As if the amount of heat used in tuning a pan is insufficient Dr Keith Rowley, our Prime Minister, seems intent on adding more fire to the pan thing. Or are his pronouncements on Panorama at the Laventille 123 celebration a veiled threat to Pan Trinbago?
I read in the Express of April 18, that Dr Rowley said that Panorama has out- lived its usefulness. I beg to disagree. In my opinion when examined critically the role Panorama has played and continues to play in the land of its birth makes Dr Rowley’s statement without merit.
Among the countless reasons why it should be maintained, let me mention a few salient ones:-
• Competition is still the best way internationally to hone one’s skills. It’s a known fact that Trinidad and Tobago has the best pannists in the universe and it’s the way to continue producing and maintaining the cutting edge.
• Panorama is the biggest seller during the Carnival season. It is the only competition/show that fills the North and Grand Stands. In addition to attracting pannists and spectators from all across the world we should think about increasing our revenue from it by streaming to at least the 38 pan-playing countries that signed on the Memorandum of Understanding during the International Conference Panorama held in Trinidad in August 2015. Just like the Indian Premier League.
• It was mainly if not only because of Panorama that Trinidad and Tobago was able to host the International Conference and Panorama in August 2015 and position ourselves as the defacto leaders of the International Steelpan Community (ISC).
• Because of the unique position we hold in the ISC Panorama should now be extended and elevated in status. Think of the International Olympics of Pan or the World Cup of Pan or the Superbowl of Pan.
Gerard Mendez
Pan Trinbago (Northern Region)
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160504/letters-to-the-editor/in-defence-of-panorama
Replies
This is what happens when you are operating in maintenance MODE, a cultural organization TRYING to operate as a business. A business operates with a mission and clear stated objectives, always documenting and performing analysis, following trends, cultivating growth and competes with itself in finding ways to better their product and stay ahead of its competitors.
I found this definition most helpful. The "dependency syndrome" is an attitude and belief that a group cannot solve its own problems without outside help. http://cec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/modules/pd-dep.htm
Unlike a business , though ODW , most civilized societies see themselves obligated to invest in their culture.
I agree, there was a time when the Government was seriously invested in the promotion of the steel band locally and across the globe. I’m sure we all can name the tours and places where Pan rocked the audience.
Despers at Royal Albert Hall in England, PanAm North Stars at Carnegie Hall, Tripoli, Sunjets, in USA, Canada, Africa and Sweden, during those times they had very little to work with compared to what we have today, there you had Government, corporate sponsors including prominent citizens all working together promoting the culture.
Locally, you had the Steel Band Music festivals out of which some of best up and coming pan soloists were discovered. Back then, they did not have the kind of wealth we saw the oil boom created, they were able to showcase the instrument and its music with year round activities. Today all we can talk about is Panorama and some Pan in the country-side. PM Rowley is right to challenge Pan Trinbago, it’s up to them to come up with solutions to better showcase the instrument.
odw: There is a rift between Keith Diaz and Keith Rowley. That is why Keith Diaz is using all these surrogates to plead his case as he sits there on the verge of bankrupting PAN TRINBAGO. I don't expect to see any healing coming soon; so the forum will continue to come up with all these VIRTUAL SOLUTIONS but inertia will rule the day..
Personally, I would like to see Rowley cut the PANORAMA BUDGET by another $5 million in 2017. Better yet, $10 million.
What solutions? A whole big salaried executive sitting around collecting paychecks and waiting for the next GOVERNMENT HANDOUT.
Lots of people like to write but few seem to want to read, or at least to read and understand what the writer is saying.
For example Mr Mendez disagrees with what the Prime Minister has said about Panorama outliving its usefulness.
This is something that EVERYONE connected with pan agrees with, but Mr Mendez disagrees, simply because in his haste to write he did not read properly what the PM was saying.
Maybe Mr Mendez is a fan of panorama, as are those who go to the North Stand on panorama day to party, but that is doing a disservice to both pan and panorama.
Pan is much more than panorama and a once a year dance affair.
Pan is serious business and as the only forum for pan in Trinidad now panorama has long gone past its 'use by' date and has definitely outlived its usefulness.
Mr Mendez, what the PM was saying and what we all agree on, is that Panorama does little or nothing for pan as an industry or as a serious vehicle for income.
What is needed, as he intimated, is something much bigger than a single day competition. He actually argued for a bigger festival and we all agree that this is the way to go.
Whilst there are those who would like panorama to remain as a staple at carnival time, there must be a way to exploit it outside of that narrow window.
I had proposed a week long festival, BEGINNING with Panorama and extending for the week AFTER carnival, ending with Champs, to take advantage of those who are already coming here for carnival.
But it needn't be at that time at all.
It's just that the audience is already there and it will still retain the panorama presence and all that goes with it.
However serious consideration should be given to having the festival outside of the Carnival season when the focus could be on more than carnival and carnival music.
A week- or month-long festival could encompass calypso, classical music, school competitions, foreign bands, small ensembles, big bands, conferences, workshops, pan market etc. everything that other music festivals entail.
Mr Mendez should try to attend some of the bigger music festivals in the world, like the Montreal International Jazz Festival and get a first-hand experience of what a proper festival is and how it works.
Panorama is a joke in comparison.
Wayne, all they have to do is have panorama 2 weeks before carnival, this gives steelbands 2 weeks to create a vibe for the road.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160504/letters-to-the-editor/in-de...
it’s the way to continue producing and maintaining the cutting edge.
TO WHAT AVAIL? Nobody could produce a decent recording despite all this so-called talent!