Members of Steel Alchemy, a steel drum band based in Piffard.
GENESEO – Three steel drum bands will bring the tones of the Caribbean to Conesus Lake on Wednesday.
The “Rainorama Concert” — it’s named for a Trinidadian calypso — is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at Long Point Park, West Lake Road (Route 256) at Long Point Road, Geneseo.
The Steel Alchemy Community Steel Band will be the featured performers. The steel drum band will be joined by members of Panloco Steel Band and The Pancakes, which features youth performers.
The concert is free, and will take place under the pavilion at Long Point Park.
Those attending are encouraged to bring their own chairs or enjoy a picnic dinner at the tables in the pavilion.
The concert is planned rain or shine.
Steel Alchemy, based in Piffard, was founded in 2000. The group performs frequently in the area during the summer months, often at town concert series. This year, two of its longtime concerts were canceled due to rain — one at the Conesus Lake Craft Show and the other at the Charcoal Corral in Perry.
“Band members practice for months for our concert season and really love to play,” says Ted Canning, the group’s director. “We missed being able to perform, so we decided to create our own event that will happen, rain or shine.”
This summer, Canning offered a one-week steel band camp to youth ages 9 to 12 years old. Nine local students learned the history of the steel drums, known as “pans,” and prepared several pieces to perform with Steel Alchemy. The group’s scheduled appearances with Steel Alchemy were also the dates of Steel Alchemy’s canceled performances.
The students, self-titled as The Pancakes, are scheduled to appear with Steel Alchemy at Long Point. The youth are looking forward to finally getting a chance to show off their music at the concert, Canning says.
Members of Panloco Steel Band, Canning’s professional group, will join the groups for several numbers, including the tune, “Rainorama,” a Trinidadian calypso written by Aldwyn Roberts, who was known as Lord Kitchener in an era when calypso performers assumed nicknamed. He wrote “Rainorama” as a comic look at the hysteria created among his countrymen when Carnival was delayed in 1973 due to an outbreak of polio, according to Kitchener’s obituary in the Los Angeles Times.
Though he never had any formal musical training, Kitchener was vital in fusing the two most popular musical forms in Trinidad – calypso and pan, the music of steel drums. He composed the first calypso piece played by a steel band orchestra, “The Beat of the Steel Band,” in 1944 and was closely associated with the steel band movement afterward, the obituary said.
Calypso, which is related to reggae, is Trinidad’s native musical style and features steel pan drums made of 55 gallon drums.
Steel Alchemy is open to anyone interested in learning the instruments, age 13 and older. No prior musical experience is necessary. For more information, contact Ted Canning at panloco@rochester.rr.com, and or find the group on Facebook.
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