Eight international youth steel orchestras came together with host St Margaret’s Boys’ AC School Steel Orchestra of Belmont, for the 2013 Youth Pan Extravaganza.
The concerts were held on the weekends of July 6 and 13 at the Skiffle panyard, Coffee Street, San Fernando, and the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, respectively.
The annual pan event, now in its seventh year, showcased the skills of Skiffle Youth, Sonata Youth Ensemble, Option 1, Sangre Grande, Success Stars Youth, Fonclaire Youth, Karukera Steelband of Guadeloupe, San Fernando Old Tech, bp Renegades Youth and Brooklyn, USA.
The pan players chose genres that included soca, R&B, classical, calypso, Indian, reggae, jazz, French and African. Ranging from ages five to 19 years old, the talented musicians delivered high-quality performances at Skiffle panyard and at the foyer of the Savannah.
Adding a touch of flair to the proceedings, vocals and dance, backed by live pan music, also formed part of the entertainment.
President of Pan Trinbago Keith Diaz brought greetings and a special tribute was paid to Rosemarie Abraham who is manager and SEA teacher at St Margaret’s Boys’ AC School.
Abraham, who has been teaching for 30 years, had dedicated her time to the development and success of the band.
She was presented with flowers and a plaque from band members who thanked her for her commitment from infant level to standard five; and for introducing pupils to pan music and propelling the SEA pan players forward to colleges and seven-year secondary schools.
Abraham’s forecast that the students would benefit tremendously from becoming involved in music and pan, has been fulfilled time and time again. With a few pans from the Ministry of Education’s Pan-In-School programme and no supporting mechanism, Abraham built the panside, backed by unstinting support from the school’s principal Colette Perez.
Parents and teachers who were initially dubious, eventually jumped in to help steer the band to being the first school steelband to maintain three bands: Under-13, Under-16 and Under-21, which have successfully performed at junior Panorama competitions.
It is also the first school band to host its own international youth pan concert.