UWI: Steelpan arranger Ray Holman 'an alchemist' of music

AT the last day of the University of the West Indies (UWI) graduation ceremonies on Saturday, honorary graduate Ray Holman was bestowed his DLitt degree.

The Faculty of Humanities and Education described him as an alchemist, mixing potions as a composer, arranger, performer, musician, vocalist and educator.

Known for his winning panorama arrangements such as I Feel Pretty and Penny Lane with Starlift Steel Orchestra, Queen of the Band and the Bulls, Holman’s many arrangements continued to be sought after.

He has been credited for exporting steelpan music to Japan with his musical directorship of The Caribbean Show in Miyazaki from 1993-1995.

Among the many local, regional and international awards, Holman was also the recipient of the Hummingbird silver medal for music in 1989, named one of the top 50 icons when TT celebrated its 50th independence, and honoured by the United States Congress and New York’s Folk Pan Institute as a legend of pan in 2001.

Valedictorian Rondell Mungal told his graduating class that it was important, and encouraged them, to embrace their uniqueness and "Caribbeanness".

“When I was younger, I felt something perhaps many of us may have experienced—a contempt for my Caribbeanness. There was this lack of recognition and appreciation and more than that, a denial of self, because to be authentically Caribbean is to be ourselves. At UWI, within this pressure cooker for learning, I found the courage to embrace my callaloo people.”

He added that the notion of perfection should not be taken seriously because it was within fault that creativity and possibilities exist.

“I’ve often found myself shackled to the idea of polished perfection and, while it has sometimes helped, that constant pursuit of perfection has bred a neurotic fear of failure that has often inhibited me from even trying. So, fellow graduands, dare to be messy! Dare to embrace the chaos, dare to become the child of Sycorax that you are and conjure the tempest to find the possibilities that lie within.

“Dare to be unapologetic as you live your truth, and you take up space. We were indoctrinated into a hierarchical world of scarcity but there is abundance. Dare to grow and make them hear you!”