Pan in safe hands

YVONNE WEBB

Coordinator of the Pan in School council, Patricia Adams, has commended primary and secondary school students for the excellent level of play witnessed in this year’s schools pan competition.

Adams and San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello said judging from what they have seen among the 40 schools competing for places in the National Junior Panorama finals, pan has a secure future.

They spoke to reporters after the panyard judging of Naparima Combined Steel, which utilised the pan and facilities of Skiffle Steel Orchestra at Coffee Street, San Fernando, yesterday. The combined team consists of students from Naparima Girls’ High School and Naparima College. It is the schools debut into the competition.

Naparima Girls’ past student turned arranger, Desiree Seecharan, combined her skills with that of co-arranger Shaquille Vincent to create a version of Falling sung by Kes to bring victory to the combined team.

Adams, who has been travelling around with the judges, said, “The standard of play is really good. Our young people are excelling and are getting better and better.”

Regrello, Skiffle’s manager who made his facilities and pans available for the team, said: “What I saw today, augurs well for the future of the artform. I see young people coming from well-established institutions like Naparima Boys and Girls, committed to the cause. This speaks volumes for the future. I am happy and proud of what I saw.”

Regrello’s son, Joshua, a former Naparima College student who now leads Skiffle, told the combined team he wanted the south to make a clean sweep in all the panorama categories.

He said Skiffle, which is seeking to win its first Panorama title, “has set the bar high” placing second in the preliminary round of the competition and he wants Naps combined to keep the focus and bring home the title. Pan Elders of Coffee Street, San Fernando is the defending champion in the medium category.

Musicologist and former Naparima Girls’ music teacher Bernadette Roberts said this is a dream that has been in the making for several years, but the timing this year was perfect.

School principal Carolyn Bally-Hosein said for years the school has been achieving excellence in academics, sports and other disciplines. She said their foray into panorama is but another attempt to diversify their curriculum in an effort to produce well-rounded students.