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 This March marks the 25th anniversary of my involvement with pan. Forty
years ago pans were introduced into British schools through the efforts
of renowned pan pioneers such as Gerald Forsyth and Russell Henderson.
My secondary school – the Radcliffe, in the new city of Milton Keynes -
started their steelband in 1984, and despite having never seen or heard
pan before, and as I was involved in every other musical activity
possible (orchestras, choirs and so on) I was not going to be left out
of something that looked as interesting as these mysterious new
instruments.
I quickly started arranging my own solos for pan, encouraged and
inspired by my teachers Richard Murphy (former TNT Music Festival
adjudicator) and Neil Davison, and our tuner – Michael “Natsy” Contant.
In 1989 I was awarded a bursary for excellence in the arts by the
Borough of Milton Keynes, which enabled me to travel to Trinidad and
experience the mind-blowing spectacle of Panorama and Carnival at first
hand. Later that year I was awarded first place in the UK National
Soloists Championships, and I went on to gain two degrees in music
performance (on double bass – pan is still not a recognised instrument
in UK conservatoires) from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and
City University, London, where I am currently conducting doctoral
research into pan repertoire.
In 1996 I travelled back to Trinidad and was placed fourth in the World
Soloists Competition – I am still the only person of European descent to
have reached the finals. Since that time I have performed, taught pan,
adjudicated, and arranged for bands in London and Trinidad – I worked
with Skiffle Bunch for their “Feeling The Classics” concerts in 1997. I
have played pan with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London
Sinfonietta, as well as at both the UK and Trinidad and Tobago
Panoramas, where I have had the honour of playing Ray Holman’s
compositions with Starlift in both 2002 and 2007. I have also released
five CDs of my own solo work and currently combine pan performance with
research and teaching.
My latest release “Priestess Of Pan” is a tribute to the feminine. Women
have been always been involved in music, and since its creation, pan, as
performers, dancers, muses and lovers. In this recording I hope to
capture the many facets of woman, and express this through the medium of
pan. I feel that pan is truly capable of expressing the widest gamut of
human emotions and should not be stereotyped by the repertoire played
upon it.
I have never experienced any overt difficulties or issues regarding my
gender. In fact, as a soloist, being a woman may actually help! In
Britain, the vast majority of pupils in schools who learn instruments
are girls, but strangely, most professional musicians are men. Boys tend
to view learning a musical instrument as a “girls” activity, however I
am often complimented on having so many boys in my steelbands – some of
my bands are almost exclusively comprised of boys! The boys obviously
view playing pan as a more ‘macho’ activity than learning the violin or
piano.
There are many up-and-coming young British female pannists – Carlene Ettienne, Alicia Brown, Jenny Gilberg and Susannah MacAulay are all
extremely talented and accomplished soloists. They also work with
younger players, arranging and teaching the next generation of pannists.
In Britain, I would like to see more opportunities for pannists and
bands to play music other than either Panorama or the “island songs”
required by the gig scene. Pan needs to be exposed to audiences as a
valuable and expressive instrument in its own right, not just a clever
novelty for the inner cities and only heard at Notting Hill Carnival.
This is the future challenge for British pan.
Rachel Hayward GGSM MA
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