Awardee wants to arrange for Renegades

MIKHAIL NEILS, the first recipient of the BPTT Jit Samaroo Award, wants one day to arrange for BP Renegades.

The award is open to members of Renegades who are pursuing creative arts degrees. He is in his third year of study for a Bachelor’s in Performing Arts in Music at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).

He received his cheque at the Renegades' panyard on October 15 from the band’s executive team and Balmatie Samaroo, widow of the late arranger Jit Samaroo, and their daughter Amrita.

“This award means a lot to me, especially being the first recipient. It is a great pleasure to receive such an award from BPTT and the Samaroo family,” Neils said. “My next step is to become an ace tuner, a soloist and arranger for Renegades.”

Neils comes from a musical family. His father was a member of Renegades and is now one of the top pan tuners, said a media release.

“I consider my father my main inspiration as I take on this path in my life. He gives me the confidence and drive that I need to stay on this track,” Neils said, adding that he is learning pan-tuning from his father.

The young musician joined BP Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra in 2008, playing the tenor pan, and has been a member of Renegades for five years, playing the double second pans.

BPTT launched the Jit Samaroo Award in 2017 to align its support for Renegades with the company’s focus on development through education.

The award will be offered to one recipient a year who will receive $10,000 a year for full-time undergraduate programmes, $8,000 for part-time programmes and $6,000 for diploma or certificate programmes. Recipients must satisfy academic criteria to continue to receive payment and must pledge their commitment to the band depending on the length of their programme.

President of the BP Renegades Michael Marcano believes the award is critical to the development of the band.

“To this organisation, this is very important, because as a music organisation we have to look towards the future and what we want the future to represent. In the future everything will call for formal knowledge, So we are desirous of training all of our players to be complete musicians. So this bursary is a step in that direction and for that, we are very thankful to BPTT,” he said.

This year BP Renegades celebrated its 70th anniversary. BP has been a sponsor since 1970.

Samaroo has been hailed as one of TT’s best pan arrangers. His relationship with BP Renegades spanned over four decades. During that time he led the band to nine national Panorama titles, including a hat-trick from 1995-1997. He was awarded the Hummingbird Medal of Merit (silver) in 1987, the Chaconia Medal (silver) in 1995 and an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies in 2003. He died in 2016.