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Meet Champion Arranger & Performing Artist, Cordel Byam - UpClose!

Grenada, W.I. - He is a first-time national champion steelband Panorama arranger; youthful, yet at the age of thirty-one a “young” veteran in his craft of musicianship, with a history of more than twenty years of involvement with the steelband art

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Meet the executive producer of the Ken “Professor” Philmore tribute “Pan By Storm... The Storm Continues” - Sherwin Thwaites - UpClose!

How does one pay homage to a legend, mentor and friend?

From A Place of Love.

A project based on, and motivated and inspired by, nothing but love.

With the unexpected passing of Ken “Professor” Philmore on September 30, 2018, many worldwide were move

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Real Talk - From New York Pan Men and Pan Women - But Is Anybody Listening?

New York, USA -  ....With resounding clarity and honesty, members of the next generation of leaders, arrangers, tuners, owners, players and managers speak to the dangers and perils that face New York pan. And moreover, that which threatens the New Y

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Memorial Concert for the Legendary Ellie Mannette by Emily Lemmerman

A WST Exclusive

USA - When Ellie Mannette died in August of 2018, the steelband community worldwide grieved along with his family. He had made it clear that he did not want a funeral, but we, his apprentices, friends and family, knew we would soon h

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Beat that beat! -- Dr. Prashanthi Mendis

Daily News - Ruwanthi Abeyakoon - Ceylon 

“It was a very interesting exercise for me to teach this Caribbean musical instrument to British students, although I was not of Caribbean or African origin. During my stay in Vienna, Austria as wife of Sri L

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Revisiting - Meet Salmon Cupid - Panist, Organizer, Arranger, Director, and Innovator

Toronto, Canada - Recently steelband music history was created on a global scale when the Salmon Cupid-led Toronto All Stars Steel Orchestra participated in the 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors live broadcast celebration parade, as hundreds of tho

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Grenada 2019 Panorama Results - New Dimension Steel Orchestra Triumphs With Champion Arranger Cordel Byam

St. George’s, Grenada, W.I. - At Grenada’s 2019 National Panorama, one of the competition's youngest arrangers, Cordel Byam, guided now-twelve-time Panorama champion New Dimension Steel Orchestra to its latest victory lap around the national steelba

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Revisiting - A Moment in Pan - BSO Remembers Panist Erica Renaud at “Pan Is Sweet” 2019

New York, USA - In the midst of all the joy, happiness and goodwill that 2019’s “Pan Is Sweet” generated, there was a bitter-sweet moment of deep pain and reflection coupled with happy memories, as Brooklyn Steel Orchestra (BSO) honored and remem

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Cordell “Spongy” Barbour - Steelpan Great

by Kathryn Barbour

Global - Lore has him as one of the greatest double-tenor players to have ever walked the planet. Through the eyes of someone who knew him closely—his former wife Kathryn Barbour—the steelband world gets an upclose and personal l

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When a great idea meets a great idea - simply a charmed Pan experience

The birth of Carib Parlor Notes

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Let’s start with the end. The inaugural session of Carib Parlor Notes featuring performing artist and panist Garvin Blake was extremely successful. It was a groundbreaking event with vast hi

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NYU Steel Ensemble 2019 Spring Concert: Steelpan Magic on West 4th Street - when the Doctors Make a House Call

New York, USA - With enough music magic being generated at the Frederick Loewe Theater to make Harry Potter and his mates jealous, NYU Steel proceeded to turn the capacity audience into life long “Pan Jumbies.”

A long time ago the legendary drummer

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Revisiting -- Meet Akira Iino - Musician, Panist, Bandleader & Creator of the Diamond Cut Steel Pan - UpClose!

A When Steel Talks Exclusive

Picture by Chrome Furnishers Limited

Akira Iino from Japan has created a new guitar pan with diamond shapes indented into the skirt of the drum. The diamond-cut steel drums are m

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An ‘Ivory & Steel’ Moment in Pan - BSO’s Tribute to Ken “Professor” Philmore at ‘Pan Is Sweet’ 2019

Leon Foster Thomas and Khuent Rose at the Roulette Intermedium

New York, USA - The one thing there was no shortage of at the 2019 Brooklyn Steel Orchestra (BSO) Summer production of ‘Pan Is Sweet’ at the Roulette Intermedium, was great memorable mus

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Meet Yanis Roset - Explorer, Panist, Organizer, Arranger, Educator, and Bandleader

Meet Yanis Roset - Explorer, Panist, Organizer, Arranger, Educator, and Bandleader

Guadeloupe - The formula is simple. Yanis Roset = Pan. An in this regard Yanis has embarked on a life long journey of exploring all things involving the culture of

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André White to drop a Steel Orchestra Version of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”

New York, USA - My-o, My, o-My. Hmm, hmm, hmm...

Earlier this week one of the When Steel Talks (WST) forum regulars (Bugs) made what may have seemed to most an odd request, to one of the world’s most brilliant steel orchestra music composer/arranger

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Meet Kerri-Ann Hyndman-Borris - Trinidad & Tobago

Celebration of Women and the Steelpan Art Form

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - “My vision for the instrument is to be able to capture the hearts of those who don’t understand and appreciate what pan is, what it’s about, and what it can do for us as a nati

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Meet Rheanne Edwards-Babb Trinidad & Tobago

Celebration of Women and the Steelpan Art Form

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - “The greatest challenge for this current generation is that there are too many distractions for them. Compared to when I started out, it’s a bit harder for this generation to

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Meet Crystalann Timothy - Trinidad & Tobago

Celebration of Women and the Steelpan Art Form

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - “....when I get behind those drums I’m already in performance mode (I just love it). Organising is really my thing, I take pride in doing what I have to do and what needs to be

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Meet Dr. Mia Gormandy-Benjamin - Panist, Composer, Arranger, Ethnomusicologist, Educator & Performing Artist - UpClose!

 Global -  Her passion for Pan is obviously without question. She developed a natural affinity for pan and music at a very early age. That love and passion has taken her to the heights of the arts and education. In an exclusive interview with When St

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Reboot -- Meet Bowie Sonnie Bowei of Nigeria -- Manufacturer, Pioneer, Panist, Arranger, Educator and Pan Ambassador - UpClose!

On what keeps his passion for the instrument going - Bowie Sonnie Bowei says:

“At first, it was the uniqueness of the instrument and the positive reactions on the faces of people who listen to pan for the first time. Now, it is the joy that it bring

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