos Def and Thelonious Monk. His appearance is, of course, incidental to his music, but it does speak to the diverse musical lineage Scales brings to his work at the front of his eponymous Fourchestra.

As the band draws from classical composition, jazz, rock and hip-hop, Scales’ Fourchestra feels as comfortable in an auditorium as a barroom. “On the one side, we’re doing something very academic and complicated, so on one side, we’re coming from that jazz side and the performing arts side,” Scales says. “But on the other side, it’s like a straight rock band. We get in the van and we travel, not knowing what we’re going to run into.”

Fittingly, Scales spoke to Xpress shortly after a gig in Philadelphia, on the way to a two-night stand in New York City. Already this year, Scales and his band — now a trio with bassist Cody Wright, drummer Phill Bronson and Scales playing steel drums — has toured across North Carolina, into Tennessee and the Midwest.
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St. John’s, Antigua, W.I. - Weeks ahead of Carnival 2012 activities, LIME Hell’s Gate Steel Orchestra has threatened to withdraw from the Antigua and Barbuda Pan Association (ABPA) over ignored concerns about a first place title it shares with the Hadeed Group of Companies AMP Halcyon Steel Orchestra for the 2011 ACB Panorama Competition.

The title decision was taken by the Antigua and Barbuda Pan Association and the Carnival Development Committee, and announced by Culture Minister Eleston "Namba" Adams in March.

....In a letter issued by Hell’s Gate to acting president of the ABPA Patrick Johnson on May 22, signed by trustee Stafford Joseph, LIME [Hell’s Gate] pointed out that the ABPA had failed to respond the group’s “salient concerns” about “the covert and unconstitutional manner in which the ABPA operates”.

....LIME Hell’s Gate had initially been adjudged the sole winners of the 2011 competition, but a review of the judging system forced not only the naming of another winner, but also the same prize money and bragging rights for both teams.
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Web Posted - Tuesday May 29, 2012
VinceyView

Pan Against Crime presents Pan Jamboree at the Geest Shed this Friday
 

Web Posted - Monday May 28, 2012
Trinidad Express Newspapers

Exocubs back from Argentina today

Web Posted - Monday May 28, 2012
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday

Cox: Pan In The School in danger
 

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Opposition MP Donna Cox has said only one school was approved to receive a set of steelpans since the new Government took office and the instruments were refused by the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS).

"There was no other procurement and the expansion of the programme was effectively halted," she said.

She said the pans were refused at the Penal/Rock Road Hindu School as instructions were given by the SDMS not to accept pan in schools unless all Hindu schools get Indian musical instruments. She noted that the Education Ministry reported that pan in schools will be expanded to include other instruments such as the sitar and the tabla and the cuatro.
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New York, USA - The Big Apple again took the lead, by honoring its central steelpan music figures in the development of Pan in New York, as the Trinidad & Tobago Folk Arts Institute hosted a special awards ceremony simply called “A Gala Tribute To New York Steel Band Pioneers” on May 20^th 2012 at the Tropical Paradise Ballroom.

In addition to paying public homage and drawing attention to these pioneers, the event also documented the sacrifices and accomplishments of these forerunners, on whose shoulders sit one of the greatest and most significant cultural movements and art forms in the history of the United States.
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Barbados, W.I. - Composer, arranger and steel PAN virtuoso Len “Boogsie” Sharpe is one of the headliners in an all-star band that will pay tribute in jazz to great music from the Caribbean in the CIBC First Caribbean Sugar Isle Jazz Festival.

It comes off at The Plantation Theatre on June 2 at 8 p.m.

Boogsie started playing the steel pan at age four. By the time he was a teenager, he had mastered all the instruments and different styles of the pan family, and by the early 1970s he had become renowned as a composer and arranger in both the classical and calypso genres.
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Lake Worth, Florida, USA - Ed Stephen grew up with the sound of steel drums in his home country of Trinidad, birthplace of the percussion instruments fashioned from 55-gallon drums.

While in Port of Spain, his father and uncle played these drums - more properly known as steel pans - in an orchestra and during Carnival celebrations featuring steel pan competitions known as "panoramas."

After years of performing steel drum music and teaching private lessons, Stephen, now a Lake Worth resident, wants to pass along what he's learned to students.

This spring, Stephen took his musical skills - and several of his personal drums - to Lake Worth High School where he worked with Trojan Sound Band director Daniel Harvey to create the high school's new Steel Band.

....Sophomore Alfredo Lopez said he wasn't sure whether he wanted to join the Steel Band.

"I came to the first practice and I loved it," Lopez said.
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East Coast Demerara, Guyana - Orphans of the St. John Bosco Orphanage Plaisance have been afforded the opportunity to keep the steel pan art form alive as the Tina Insanally Foundation moves to fund the initiative.

The foundation’s new band room ensures performances and sharpen the skills of the young boys. A representative of the foundation, Vic Insannaly stated that the aim is to have a top class band and create activity through performances.

Head of the Catholic Community Bishop Francis Alleyne noted that the art form is vital to grooming the young boys to work together in harmony, attributes necessary to creating a cohesive society.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Even though it was after 1 am yesterday when reigning Panorama champion Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra completed its performance at the fourth edition of the 8 of Hearts Steelband Concert at the Laventille Complex on the Angostura Compound, the audience refused to leave the venue until the orchestra played its signature selection Woman On The Bass.

This, despite having sat through six hours of contrasting performances from the top nine bands (there was a tie for the eighth position) emerging from the 2012 National Steelband Panorama Competition. The concert, a production of the Laventille Steelband Festival Foundation, is staged biennially.
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London, England, U.K. - Students from a Balham school have added a dash of steel to a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall.

Eight pupils from Chestnut Grove School, performed on steel pans at the Jubilation Concert on May 13, which marked the opening of the British Cultural Olympiad.

The students performed alongside the Philharmonic Orchestra and other young performers who played a variety of instruments, from recorders to claves.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Robert Greenidge received a standing ovation at the end of his presentation at the just concluded Inaugural International Conference on Steelpan held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port of Spain.

The ace panist/composer/producer/ arranger presented a paper on “Making a Living With Pan” to the delight of his audience at Theatre 1. But there was no paper, Greenidge’s presentation came straight “From the Heart” the title of one of his songs.

It was backed up by a slide show revealing hundreds of pictures of the panist performing with various international and local artistes while his music played in the background.
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Web Posted - Friday May 18, 2012
DiscoverSVG.com

South East Eyes Panorama 2012


 

Lagos, Nigeria - A union between Nigeria’s Xcel Steelpan Co. Ltd., Trinidad and Tobago’s Pan Trinbago Inc. and FCL (Financial Concepts Limited) was consummated in Gatwick, United Kingdom on Saturday 12^th May, 2012. The three organisations came together to form the Africa-Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan Development Company Ltd. (ATTSDC), with its Head office situated in Lagos, Nigeria.

....Participating in the signing ceremony were Chief Bowie S. Bowei of Xcel, Nigeria, Mr. Keith Diaz, Pan Trinbago President and Mr. Daniel Lambert of FCL Trinidad and Tobago.
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Tampa, Florida, USA - Too often we hear about schools cutting music programs, but some local students are actually being encouraged to share their love and passion for music.

On Thursday, kids at Dale Mabry Elementary hosted a rock and roll concert.

....All school year, the students have regularly played guitar and written their own songs. They have also learned to play Caribbean-style music on their steel pan drums, and there is now even a chorus that sings along.
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Florida, USA - Seminole Springs Elementary School and Eustis Middle School, under the direction of Ed Anderson and Gerri Ricke, represented Lake County Schools at the 2012 Florida Music Educators Association Steel Drum Festival on May 5.

The guest clinician for the festival was panist, composer and educator Adam Grise from the Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Both steel drum groups from Lake County Schools were awarded a Superior Rating by the clinician.
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Newark, Delaware, USA - During the spring 2012 semester, the University of Delaware Community Music School (UDCMS) introduced its newest program, called Family of Pan, which offers steel pan music.

Family of Pan has brought something unique to the Community Music School line-up, according to director Demetrius Delancy, as it is the only group class that offers musical instruction for all ages. The class is primarily composed of family members, including mothers and fathers and their children.

Family of Pan will play in its first recital, along with other Community Music School students, at a general recital to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, in the Loudis Recital Hall of the Amy E. du Pont Music Building. The recital is free and open to the public.
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Durban, South Africa - Forming part of the 2012 National Creative Arts Youth Festival currently running at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre was today’s annual Steel Drum Foundation competition. Featuring schools from around KZN, the event is always filled with high energy and a continually improving standard of steel drum music.

Run by the indefatigable Bryan Clarke who has been involved in the organisation since its inception, this year’s judges included Retha Cilliers, CEO of the Field Band Foundation, and long-serving judge Caroline Smart.

In the Primary School section, the Drum for Joy Trophy went to St Nicholas in first position with St Patricks winning the Troubadour Productions Trophy in second place and Kokstad Junior Grade 6 in third place.
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Illinois, USA - The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has nominated “Hammer on Steel,” a two-program documentary created by The University of Akron, for eight Emmy awards for the 2011 broadcast year.

NIU’s Cliff Alexis, steel drum builder and tuner and co-director of the world-renowned NIU Steel Band, was nominated for Emmy Awards in two categories – Special Event Coverage and Best Music Composition – for his work on the film.

Documenting the compelling and conflict-torn history of steel drum music in the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago, “Hammer on Steel: Bad Boys and Genius” premiered in February 2011 on Western Reserve Public Media in Northeast Ohio.
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Mona, Jamaica, W.I. - ....Organised by the Mona, Visitors’ Lodge and Conference Centre, the elegant but informal setting saw mothers being treated to a fashion show, feted, presented with gifts and entertained with appropriately selected live and recorded music.

....A relatively new Blue Print Steel Pan Band was the main course of live music.

Comprising members from different educational institutions, as well as others, the band of white polo shirt- and jeans-clad musicians made three appearances.

In their first act, they delighted the diners of various ages with Go Light Your Candle. Their blue pans mounted on steel, responding appropriately to gentle touches, the band segued into the sounds of Over the Rainbow.  And Andrew Comrie, a member of the band played the clarinet for a lovely rendition of Stevie Wonder’s I just Called to Say I Love You.
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Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - The inaugural International Conference on the Steelpan held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) ended on a high note Wednesday afternoon.

In their panel discussion on "The Future of the Steelpan" both managing editor of the T&T Review and Express columnist Sunity Maharaj and attorney Martin Daly made the point that the ultimate power of the national instrument lies in the hands of the people.

Maharaj let participants know that the people of Trinidad and Tobago had to come to terms with pan.

She said: "No crisscrossing of policies or acts of Parliament will help. Pan lies at the heart of the people and the ultimate responsibility for the national instrument resides in the hands of the people. We have to change our attitude, no amount of romanticism has kept back pan, no amount of money made pan survive. Pan survived out of a passion. The possessiveness that comes with the territory of pan must be examined.

Maharaj said: "There is to be real planning and the government process must include the Ministries of Education, Trade, National Security and Tourism. Pan performs a roll, it is art, history, it is science, it possesses a healing power, it can earn foreign exchange and has great potential for business."
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Oahu, Hawaii - The BYU-Hawaii Faculty World Improv Ensemble concert at the McKay Auditorium was a blissful evening full of great Pacific Caribbean Fantasy music with internationally acclaimed steel pan artist, Jeff Narell. Students, faculty, and community members enjoyed a stimulating experience of music on Friday while singing along with Narell, who used his amazing 60 year old steel pan instrument.

Loud and excited cheers from the audience began as Narell entered the stage and played his Latin-American and nature-inspired songs “Freedom Road,” “Hana Highway,” “La Plaza,” “Azul,” “Afro-Raggae,” “Katiana,” and “Ellie Man” with the accompaniment of the music faculty. He showed his talents in creating a dynamic and magnificent sound of music through the use of his steel pan, which, according to him, is already 60 years old....Samantha Lim, a BYUH student majoring in political science from Malaysia, shared, “I never knew that there is such thing as a steel drum and that it could make such a beautiful sound. I didn’t know what to expect because I came for my music online class extra credit but I am more that satisfied! This is the best concert so far that I’ve been to,” added Lim.
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Trinidad & Tobago - This proposal and discussion is not a response to any current dispute concerning the Steelpan movement and the Cultural Ministry of Trinidad and Tobago. This topic has been raised before, by me and others as well. It is an attempt to outline a full slate of reasons and logical proof of why an exclusive Ministry for the Steelpan is essential and needed. It is also an attempt to offer suggestions as to how to bring about this important Ministry. The skeptics will have their say, as well as the opposition, but we expect those of you who will support this notion to equally come out and have your say. The end point must not be just talk or a good document; rather it should be the basis of a blueprint to establish a movement for this worthy cause.
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Trinidad & Tobago - PLANNING Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie says steelpan should grow beyond the current 2.8 percent of revenues earned by TT’s creative sector. Addressing a small but enthusiastic crowd at the launch of an Inaugural International Conference on the Steelpan, as part of the “SteelFesTT” event being held this week at NAPA, Port-of-Spain.

He gave his views as he shared the results of a study by his Ministry into the contribution of the creative industries to TT’s GDP. “The good news is that we have industries that are doing very well in the creative sector,” said Tewarie. “The bad news is that pan is not doing as well as it could or should.”

....Tewarie offered tips for pan’s growth. “If things like pan are not seasonal in nature they can grow....”
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New York, USA - The big guns in the New York steelpan music fraternity came out to play. The elite of the New York steelband franchises were all present - names like Sonatas, CASYM, Despers USA, Pantonic and most recently, ADLIB from Long Island. These are names with lineage and reputations that go back many years in the annals of New York steelpan music history. In addition, they have and continue to produce generations of musicians and legions fans of the steelpan music genre.

On a Saturday evening and sharply “Dressed to the nines,” each band dropped a musical barrage that aptly demonstrated to everyone why these select few orchestras carry the ‘Champion’ title next to their names. Almost every aspect of New York life is highly competitive, and it is no different in the NY Pan community which prides itself as having the best steel orchestras in North America.
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Baltimore, Maryland, USA - Dundalk area students will participate in a steel drum band extravaganza Friday night when Parkville High School hosts the 11^th annual Panorama.

Bands from Gen. John Stricker Middle and Sparrows Point High schools will join the steel drum groups from Stoneleigh Elementary, Hereford Middle and Catonsville, Parkville and Perry Hall High schools in a free concert at Parkville High on Friday night.

"Panorama is an awesome concert that showcases many of the steel bands in the county," Stricker band director Jason Adams told Dundalk Patch.

....The event is modeled after the "real" Panoramas held in Jamaica, except without the competition, according to Adams.
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Brockville, Ontario, Canada - The Brockville Lions Steel Drum Band, a not-for-profit youth musical group, is in desperate need of space where they can hold their twice-weekly practices.

"We were using a Waste Management facility, but unfortunately they needed the space back to meet their operational requirements," says managing director Winston Francis. "Commonwealth School was kind enough to step in and let us practice on Wednesday evenings, but that’s only a temporary arrangement until the end of the school year. After that, we have nowhere to go."

....The band used to practice on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, but had to scale back to Wednesday evenings only. Ideally, they’d like to return to their old schedule, but they’re flexible.
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Alabama, USA - Little River Canyon Center will welcome back the Trion High School Steel Drum Band for a performance Friday.

This is the third year for the band from Trion, Ga. to play at the center, and LRCC Director Pete Conroy said. “It’s the happiest music there is.”

“This is one of the most uplifting concerts we have here. Each year, more and more people come to see the band.”
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Baltimore, Maryland, USA - The Parkville High School Steel Drum Band, led by Chris Gnagey, will host the 11^th Annual Panorama concert featuring performances from the following Baltimore County Public Schools with steel drum programs: Stoneleigh Elementary, General John Stricker Middle, Hereford Middle, Catonsville High, Parkville High, Perry Hall High, and Sparrows Point High.

....Each band will perform several selections on its own including calypsos, soca, classical, and rock. At the high point of the evening, the bands will combine forces to create a 120-piece steel band.
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New Zealand - Saturday 19^th May at 2 p.m. 2012 will see the launch of the New Zealand Steel Pan Academy, with a focus on bringing the magic of Pan to all.

The Musical Director Marion Titmuss can’t wait to showcase the possibilities that playing Pan can give to Kiwi’s of all ages.

The venue for this exciting venture will be the Tauranga Art Gallery, located near the seafront in the beautiful Bay of Plenty, there will be opportunities for everyone to see and hear a full range of Steel Pans (over 35 Pans!), you can even have a go!

....Why Pans in NZ ?….well the first documented Pans performance was apparently in 1990 at the Commonwealth Games hosted by New Zealand, where the London Allstars flew over and played……the next trailblazers are the Carribbeanz Southern Stars, an adult band based in Auckland...
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Utica, New York, USA - State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I-Oneonta) welcomed the Herkimer Elementary Steel Drum Band to Albany on Tuesday.

“Music groups from around the state perform regularly in the Empire State Plaza concourse, but none draw a crowd like the Herkimer Elementary Steel Drum Band,” said Senator Seward.

....“Music education plays an important role in developing a well-rounded student and I am pleased to provide support to help this one of a kind program grow....”
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