NSSBE Inaugural Conference: Saturday, March 10, 2018

The National Society of Steel Band Educators will host its inaugural professional conference on Saturday, March 10, 2018 on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The conference will be open to members only, with registration available until March 5th. 

The conference will feature select presentations by leading experts in the steel band idiom. Sessions will follow a variety of formats, including demonstrations, panel discussions, clinics, and performances. NSSBE Steering Committee members, Mike Greer and Mike Wendeln, will serve as conference co-chairs.

Make plans to attend now, and be a part of history as NSSBE hosts its first professional meeting! Registration costs are $60 for regular NSSBE members and $20 for student NSSBE members. Sponsors need not register as they already have paid for registration for the conference (for one person) through their sponsorship. Brandon Haskett will be contacting each the sponsors regarding attendance and booths.

Here is a partial hotel list for the NSSBE conference.

____________________

The conference will run from 9AM-4:30PM.  Here are links to maps for the university and the Marcum Center:

Marcum Center: First Floor Plan

 
Campus Map:

A muffin and coffee will be provided in the morning and a deli buffet is included for lunch. These are included in the cost of your registration.

Session descriptions, times, and locations are listed below.

Coffee and Pastries

8:15AM-9AM in Room 180-186

Welcome Session in at 9AM / Exhibits and Vendors open from 9AM-4PM in Room 112

 

Hands-On Trinidadian Engine Room Session

9:15AM in Room 108-110

Presenter: Dave Longfellow, Director of the Virginia Rhythm Arts Project

This interactive session will focus on expanding the performer and/or director’s knowledge of percussion styles common to the “Panorama-style” steel band through an examination of engine room techniques common to the Trinidadian steel band. The session will explore various approaches to instrumentation and rhythmic grooves with regard to typical musical styles such as soca, calypso, kaiso, and Latin. In addition, Longfellow will demonstrate advanced techniques for steel band drumset players, including how to direct or control the band from the drumset, “drilling,” and other helpful concepts that are useful in improving a band’s sound. 

 

Touch and Sound: Practical Elements of Steel Pan Performance

10:30AM in Room 108-110

Presenter: Victor Provost, George Mason University

In this session, pan artist, composer and educator Victor Provost will offer his thoughts on how best to approach playing steel pan instruments. Provost will offer tips for developing proper steel pan technique, discuss the importance of effective sticking choices, and demonstrate short, effective exercises designed to increase proficiency. He will also address the impact of dynamics on ensemble playing, and explore best practices in steel pan performance, based on his years of experience in the idiom.

 

LUNCH (11:45AM in Room 180-186)

 

Roundtable

12:45PM in Room 108-110

Moderator: Dr. Brandon Haskett, Saginaw Valley State University

Panelists: 

Patty Dee
Matt Dudack
Emily Lemmerman
Ed LeBorgne

This panel discussion will provide an opportunity for experts in the field to address questions relating to steel band pedagogy or other topics of interest within the steel-band idiom. Topics include pan growth in the US, steelpan education resources and pedagogy, pan industry happenings, as well as discussing what NSSBE can do to help further pan teaching in the US.

Integrating Brasilian Percussion Instruments Into the Engine Room

2PM in Room 108-110

Presenter: Dr. Jason Koontz, Eastern Kentucky University

Steel band directors may encounter Brasilian musical styles such as samba and bossa nova in the pan repertoire, yet they may have little knowledge or experience in how to deal with Brasilian percussion instruments. This hands-on session will explore traditional techniques and rhythms used for Brasilian percussion instruments, with a discussion on how to integrate these instruments into your steel band engine room.

 

Performance: Victor Provost with Miami University Steel Band and Special Guests

3:15PM in Room 180-186

Presider: Dr. Chris Tanner, Miami University

The 2018 Conference closes with a performance featuring Victor Provost along with members of the Miami University Steel Band, as well as special guest musicians Rusty Burge, vibraphone; Michael Sharfe, bass; and John Taylor, drums. The performance will include repertoire from the steel band idiom, along with jazz standards performed by Provost and the guest musicians.

You need to be a member of When Steel Talks to add comments!

Join When Steel Talks

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Seems to me the Colonial past continues to take hold on our “emotional blindness.”

    “Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can FREE our minds.”

    Robert Nester Marley

    Unfinished projects...

    949583493?profile=RESIZE_180x1802866518029?profile=original

    • 2959988727?profile=original

      The Steelband Movement examines the dramatic transformation of pan from Carnival street music into a national art and symbol in Trinidad and Tobago. By focusing on pan as a cultural process, Stephen Stuempfle demonstrates how the struggles and achievements of the steelband movement parallel the problems and successes of building a nation.
      Stuempfle explores the history of the steelband from its emergence around 1940 as an assemblage of diverse metal containers to today's immense orchestra of high-precision instruments with bell-like tones. Drawing on interviews with different generations of pan musicians (including the earliest), a wide array of archival material, and field observations, the author traces the growth of the movement in the context of the grass-roots uprisings of the 1930s and 1940s, the American presence in Trinidad in World War II, the nationalist movement of the postwar period, the aftermath of independence from Britain in 1962, the Black Power protests and the oil boom of the 1970s, and the recession of recent years.
      The Steelband Movement suggests that the history of pan has involved a series of negotiations between different ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, and social organizations, all of which have attempted to define and use the music according to their own values and interests. This drama provides a window into the ways in which Trinidadians have constructed various visions of a national identity.

      2015
      Challenging the Trinidad and Tobago panorama
      Construct: an analysis of compositional styles of
      Ray Holman, Liam Teague, and Andy Narell
      Aaron Michael Ziegler
      University of Iowa

      PUBLIC ABSTRACT

      Since its inception in 1963, the Panorama competition of Trinidad and Tobago has

      become a chance for steelbands to show off their musical prowess and creativity.

      Throughout the history of the competition arrangers have pushed the boundaries and

      expectations of judges and fans, but recent years have shown what some see as an

      alarming trend towards redundant uses of formulaic procedures. The arrangers that present

      works continuing to push the boundaries of the competition are often not rewarded, and

      perhaps punished for their efforts, while recycling techniques can propel arrangers into the

      final stages of the competition and even lead them to victory. This document will explore,

      through the history of the competition and past arrangers, how the formulaic procedures of

      Panorama have developed. In addition, the recent works of arrangers Ray Holman, Liam

      Teague, and Andy Narell will be examined to illustrate how they have challenged the

      expectations of the Panorama judges and the steelband community.

      Challenging the Trinidad and Tobago panorama construct_ an analys.pdf

      • Thanks odw well done!

  • Don;t know what everyone is so worked up about.

    Trinidad has been exporting and promoting the pan and its technology to the far corners of the earth for decades now , and allyuh upset because it is catching on , especially in academia ?

    SMDH !

    • To Glenroy on another Topic. Thanks for posting that article on Nearlin Taitt it was very informative and filled in a lot of Blank spaces in the History of Caribbean Music which is something we should all be interested in. Thanks Bro.

    • Glennroy

      "Shaking your damm head" has nothing to do with the reality that the names of the people listed - especially in academia are far from the most qualified people to lead discussions in the USA. There are far more qualified folks who reside in the USA. Stop being an apologist for these colonizers. This has nothing to do with Trinidad but everything to do with the US mentality and modus operandi (can you say Oscars so white). What Trinidad has to be concerned about is that in terms of an international operation is that they have to get the ball rolling now because they won't be invited to the table.

      bugs

  • First of all we need a BUDGET! We have plenty of TALENT- but no support from the Govt or any other Financial institution. One thing the Colonizers are good at is stealing others "Culture" then they teach You how to hate and redicule Yours next thing you know the books will say that They invented it! History repeats itself.....Wake Up This Is WAR!

    • Jeff: Ah man call me from TRINIDAD this morning and he tell me that "if this does not wake the LOCALS up -- nothing else will!!!"

      I agree with you that it should be a war (A BUSINESS WAR) but I doubt that it will cause a RIPPLE down in the T&T STEELBAND WATERS.

      The one thing I can tell you for a fact is that a copy of the announcement of THAT EVENT was sent to both THE PRIME MINISTER and THE MINISTER OF CULTURE. So they should be the first to WAKE UP if nobody else does.

      • One thing's for sure You doing the best You can to wake them up! And that is a Great Thing!

  • merry tones, you and i have some work to do...... it will all fall in place soon......

This reply was deleted.