Steel pan campers stun crowd

The unmistakable Caribbean rhythms of the steel pan filled the UCCI auditorium on Friday 7 Aug., as performers, some as young as 8 years old, held a mini-concert for around 75 people.

“This was a band of rookie players, most of them only started learning at the start of this camp, and some were only here for the final week,” said organiser Earl La Pierre. “But they did so such a good job that the crowd asked for an encore.”

38 students attended the month-long summer camp and the only thing more diverse than the makeup of students was the medley of songs selected for their showcase.

For 15 minutes, they played songs from various genres including ‘Tale As old As Time’ from Beauty and the Beast, ‘No Woman, No Cry’ by Bob Marley, and ‘Rockin’ Robin’ by Bobby Day.

“My favourite song was the rock songs,” said 8-year-old Jesse Munroe who stands at four feet, six inches and plays the bass pan, which is almost as large as him.

His cousin, Luke Hamilton, also attended the camp.

“It took about a week to get used to playing the songs and just as I was used to it, it got difficult again because they introduced new songs,” said Hamilton.

For Nicolai Christian, 15, the lively rhythms of steel pan are feelings he can only express when he plays.

“The rush, the passion, the feelings are just too hard to put into words, you kind of just have to feel it and express it,” said Christian.

His father, Lennon Christian, who was on hand for the concert, said the connection his son feels to the steel pan is almost as strong as the history of the musical instrument itself.

“The music comes from a spirit of poverty and rejection, much like the people who invented it,” he said. “Their persistence would later pay off and that’s part of the reason I wanted my son to learn the steel pan.”

In Cayman, the steel pan is synonymous with musician La Pierre. During the summers, he would normally take his band, the UCCI Pandemix, to Canada to participate in the Pan Alive competition, where they have repeatedly placed first in the non-Calypso category.

However, for the past two years La Pierre and his band have been unable to travel, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“This camp was a blessing and an eye-opening experience for me,” said La Pierre. “The students were so eager to learn, most were here 15 to 20 minutes early every morning. I didn’t know if it would work, I just put it on and hoped it would work and they did not disappoint.”

Most of the students in attendance received certificates which were handed out by school improvement officer Gloria Bell. During the presentations, Bell made a call for the implementation of steel pan bands in all schools, which was received as enthusiastically as the performance.