Summary First European International Conference on Steelpan
Haroun N. Shah, Nostalgia Steelband
 
The First European International Conference on Steelpan entitled "Steelband  Music and Education in the 21^st Century; Projecting a Vision of the Future through Global Experiences was held at the University of East London, Dockland's Campus between 30 - 31^st August 2006. Its main sponsor was the Arts Council England. In addition, two probiotic companies, Yakult (UK) and Natren (USA) supported the meeting.

The meeting was opened by the University’s registrar, Dr. Alan Ingle who voiced his considerable interest in steel pan and the University’s association and conferral of honorary degrees to eminent contributors of this art form. He also outlined the relationship that Nostalgia Steelband had with the University over the years that led up to this conference.

A total of 107 participants attended over the two days and the meeting progressed from an open discussion (Session 1), through to workshops (Session 2), and two formal conference presentation sessions (3 and 4) on the second day.

The overall aims and objectives of the conference were outlined by Haroun Shah as follows:

• Provide a forum for discussion on the diverse range of academic activities associated with the steelpan; including historical aspects.
• Exchange ideas on models and processes developed successfully around the globe.
• Discuss and report on experiences of teaching models in education; in this case in the form of workshops and personal experiences.
• Foster national and international links with the aim of enhancing the success of projects and maximising funding opportunities.
• Establish steelband activities within the curriculum of higher educational institutes particularly at Universities.

Day 1 Conference Presentations

Session 1 (1.45 hours)
This session was chaired by Mr. Pepe Francis (Ebony Steelband and Chair, BAS). The audience was vibrant and willing to confront issues and exchanges were friendly and stimulating. In the case of the UK, many representatives from outside London felt isolated and considered the meeting a good opportunity to express their views. The majority expressed the view that too much of steel band activities were modelled on competitive events that took place in Trinidad such as Panorama that were inappropriate outside its homeland. The audience was of the view that more effort should be placed on enjoyment, stimulation and teaching for pleasure rather than rigid practising sessions that are required for competitive events. However, it did acknowledge that a dozen or so ‘big bands’ did have the capacity to compete at the highest level and they should not be deterred. It was stated that it cost around £20,000 for a band to participate at the Notting Hill Panorama and that sponsorship was the only means of covering this cost. Consequently the majority of steel bands were unable to compete at this level.

Another strong point that came across was that the organisers of large events should recognise that steel pan had long left Trinidad and while all acknowledged that it is “Trinidad’s gift to the world”, it should be allowed to develop and take shape differently in different parts of the globe. It is inevitable therefore that steel pan events will be very different to those laid down in Trinidad.


Session 2 (2.5 hours)
Two presentations in the form of  lectures were given by Raul Gomez (London) and Mark Loquan (Trinidad), while Martin Buschmann (Germany) and Gerald Forsyth (London) delivered practical workshops to eluciate the current approachs to teaching in schools. Raul presented his experience as a native Columbian who now plays with Nostalgia Steelband but enjoys the challenges of teaching London’s school children steel pan using hands-on teaching methods. Mark Loquan on the other hand, already has a well developed programme that began in 2003 to record, score, and integrate a steel band music programme into educational curricula. His group worked with several arrangers and steel orchestras to perform arrangements of 13 of his compositions with the intention of using such music for educational purposes. During his presentation he elaborated on the recent advances; CDs providing details to access the programmes (Sibelius etc.) and website details for more information on the arrangers and steel orchestras.

The veteran maestro, Gerald Forsyth expounded his practical approach to teaching steel pan by inviting participants from the audience to join him on stage. They were taught a piece using the full range of instruments in less than 20 minutes to the astonishment of the audience. By contrast Martin Bushmann outlined his programme for schools which begin from the tender age of 3 years using a small pan; the “ECS Kiddrum” with eight tones that Pan Kulture developed for music lessons for younger children. They also developed the “Teacher Steelpan” with 13 tones with a reciprocal-diatonic tone-order and a range from C1 to f2 as well as F^#1 and B^b1. Their reciprocal ascending format promoted the use of both hands right from inception.  By doing so, the principle of traditional music notation and the basic harmonic functions became clearer and youngsters progressed rapidly.


Day 2 Conference Presentations

Session 3 (half day)
Co-chaired by Haroun Shah and Jenny Lee, this came under the theme “Diversification and Cultural Influences” and commenced with a historical presentation by a steel pan icon, the legendary Lennox ‘Bobby’ Mohammed and his band, the Guinness Cavaliers. This band, formed when Bobby was 18 years (1961) and still a student, soon became a tour de force for the next two decades and transformed the steel band from a modest force into what soon became known as the ‘Big Band’. Bobby’s extraordinary talent began its musical cornucopia and his achievements as a leader, composer, arranger and innovator was traced as a paradigm for aspiring individuals. This set the scene for speakers to show the route various individuals/bands had taken and are pursuing to carry the baton to the next stages.

A fervent and stirring presentation, given by Diana Hancox (Warwickshire) which she delightfully called “the Magic Sticks”, was used to illustrate the programme of work she and her group set out to achieve, building up a comprehensive programme for the county over several years. Having assembled a group of very talented individuals (teachers, makers, arrangers, entrepreneurs etc.) they actively fund-raised to purchase every instrument and establish their programme. Today some 50 schools have benefited from this programme.  In common with many speakers, Diana believed that the status of steel pan and its broader acceptance, could only be achieved through a grading system that is comparable with other instruments. It requires a national effort to put such a system in place and she invited the audience to participate.

Jenny Lee provided her personal experience of the activities within Europe as a whole. Her position as Founder, Ex-President and Executive Director Steelpan European enabled her to demonstrate how the movement had developed and included her very recent meetings with Pan Trinbago, the Prime Minster of Trinidad and Tobago and staff of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad. Her message was very clear; “steel pan has long left Trinidad, events such as the National Panorama etc. cater for Trinidadians only and more appropriate events should be developed for bands in Europe”. To this end she announced preliminary plans for a festival (not a competition) in Germany in 2007.

The remaining presentations in this session were from outside Europe and it was a real delight to learn about the progress in Canada and Japan. Ronald Shah used Toronto’s Caribana to demonstrate the lack of financial support for the steel bands there, and the continual erosion of the ground provided by the City to more financially driven programmes to the benefit of the latter. There were several committees set up to oversee the organisation of major steel band events but most of it was not transparent and remained largely unaccountable. Consequently the speaker expressed a real fear that the movement was deteriorating while escalating cost and the lack of financial support is a real threat to the future development of the steel band movement there.

Yoko Kimura (Nagoya University, Japan) presented a well-researched paper on developments in Japan. Frequent visits by well known bands are facilitating rapid developments in the Far East and today some 20 steel bands are established in Japan. Of particular interest are the developments in the city of Kobe where Yuki Murakami, director of the Pan Village Steelpan School also founded (2001) the band ‘Fantastics’. This was done to rejuvenate the town following the Hanshin and Awaji Earthquake. Although the Nonaka Trading Company imports steel pans from Trinidad, Japan has expertise in steel pan making and tuning. A CD of the music of these bands followed and astonished the audience with its extremely high level of proficiency in so short a period development.

A topic that interests everyone is the criteria used for judging steel bands at competitions. The audience was given a real insight into the methods used and the composition of instruments required for good output. In particular, the effects of the wind and of the environment in optimising sound effects to the audience were expertly presented by the international professional judge David Waddell (Trinidad).

The session ended with a discussion of the morning events.


Session 4 (half day)
One of the difficulties every steel band faces is to maintain a critical mass of players that are considered optimal for the output of each band. A large number of issues, many of which are outside the immediate influence of the managers, are often the deciding factors that help to shape the outcome. The vision of leaders is sometimes at variance with pragmatism. Pepe Francis discussed this immensely difficult topic using Ebony Steel Orchestra to explain the difficulties faced by Britain’s most successful steel band. It is particularly disturbing that Ebony, along with many of London’s top bands (e.g. Pantonic, Glissando, Nostalgia etc.) have been unable to secure long-term accommodation which has led to periods of considerable instability and at times it has been necessary to place their steel pans into commercial storage units. Disillusioned, players turn away and moral is generally very low. This topic prompted vigorous debate and it was generally felt that the contribution that steel bands made to the community was largely undervalued. Nestor Sullivan (Pamberi, Trinidad) was particularly vocal and suggested some draconian measures to highlight these problems to the broader attention of the public. This topic alone could have occupied an entire session and more time should be allotted to it at future meetings. Pepe Francis explained that BAS alone was unable to act against formidable lobbying in London’s Notting Hill area alone.

These problems roblems are not unique to London, and some of the difficulties and prejudices that steel bands and its leaders face in Leeds were movingly relayed by Victoria Jaquiss who, almost single-handedly, has worked tirelessly through various obstacles to try to establish steelpan as a regular classroom instrument in Leeds. She used pan as her main 16+ and GCSE instrument at Foxwood School from 1987 to 1996 when the school closed. Now, as a steel pan development officer, she works hard to support pans in all Leeds schools, and particularly to encourage use of different teaching and learning styles.

Rachel Gardiner presented an overview of a (draft) report commissioned by Arts Council England and BAS entitled ‘Steelbands: current practice and requirements for sector development’. The work included a survey of bands, tutors and players alongside investigating steel pan teaching in local authority music services and it provides an evidence base for future work. Key requirements for growing steel pan included increased advocacy and profile, accreditation for players and tutors and better support to access professional development. Among the recommendations are the establishment of a new, national ‘Steelband Development Officer’ post.

It is evident that progress into higher education is dependent on a system of quality assurance and Lionel McCalman (University of East London) chose this as his main topic for discussion. He outlined his vision, recommending a register of accredited pan tutors and community music learning centres in which local councils are involved. He saw the potential for these to cross cultural boundaries mixing youth and adult education in varied programmes. The University’s role in this process is pivotal and interaction between Education and Music Departments may be a useful starting point.

Some of the work undertaken by BAS was enunciated by Robbie Joseph and participants of some recent projects were asked to give their views publicly and were very positive. Mr Joseph pointed out that ‘Pan Podium’, which he preduces under the auspices of BAS, is the only magazine globally that is dedicated to steel pan and also serves as an online forum for discussion and events.

However, another speaker, Monika Nicoletti-Tung (Switzerland) commented on BAS’s lack of visible support for the present steelband conference and that information on BAS activities was not immediately apparent to the community. In an awe-inspiration presentation, filled with visual effects, Monika presented a breath taking account of the power of the electronic media, using her own website Pan Jumbie to demonstrate how the age of information technology is helping to bring interaction around the globe, peaking at times to over 250,000 hits per month. Her vision of the future, to mutually building up a true high-end performance in the global cyber pan yard, delighted the audience. Her presentation ended with five individuals going onto the stage for an elegant demonstration of "The Magic 5 – The Perfect 5^th". The individuals, figurative for the five continents and our five senses in unity, formed a circle (connecting online) looking outwardly and seeing a far broader perspective of the world (and vice versa). A fitting way to end these two exciting days.

The chair of this session Mr Peter Joseph brought the session to an end by summarising some of the key points and his personal views of current difficulties. He then invited a young participant of the two days, Ms Camille Shah (Nostalgia Steelband) to bring the meeting to a close. In an emotional speech, she warmly thanked the organisers, sponsors, speakers, participants, and the office of the Vice Chancellor, University of East London and the Arts Council England for making this event possible. She echoed the views of all participants that this was a historic meeting and it was inevitable that a process has been initiated that will now perpetuate for the foreseeable future.

Conclusion
The organisers requested that participants complete a questionnaire on the conference, which included the facilities and content, and had an 85 % response. Without exception it was stated that the conference facilities and the standard of presentations and discussions were well above expectations. In general, the comments were that the meeting was a resounding success and 100% voiced an interest to hold a follow up meeting in two years time i.e. August 2008.

The organisers responded by letter thanking the University for its support for this event again. Without the provision of these facilities it would not have been possible to financially meet the cost of this meeting and this was acknowledged in the Conference Abstract Book, on conference flyers and advertisements. The funding successfully obtained from Arts Council England and the companies Yakult and Natren covered costs for travel, accommodation, catering, publication, promotion and administrative work. We are now aiming to publish a full textbook on the proceedings of the meeting and are trying to obtain funding to pursue this.

Outcome
A key aim of this conference was to set in motion plans to introduce steel pan into the music curriculum of Universities. An invitation during this meeting by Dr. Jo Thomas (Music Department, University of East London who briefly attended) to meet with the organisers, to make this a reality, has been accepted. Should this materialise, this would represent a significant step towards achieving the major thrust of this conference and help to consolidate its position for a subsequent conference in two years.

A follow up meeting on accreditation and standards was proposed by Diana Hancox and a large number of participants supplied contact details for this to materialise. A meeting is being planned for 20th Januray.

A wide range of books and literature was on display during the course of the meeting and the Buffet Reception provided an excellent opportunity for members to forge collaborative links and networks. There were several post-graduate students (e.g. Japan, Brazil, Cambridge University, and London etc.) who voiced an interest in taking a more active part at future meetings. They commented on the value of the presentations and discussions for their own studies.

We all left the confernce on a high note and hope to see a follow-up meeting in 2008.