Revisted - Meet Soluna Garnes - Panist, Musician, Educator & Trinidad and Tobago’s Cultural Attaché to Brazil

[Pan Times]

Brazil, SA - In an exclusive interview with When Steel Talks, Pioneer, Musician, Arranger and Conductor - Soluna Garnes shares her experiences, visions and overall thoughts as she takes on the challenge of introducing the Steelpan to the country of Brazil.

....“Figuratively “FOGO and Steel” represents the fusion of Brazilian fire (Brazilian enthusiasm) and Trinidad and Tobago technology, which is the steelpan. But it is to be referred to as a twenty-first century concept as it represents a strong and revolutionary alliance between Trinidad & Tobago and Brazil through Culture, and specifically the steelpan instrument...”   Soluna Garnes
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[Anselm Fritz]

Excellent Culture ambassador! Keep spreading the culture!

[Peter Gray]

Otima noticias, Sluna:

Faz quanto tempo ... espero que tudo esteja bem no conjunto, e que esteja apresentando em toda parte.

Peter

[Soluna Garnes]

Olá Peter,

Sim, quanto tempo! Está tudo bem, sim e em breve teremos novidades ;-)

Muito obrigada pelo seu apoio.

Deus abençoe,

Soluna

[ed cee]

are you by chance the same Ms Garnes from the prep school in St Joseph? If you are, congrats, I have been hearing your name from my nephew for years now. he simply adored you. the best to you.

[Soluna Garnes]

Hi, I'm Soluna Garnes and I once attended St. Xavier's Private School around the 1980s-90s. Perhaps we're talking about the same school here, not sure :-)

[Duvano Garnes]

This is great work Soluna, I'm proud to see you doing the best work you can for the steelpan culture in Brasil on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago. Blessings and continue to follow your heart and your dreams will come true. Duvano

[Soluna Garnes]

Hey big brother, thank you for your best wishes. We continue out here in the zeal to make the Trinidad and Tobago family proud :-)

Best wishes to you to out in the U.S.

[Peter Gray]

Technically speaking, PanSamba [a fusion group consisting of tenor, triple cello and 6-bass combined with Brasilian percussion] was performing in Brasilia between 1998 and 2001, under the auspices of then ambassador, Robert Torry and subsequently Keith Defreitas. I personally left behind the 6-bass on the property of the TT Embassy as a cultural token, which I hope they didn't just discard as rubbish.

All the best of luck to Ms. Garnes in her earnest endeavours, however.

Peter

[Soluna Garnes]

Hi Mr. Gray,

Thank you for your best wishes. I'm not sure about the 6-bass though; I haven't heard anything about it, neither did I see any on my last visit to the embassy in 2005. Perhaps it is still there, but I know not about it.

The Trinidad & Tobago Embassy in Brasília, Brazil received donated lands to build a new embassy here in Brazil. Perhaps with an extended land area, they would be able to have displays and a more formal approach to showcasing Trinidad & Tobago culture out here in Brazil.

Thanks again,

Soluna

[Peter Gray]

Thanks for the prompt response, Ms. Garnes.  I would think that any new/expanded space for the TT Embassy would include a permanent exhibit showcasing our culture, and I hope that will be case.

Peter