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St. Lucia pan players off to Panorama in Trinidad

Posted by CaribShout on January 14, 2010 at 8:07pm

The St Lucia contingent for T&T Panorama get set to compete. A contingent of fifteen pan players from St Lucia are off to Trinidad to take part in Panorama 2010. The group, which leaves the island this week, comprises twelve pan players from Leverage North Stars, two members of Diamond Steel and one member of Pantime. Contrary to popular belief, this demonstrates that there is some level of collaboration between local steel bands. This augurs well for the future of the art form. This year’s outing is the fifth consecutive trip for members of the Leverage North Stars Steel Orchestra. Since 2005, members of Leverage North Stars have played with the Clico Sforzeta Steel Orchestra based in Curep, Trinidad. This collaboration stems from a long association between Band Leader of Leverage North Stars, Ivan Smith and President of Clico Sforzeta, Mutt Gill. In 2006, five members of Clico Sforzeta played Panorama in St Lucia with Leverage North Stars. Clico Sforzeta were Panorama Champions (Medium Category) in Trinidad in 2005, 2006 and 2009. Members of Leverage North Stars played with them in all three Finals. In Trinidad, a small steel orchestra has a maximum of 60 players, Medium 90 and Large 120 members. This year, the first round of competition will be the Preliminaries to be held on January 19, the Semi Finals on January 31 and the Finals on February 13. This means that if Clico Sforzeta makes it all the way to the Panorama Finals, the St Lucia contingent could be in Trinidad over a month. Over the years, most of the pannists making the trip to Trinidad have been Tenor Pan Players. The trend is pretty much the same this year with most of the players in their twenties. The experience of playing at Panorama in Trinidad has broadened the skill-set, playing prowess and arranging abilities of the North Stars players. The current trip to Trinidad is made possible with the assistance of Leverage Management Consulting (sponsors of North Stars) by way of tickets and part accommodation. Clico Sforzeta is meeting the other half of accommodation as well as meals for the St. Lucia contingent. Secretary of Leverage North Stars is Krystal Nestor. A former member of the St. Joseph’s Convent Steel Orchestra, Krystal’s first trip to Trinidad was in 2001. That trip was also initiated by Ivan Smith of North Stars. Back then, Krystal and a few other young pannists played with Solo Pan Knights. The following year (2002), Krystal joined North Stars and has been a full-fledged member since. Commenting on the absence of a Panorama here last year (2009), Krystal says she sees it as a cycle. She noted: “There was no panorama in St Lucia for about 10 years and it came back in 1998 until 2008. So I see this as part of another cycle.” In the final analysis, she feels not enough is being done to further pan in St Lucia. Krystal sees the annual collaboration with Trinidad pan sides as “a great opportunity” for local pannists to play at the highest level, learn new techniques and experience the thrill of competition in the land of pan. She thinks regional collaboration is the way to go, noting that local players and pan sides have in the past played Panorama in Antigua and Grenada.
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Tags: caribbean, caribshout, carnival, lucia, saint, trinidad

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