For Stoneleigh youngsters, interest in steel drum band is elementary
Youngsters poised for showtime at Baltimore County's annual Panorama event, March 30
Of the seven steel drum bands performing at the 10th Baltimore County Public Schools Panorama event March 30 at Parkville High School, only one comes from an elementary school.
Stoneleigh Elementary School’s steel drummers are ready to bring their island sound to the Parkville stage.
But some of the musicians are a little nervous.
“It’s a lot of people and they’re just staring at you,” said Idlewylde resident Jeheiel Smith, a Stoneleigh fourth-grader.
According to Stoneleigh music teacher Jackie Blinke, who also teaches at Padonia International Elementary School, this concert is “a huge deal” for her fourth-grade students, who had performed before a large audience only once before — their own parents.
“This is their first major public performance,” she said.
When they are in the third grade, Stoneleigh students are invited to try their hand at the steel drums. Then, nine boys and nine girls are selected, and they start participating in the weekly extracurricular activity in fourth grade.
A 2004 Towson High graduate and 2009 Towson University grad, Blinke, 24, first played the steel drums while student-teaching at Ridgely Middle.
When she got her job as a teacher at Stoneleigh, the steel band was already part of the program, and Blinke seems to believe in the instrument.
“Their notes are guaranteed,” she said. That is, a trombone’s slide and a violin’s neck have no markings on them to tell students where to hit the right notes.
Steel drums, on the other hand, have dents that are struck to create notes, and as long as a student hits the right dent, they’ll get the right note. At the elementary school level, the dents are labeled.
Not having to worry so much about hitting the right note allows the children to focus on other skills they’ll need if they’re to continue in any kind of music, such as timing, volume and other things necessary to be an effective member of an ensemble.
The students, however, aren’t likely thinking about all of that. They say the steel drums are fun, and they’re even willing to sacrifice part of lunch or recess to go to the music room and practice.
“I’ve always wanted to play steel drums since kindergarten when I first heard them,” said Anneslie resident Liam Jones, a fourth-grader.
“It’s fun because everybody is laughing all the time,” he said. “When we play a song and we play it good, everybody has fun.”
Liam has played piano for more than five years, and sometimes plays his piano music on the steel drums.
Stoneleigh wasn’t the first county school to have a steel drum band.
Catonsville High School formed the first such band in Maryland in 1991, according to the county school system.
Catonsville was followed by, among others, General John Stricker Middle in 2000, Stoneleigh Elementary in 2001, Sparrows Point High in 2002, Parkville High in 2008 and Hereford Middle in 2009.
Perry Hall High formed a steel drum band this year.
Stoneleigh fifth-grader Serena Roberts takes some credit for Perry Hall’s new program. Her father is the principal of Perry Hall High, and she thinks her enjoyment of steel drums helped convince her dad it would be a good addition to Perry Hall.
“I like being with my friends, and the performances are really fun,” Serena said.
The Anneslie resident also plays trombone, which usually fills the part of harmony or background. As a steel drummer, Serena plays one of the lead drums.
“It’s really high and loud,” she said, adding that it’s, “crazy and fun and fast.”
Maddy Wichner, another fifth-grader and a Towson resident, plays bass in the school orchestra and is in somewhat familiar territory in the steel drum band, where she also plays bass, marking the pace for the other drummers.
Maddy said one of her favorite things about steel band is learning new songs, but she also likes the after-school rehearsals.
“It’s a very fun experience, the whole thing,” Maddy said.
Blinke said her next goal is to have her students play the national anthem at a baseball game.
“We know ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ ” Blinke said. “Tell the Orioles: If they want us, we’ll play for ’em.”
DRUM LINE
The Panorama begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30, at Parkville High School, 2600 Putty Hill Ave.
Stoneleigh Elementary’s steel drum band will be joined by steel drums from Hereford and Gen. John Stricker middle schools, along with Catonsville, Parkville, Perry Hall and Sparrows Point high schools.
Each band will perform a few songs from among calypsos, socas, classical and rock music, and then the bands will combine to perform two calypso pieces as a 120-piece ensemble.
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