A Salute to the 2020 Panorama Accomplishments of Arranger Vanessa Alexandra Headley
by Golden Hands Steel Orchestra
Panorama 2020 has been an historic one. Besides being the first to span a two-year period (2019-2020), it will be the first to have a final staged in our sister isle, Tobago.
To me, more importantly is the historic accomplishment of a beautiful, young, vibrant female arranger Vanessa Alexandra Headley. She has single-handedly guided THREE conventional steelbands to Semi-finals and finals.
This is an epic achievement for Vanessa through her fresh and unique arranging style which she has been quietly and unrelentingly honing for years, in spite of great challenges.
They were:
- Golden Hands, her home band placed 6th out of a field of 40 Small Band contenders.
- Trinidad Valley Harps for the first time since 1969 (51 years) qualified for a Panorama semi-final.
- La Brea Nightingales, while no stranger to the finals, had not made it to a National semi-final since 2018 but did so in this year (2020).
It is quite disturbing to me that the genius and beauty of our Steelband women is still, in this new decade, under- celebrated while we focus on petty pan issues and grievances.
Congratulations Vanessa Alexandra Headley!! From GOLDEN HANDS.
Continue your pioneering musical journey that is definitely of world- changing impact!
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