Maryland -
Recently an enthusiastic young and talented bunch of steelpan
performers known
as
Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra
captured the attention of the audience in attendance with their performance at the
annual
Pan Masters Steelband Jamboree.
Positive
Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra is the brain child of
the Cultural Academy for Excellence (CAFE) founded in
1996 by their executive director Lorna Green.
CAFE benefits
youth ages 7-18 by providing innovative
arts-in-education programs. The curriculum focuses on
academic and musical instruction. CAFE seeks to prepare
students to examine their world critically and respond
to its challenges with creativity. Students are
encouraged to assume leadership; to value the
opportunity for service; and, to accept, understand and
appreciate the diversity of their community and the
world.
Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra
(PVYSO)
is a respected musical group within the Maryland/Washington
D.C. area.
PVYSO
is comprised of the students who attend the Saturday
Academy.
Although music theory is required for all
students, they are also taught by 'rote' (by ear). Students
are prepared to take the theory exams given here by an
associate body of the Associated Board of the Royal School
of Music (ABRSM) Edinburgh, England. They also take the
practical examination given by the University of the
West Indies, St. Augustine in Trinidad & Tobago. An
examiner travels to Maryland annually to administer the
tests to the students. The results are mailed back
to CAFÉ from both institutions.
PVYSO performs all genres of music from classical, to
jazz to gospel, to R&B to calypso. The orchestra
competed in the Virginia Beach 2006 Panorama Festival,
trouncing 17 bands (from around the country) to win the
coveted title of “2006 Panorama Champions”. This was
their first time entering any competition. PVYSO has
performed from Boston to South Carolina, to Ohio. In
2002, the United States Department of State, Washington,
D.C. sent 21 members to perform in Dakar, Senegal. The
orchestra performed to rave reviews before thousands of
Senegalese nationals, members of the Diplomatic Corp and
heads of government.