Trinidad &
Tobago, W.I. - March is
International Women's Month, but for
Michelle Huggins-Watts, 2011 is "her
year" as the arranger for Valley Harps
Steel Orchestra based in north-west
Trinidad. In tying with Katzenjammers
Steel Orchestra from the
sister isle of Tobago (along with their winning
arranger Edwin Pouchet) for the 2011
championship title in the Medium Steel
Orchestra category, Michelle
Huggins-Watts created history in the
Steelpan diaspora - and even more
distinctly, within the Panorama arena.
There are extremely few
women arrangers in the Steelband
panorama in Trinidad & Tobago, and
moreover, none have ever won a championship.
Now, that proverbial glass ceiling has
been broken.
Affectionately known
as somewhat
of a Len
"Boogsie" Sharpe 'acolyte' having
emerged from Phase II Pan Groove herself, and
been one of the band's section leaders -
Michelle Huggins-Watts has come into her
own, and developed
into a singularly styled steelband
arranger. She has maintained a diligent presence
within the Medium conventional steel
orchestra category.
Her persistency and that
of Valley Harps have kept both in the
public eye and ear ever since the
categorization of Small, Medium and
Large steel orchestras was introduced in
the Trinidad & Tobago Panorama back in
2004. Placing third out of eight
bands in that year, and again in 2006,
this fruitful collaboration has since
assured the band as a finalist almost
every year with the exception of 2007
when the orchestra did not make it out of
preliminaries.
Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra in 2008
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