Akua Leith is new artistic director of the National Steel Symphony Orchestra
It’s official. The interim label has been removed and Akua Leith is now director of the National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO). Leith succeeds UWI Professor Jessel Murray, who had previously led the NSSO with distinction from its inception in 2007 until stepping down last year. Leith is an accomplished musician and has been a member of the NSSO for eight years. He has served as the NSSO’s acting artistic director for almost a year but now he has officially been named to the lead position.
A cultural jewel, the National Steel Symphony Orchestra is an ensemble comprised of some of the best steelpan players in T&T and around the world. Orchestra members are employees of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and The Arts and serve as an extension of the ministry’s efforts to promote culture and showcase T&T’s national instrument in a wide variety of situations and locations both domestically and internationally. The NSSO has toured the world promoting T&T and has recently been to China, Costa Rica, Guyana, Suriname, Martinique and Barbados.
The NSSO performs public concerts, appears at diplomatic events, offers open rehearsals for anyone interested (the Contact Series), holds a wide variety of workshops, hosts school tours, and participates in a wide array of collaborative neighbourhood events (NSSO’s Neighborhood Connections series). The NSSO has a strong educational component and has hosted foreign steelpan students from universities in Tennessee and Minnesota already this year. Daily rehearsals notwithstanding, the NSSO averages over 20 events so far this fiscal year. For example, the NSSO recently performed a concert in early May called “From Tamboo Bamboo to Steel Symphony Orchestra” at the St James Youth Centre with St James Tripolians. They also gave a series of well attended afternoon concerts in front of the steps of Napa, “Carnival at Napa: Our culture, our space” during Carnival season 2017.
In any concert, performance, or event, director Akua Leith sees the mission of the NSSO as part of a steady drive “to show steelpan performances at the highest level… Our future plans are basically to get out to the world, showing what best practices we have developed in technique, performance, pedagogy, and research and development here in T&T.”
The NSSO is constantly updating, researching, and reimagining their repertoire in order to present the full historical and contemporary range of what steelpan can do, from calypsos, soca, popular, classical, Indian, and jazz. The NSSO has been constantly working to create new arrangements, often drawing on the incredible stability of talented arrangers within its ranks, including Amrit Samaroo, Kareem Brown and many other members.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2017-06-19/driven-achieve
Replies
Congratulations!!
Congratulation to Akua Leith.
NSSO - Slave (Mighty Sparrow)