Patrick 'Stone' Johnson
Arranger Gemonites Steel Orchestra
(Dominica's OECS Junior Pan competition)

 

Antigua - His name is well known throughout the Caribbean and in steelband music circles as one of the top arrangers out of the region.  When Steel Talks caught up with Patrick "Stone" Johnson, the resident co-arranger  and co-founder of Gemonites Steel Orchestra (current panorama champions of Antigua & Barbuda) -  for an exclusive interview.

Mr. Johnson will be leading the Antigua & Barbuda contingent that will represent the islands at the OECS Junior Pan Competition being held in Dominica on April 30th.   The contingent will comprise of twenty students aged sixteen and under.   Mr. Johnson, who is also a pan instructor and arranger for the country's Department of Culture says the band is made up of players from many different bands in the country.  Auditions were held to select the best musicians who would make up this special group.  Stone also said that while the rules called for only twenty players for this competition they could have easily fielded a much larger group.

Patrick "Stone" Johnson and Dr. Jit Samaroo

All participating bands are required to play the test piece "Pan Earthquake" by Lord Kitchener in addition to a musical piece by an OECS-born artist.  The pieces are six to eight minutes. 

According to Mr. Johnson, the young people are very excited about traveling to the event and of course want to win.  The youngest age in the country's participating group is age ten.

The Department of Culture under the direction of Mrs. Heather Doram and Mrs. Barbara Mason is responsible for the Antigua & Barbuda representation.   Mr. Johnson is working in collaboration with them, and in particular with arranger Mr. Victor Samuel.  In addition to entering under the banner of the National Youth Pan Orchestra (NYPO), the instruments in use will also exclusively be those of the NYPO.

©2006 When Steel Talks - All Rights Reserved

---