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Ebony Protegez |
United Kingdom -
On a bright and warm summer’s evening on Saturday May 30th
the premises of the UKCCA in Luton was filled with the sweet
strains of steelband music emitted from the seven steelbands
dotted around their grounds running their last practice
sessions before entering the spacious auditorium to perform
in front of a capacity audience.
Joel ‘Tubbs’ Hamilton –Mills, the event’s MC reminded the
audience of the concept of the event i.e. initiated by the
British Association of Steelbands to encourage young people
to compose, arrange and play musical pieces on the steelpan
and how it has progressed from its humble beginnings in the
Tabernacle, Powis Square, London from 1999 to date.
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Rachel Rankin |
The event started with Rachel Rankin nee Haywood playing
four musical pieces, Prelude in C Minor by Bach, All at Once
by Whitney Houston, Carillon by Herbie Flowers and Carnival
is for Woman by Ray Holman. Her performance confirmed the
fact of the steelpan’s versatility with all genres of
music.
The twenty five and Under Ensembles competition followed
with Pantasia being victorious with 531.5 points followed by
the Ebony Protegez in second place with 482 points. The
Dubois sisters continue to work their musical magic with
their young band of pannists. Delphina ‘Panness’ James,
former Chair of BASFDF gave the following feedback on
Pantasia’s performance, ‘Pantasia’s own composition was
nicely controlled and rehearsed. Great structure with nice
chord voicings. I enjoyed listening to their tune of choice
which an old tune was played by today’s youth. This is
definitely a band to be reckoned with in future years.’
The UKCCA Revellers, their resident steelband led by Ian
Beckles performed as the guest band after the intermission
with Richard Alvin Gittens visiting from Trinidad playing
lead soloist on the tenor. Their solid performance left the
audience thirsting for more of their fine music. They were
followed by Shakka who sang and played the keyboards
providing an added feature to the Pan Explosion programme.
BAS Chairman, Pepe Francis, made a short speech commending
the BASFDF on how much they have achieved since their
inception.
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Pantasia |
The 26 and over Ensembles competition followed with Pantasia
and Ebony jointly capturing first place with 522 points. In
third place was Eclipse led by Mark ‘Tyson’ Williams with
495 points. Real Steel from Plymouth attained fourth
position with 472 points and this was their first appearance
in this competition. Harlow who was a guest band last year
also competed for the first time in this competition with
all their players being under 25 except for their arranger,
Samuel Dubois, a former Pan Explosion Champion. They were
awarded fifth place with 433 points. Judges on the night
were Debbie Romain, Rachel Rankin and Richard Gittens with
BAS Secretary, Debi Gardner, as the Adjudicator.
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Harlow |
The event’s musicality was of a very high standard with
players showing their enhanced dexterity with the steelpan
instrument. As in all similar events the winner on the night
was steelband music as everyone in attendance was treated to
a wealth of it on the night. After the event Pan Podium
spoke to a number of people and Lizzie from Newcastle who
played with the Caribbean Steel International Orchestra
(CSI) at the 2008 Notting Hill Panorama commented, ‘I think
Pan Explosion provides a brilliant opportunity for young
players to showcase their deft skills to a live audience.
BAS has provided the perfect platform for young pannists to
gain and enhance their confidence when playing to large live
audiences’.
The evening drew to a close with all in attendance wondering
when was the next Pan explosion and where will it be held as
the UKCCA venue was an ideal one for this sort of event.
Hats off to the BASFDF and BAS for yet another successful
event.
Please visit the following links to view the BASFDF 10th
Pan Explosion photo gallery and videos-
http://panpodium.com/PanMedia/PictureGallery/tabid/963/language/en-US/Default.aspx
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=94815256077&h=sKJgW&u=qvNEu&ref=mf
Results
Ensembles – (25 and under)
1st - Pantasia – 531.5 points
2nd - Ebony Protegez - 482 points
Ensembles – (26 and over)
1st – Ebony and Pantasia – 522 points
3rd – Eclipse – 495 points
4th - Real Steel – 472 points
5th – Harlow – 433 points
By Robbie Joseph – Pan Podium
Contact Robbie at -
www.panpodium.com -
at WST Ning profile
click here
In Pictures
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