Roseau, Dominica -
Simeon Joseph is busy with all the challenges that present
themselves to a person charged with the responsibility of
playing a lead role in the development of a nation’s youth.
Energetic but courteous youngsters, boys and girls, dashed
about the schoolyard, as Joseph attended to visitors to the
Dominica Grammar School in Roseau, Dominica, and to his
students and staff. Part of the backdrop visual for the
educational institution is the recently-built Windsor Park
Sports Stadium.
The school is one of three in Dominica
benefiting from a collaborative program through the Dominica
Cultural Division and UNESCO via funding from the latter, to
‘put Pan in Schools.’ In December of 2007, the schools
received steelpan instruments to facilitate about eleven
students, consisting of sets of basses, tenor basses,
guitars, double seconds and tenors.
For Principal Joseph, it was the
crystallization of a dream held close to his heart for four
years, about the time between the project’s concept and
actualization. Sitting down in his office with
When Steel
Talks (WST), Joseph was keen in articulating what the
receipt of the steelpan instruments meant to his school.
Already, there are more students (about forty or so, with a
ratio of 60:40 in favor of girls) eagerly interested and
awaiting their chance at being part of the school ensemble,
than there are instruments to go around.
There were no stringent criteria to be
met for membership in the fledgling orchestra, simply a
personal desire, and a first-come, first-served basis for
the school’s pan program which began officially in January
2008. However, students of the lower section of the school
were favored, as they would have a longer tenure at the
institution and by default as members of its steelpan
orchestra.
They are in school for at least two to three more
years, thereby affording the school an opportunity to build
the technical prowess of the group.
It is safe to say that Joseph is
passionate about pan, which he describes as a ‘mythical
instrument.’ “…The evolvement of the pan, the whole concept,
the use of the pan, the possibilities, and the way pan can
be used… calypso, classical, any genre of music… if you
listen to it played, if it is played well, it creates so
much in the mind… [to consider]… philosophy, the psychology
of life -- one can contemplate all that goes into the
creation of the instrument…”
As an ideal timetable, in about three
years, Joseph would like to see the steelpan ensemble
developing from a group, to orchestra status, and become the
leaders on Dominica’s pan scene, and also have joint
performances and ventures with the school’s choir. Along
with those aspirations, is the recording of CDs, as students
extend and share their talents others, and play year-round.
Joseph stresses that “it is not just about the school
steelpan initiative, but also about benefiting the student,
producing a more well-rounded individual.” The endeavor
would “train students for the school as well as equip them
to serve in their communities, because it is not just about
the school’s program, but developing the students
themselves, so that there could be legacy…” the principal
declared.
To top it off, Joseph, who lived for four
years in Trinidad, and would love to take his steelpan
students there one day, happily informed WST that the
majority of staff, himself included, had signed on to be
among those tutored in playing the steelpan. As a result, he
is enthusiastically looking forward to having the first
teachers’ steel orchestra forthcoming from the Dominica
Grammar School. Bi-weekly tutoring is currently being
handled, and the instruments maintained, by Wilfred ‘Pancho’
Jno Baptiste, brother of the late
Alan
Jno Baptiste.
The institution allocated an older school
room that was not in use, located on the second floor, as
the steelpan room. Joseph says that the task of bringing it
up to snuff is earmarked as a ‘steelpan members’ project’,
and the responsibility is being handed to them to renovate
and repaint.
Joseph anticipates not only the
professional development of Dominica Grammar School’s
orchestra to the point of the students performing publicly,
but he envisages the time when Pan could be officially
included in the school’s curriculum and available at the CXC
(Caribbean Examination Council) O’Level for those interested
in pursuing mastery of the instrument on such a level.
If
you would like to help further the steelpan program at the
Dominica
Grammar School, contact Simeon
Joseph at:
grammar@cwdom.dm; Tel:
1-767-448-2401 - ext (3486), (3415)
contact:
Dominica Steelband
Association | Anna Raffoul, President | email:
raffoulskye@hotmail.com | tel: 1 (767) 448 2622
contact: Dominica's Division of Culture - Chief Music Officer |
Pearle Christian |email:
christianpearle@yahoo.com | tel: (767) 449 - 1804
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