With Orville London.
Young pannist Mason Goode took the major awards when the Melodians Steel Orchestra UK hosted its annual award presentation concert at the Henry Cavendish School, Hydethorpe Road, London, on Saturday 14 December. After receiving sustained applause for his solo rendition of a Beethoven composition during the orchestra’s one hour concert, Goode went on to cop the awards for Player of the Year and Best Attendance. He also shared the Most Improved Player Award with Theo Carter. Michelle Reynaga and Shawn Onokare were joint winners in the Most Improved Player category.
In his brief address at the function, High Commissioner Orville London lauded the achievements of founder Terry Noel MBE and the members of the Melodians Steel Orchestra whom he described not only as ambassadors for Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom but “among the most powerful and influential ambassadors for Pan”. He expressed his pride, as a national of Trinidad and Tobago, that Terry Noel MBE, a countryman, could have been mainly responsible for the nurturing of an orchestra that has taken steel pan music to Buckingham Palace, to the Royal Albert Hall and to numerous countries around the world. He praised the organisation for its professionalism, its commitment to excellence, its resilience and a succession planning strategy that will ensure that pan is in competent hands for generations to come. The positive sentiments were shared by Michael Fuller, the former Chief Constable of Kent, who recounted some of his experiences and the impact of Terry Noel MBE and Melodians since his first encounter with them, in 1999
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