Baltimore, Maryland - The annual Harbor View festival took place this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland.  Steelpan music was in full bloom.  Four steelbands - Pan Ivory, Women In Steel, Harmony Steel Orchestra and Pantonic Steel Orchestra journeyed  from New York to the Cherry Hill area to join two area groups Philly Pan Stars and St Veronica's Youth Steel Orchestra.

The event featured both an exhibition, and competition which showcased a tune of choice and a calypso/Bomb tune.  It was day one of a two-part event, organized and hosted by Baltimore Education and Cultural Inc. (B.E.C.I.).  Day two of the B.E.C.I. initiative featuring music bands and soca artists was scheduled for the following day. 

Now in its fifth year the event has started to establish itself and has become a community staple.  B.E.C.I. is proud of the continued growth of the program as it has seen an increase in support from sponsors and state agencies.

It was an enjoyable day filled with a wide variety of steelpan music performances.  The six participating bands in addition to showcasing their musical talents,  displayed a wide range of music material that the steelpan family of instruments is capable of.  The event opened with each group playing a short three to four song set that allowed the audience to get a quick taste of the possible flavors the steelband groups had to offer.

The event was run very professionally and smoothly.  Each band played immediately behind the other without delay.  The audience got to hear what they came for - a day of pan without the traditional "grand standing" and hiccups that are normally associated with such events.   As a matter of fact once the first orchestra began performing the house DJ never got to play again.

Pan Ivory out of Queens, New York opened the event perched on top a flatbed truck.  The group showcased not only their musical talents but their also technological worldliness and ingenuity as one of the few, if not the only fully amplified steel orchestra in America.  The amplified instruments each have their own pickups as designed by their leader Lenox Phillips and presented a different tonal quality and cleanness not normally heard.  Next up was Harmony Steel Orchestra who showed they can pull an audience outside of their home turf, Brooklyn, New York and are not to be taken lightly.  St. Veronica's Youth Steel Orchestra followed with a performance that reminded everyone why they are one of the top musical originations in the Maryland area.  Philly Pan Stars, with a mature membership, succeeded St. Veronica's with lively renditions which  kept the crowd's attention focused on them.  Next up was Women in Steel who, for those who had never seen the all-female orchestra, quickly understood that they were not a novelty.  Last was Pantonic Steel Orchestra who gave a veteran performance that went over very well with the audience.

The second round of performances featured the competition phase.  four of the six bands took part.  St. Veronica's came in 1st position with Pantonic a close second.

B.E.C.I. was formed in 1999 and the main objective is to help the youth in their communities by providing guidance, options and opportunities.  They are offering steelpan music and instrument instruction as part of their program.

B.E.C.I. also has formed a partnership with the borough of point Fortin Originals, a group based in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Their joint partnership has provided everything from books, pencils, computers to volunteer doctors to the borough of Point Fortin, in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

Carl Merez, B.E.C.I. credits Brooklyn's former WIADCA (West Indian American Day Carnival Association) president Carlos Lezama as his inspiration and motivator for having stayed the course on this project.  Lezama told Mr. Merez that he believed in their goals and project and to "never give up."  Mr. Merez said that good things are beginning to happen.  In fact, the trophy up for grabs in the competition segment of the Harbor View Festival 2005 "Pan On The Move", and eventually won by St. Veronica's Youth Steel Orchestra, was called the Carlos Lezama trophy.  Indeed this year's event and program included a list of prominent sponsors and well wishers.

 

The only outside drama came when the bus carrying part of the New York contingent got stuck in wet grass and  mud, delaying their departure from the Festival grounds for more than two hours.  The efforts  to alleviate that situation proved to be comic relief in "how not to move a bus..."

This event will only get bigger and better.  Great show, great management.  Mr. Merez and the B.E.C.I. team are to be commended the support of the youth and for their hard work in pulling this event successfully together and their.  The Baltimore Harbor View Festival 2005 'Pan On  The Move' will definitely be a permanent date on the North American Steelband music summer circuit.  Can't wait for next year.

Pictorial Review

July 10, 2005 -