From August 5–7, Pan Trinbago and the ICP Secretariat present the first major International Conference on Pan. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain. The conference is open to the public with a nominal registration fee and will bring together pan scholars and researchers and practitioners from all over the world. The conference will be a lead-up to the International Panorama competition to be held on August 9 at 3 pm, at the Queen’s Park Savannah. The exciting week of events has something to offer even the most-seasoned pan aficionado.
The conference will be preceded on August 4, with an invitation-only business session as Pan Trinbago meets with international delegates concerning international co-operation in the world of pan and the role Pan Trinbago is facilitating. The conference is structured to explore seven major pan-related themes ranging from history and development of the steelpan, science and technology, social dimension, education, performance, economic and industrial development, and steelpan organisations.
Award-winning novelist Earl Lovelace will present the conference keynote address on the topic, Resistance and Rebellion—exploring the Socio-Historical development of the Steelpan movement, on August 5. Further exploring the first theme of history and development, former Pan Trinbago president Melville Bryan will present research on the history of pan.
Prof Louis Regis from UWI will discuss pan and calypso. Dr Andrew Martin will present research on the history of the US Navy Steelband which had a major impact on pan in the US. Pan is Beautiful competition adjudicator and UWI graduate student Joanna Shortt will present research analysing gender roles in steelbands.
From History of Pan to the Business of Pan, Dr Keith Nurse, executive director of UWI Consulting Company, will talk about pan as an economic driver in Trinidad. Michael P Cooper of Panland T&T Limited will focus on how pan manufacturing presents untapped opportunity for T&T. Economist and international trade specialist Dr Roger Hosein will moderate these discussions on Economic and Industrial development.
A major focus of the conference will be on the construction of the instrument itself and several talks are set to explore ongoing studies into pan and metallurgy. Hameed Shaqq will talk on Anthony Williams’ use of physics in the design of pan, and leading Canadian pan tuner Ed Peters will talk on creating standardised courses for teaching pan tuning.
Soren Maloney will discuss his exploration of new processes for dishing pans, and UWI professors Clement Imbert and Brian Copeland will present research of various aspects of pan manufacturing. Dr Aurelie Helmlinger of the Research Center in Ethnomusicology (France) will cap the session off by addressing the connections between the note layout of pans and cognition.
The conference also features several research presentations focusing on the development of pan in North America. Based in Montreal, longtime pannist and steelband leader Salah Wilson in Montreal will present research on the development of steelpan programmes in Canadian communities and schools.
Dr Janine Tiffe of Kent State University will discuss Ellie Mannette and his impact on pan in the US. Dr Anthony Hailey was the director of the steelband programme the Virginia Rhythm Project and now leads the Mosaic Steel Orchestra, one of three American-based steelbands competing in the International Panorama.
Hailey will discuss the positive effects that youth steelbands have in schools, communities, and society at large. Focusing on pan in Trinidad, Paul Massey and Josephine Torrel will present research on the use of pan in the classroom in T&T. Massey is a graduate student at UWI working on a dissertation that focuses on pan as an educational tool for social transformation.
Jean Raabe is a board-certified music therapist, UWI lecturer, and veteran of 17 Panoramas who will present her work using steelpan as a tool in music therapy. The work of the Music Literacy Trust is the focus of a series of presentations on Thursday afternoon (August 6) discussion panel.
Mark Loquan, the founder of the Trust, will give a presentation on the organisation’s history.
Trust CEO Jen Lee will present research on City Angels, the organisation’s educational efforts for children and music literacy which emphasises pan as a base in Southwest Port of Spain. The Trust has been part of a major push over the past decade to get scored full Panorama arrangements for both historic and contemporary Panorama arrangements.
Ray Funk and Dr Andrew Martin will present an overview of the his-
