Small bands judging begins for Panorama 2020

GARY CARDINEZ

THE 2020 National Panorama competition for conventional steel orchestras begun on Monday evening with the Small bands in the Northern region. First up was West Stars from Water Wheel Road, River Estate, Diego Martin.

In addressing the band, Pan Trinbago’s president Beverley Ramsey-Moore told the pannists. “Pan Trinbago salutes you for embracing the changes we are making and despite the challenges of not receiving your start-up funds you have shown resilience. You are digging deep, empowering yourselves and have risen to the occasion. I thank these youthful and dynamic players, now execute your music with precision.”

With a bright moon hovering over the historic Water Wheel compound the 46 members of West Stars performed a well-balanced rendition of Len "Boogsie" Sharpe’s Music In We Blood, arranged by Kevon Duncan, and provided a great start to the competition.

After the performance manager Joanna Blugh told Newsday, "It was really rough getting ready for tonight. We begged for some sponsorship and got Sanicup to give us the T-shirts. And we had to use our personal funds just to make it happen.”

The second band to be judged was Merrytones which was just a stone's throw away. Sadly, the pannists did not look like they were ready for the competition. There was no uniformity in their dress but that did not stop the 44 members from giving arranger Jamal "Mec Mec" Gibbs their best as they performed his arrangement of Baron’s This Melody Sweet.

Before they played, Merrytones asked for one minute of silence for Norris Lewis one of their members who died on Monday.

The third and final band for the evening was Harvard Harps situated at The Harvard Club in St James. The members and supporters were anxiously awaiting the judges as they had everything well laid out.

Harvard Harps looked very good in their black jerseys and the players were hyped. They played Kitchener’s Mystery Band arranged by their new arranger Professor Liam Teague. The music was interpreted by Malaina Moffett who also acted as the drill master. Harvard Harps had a complement of 46 players.

Leader/manager Carl Daly also said Harvard Harps is an unsponsored band and it had to raise funds to prepare for the competition.

The small bands were entitled to $12,000 for preparation for the competition but according to Ramsey-Moore the organisation is still to receive its annual allocation. One major change to the competition is the date for both the semi-final and final rounds. Both competitions were pushed back by one week to January 11 and January 18 2020, respectively.