Golden Hands tops ensemble category at National Steelband Music Festival

GOLDEN Hands has surged to the forefront of the Ensemble category of the Trinidad and Tobago National Steelband Music Festival, despite the death of its founder and leader Franka Hills-Headley, while preparing for the competition on August 7 at Naparima Bowl, San Fernando.

The band scored 543 points, 12 points ahead of its closest competitor, Phoenix, to qualify for a place in the finals, scheduled to take place on August 17 at Queen’s Hall.

Her daughter, Vanessa Headley-Brewster told the Newsday, the achievement is bittersweet.

“Going into this after mummy passed on Thursday (August 1) was difficult. I mean it was a given we were going to continue. I could not wrap up shop and start to mourn because she was working down to the wire. Wednesday night she rehearsed with the group.

“Out of all the times we have prepared for anything, I felt personally she really poured all into this festival. It meant a lot to her. So, we went into the festival with that mandate to demonstrate what we always say is the gold standard.

“We practiced straight down from Friday night up until the performance at Naparima Bowl and when it was time to execute, it was very emotional, especially on stage and even the atmosphere there. I was told people were crying in the audience and crying on the live stream. It took something for us to hold it together.

“At the same time, it wasn’t that hard because we just wanted to do that for her. It was bittersweet. We just wanted to demonstrate the pure pan excellence. That was mummy’s whole thing and that is just what we did.”

The bands winning pieces, David Rudder’s Oil and Music, the test piece was arranged by a former Golden Hands member, Joshua Bedeau, who is presently studying for his second master’s degree at Northern Illinois University (NIU). The tune of choice, Rhapsody in Blue was arranged and adapted by Headley-Brewster.

She explained how special these pieces were.

“Joshua actually came from NIU to see the performance in person. Coming out of the band, this was a life-long dream for him, having Golden Hands perform one of his arrangements. He also attended mummy’s funeral on August 8 at SAPA.”

She further explained Golden Hands was the first steelband to play Rhapsody in Blue, on pan.

“It was originally written for piano and orchestra. Pan Am North Stars played an adaptation accompanied by Winnifred Atwell on the piano, but this was the first time it was played purely on pan.

Wednesday night also signalled the start of the Orchestra category, with three bands in Pan Trinbago’s South/Central region – NGC Couva Joylanders, T&TEC Tropical Angel Harps, and Pan Elders – kicking off the competition, also held at the Naparima Bowl.

The orchestra leg of the competition will continue in the Tobago, North and East regions.

President of the Senate Nigel de Freitas and his wife, along with Culture and Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell, attended the event, which played off before a packed auditorium.

The orchestras performed two pieces: a scored test piece of David Rudder’s Dedication and a tune of choice.

Adjudicators in the ensemble category were Sherry Ann Saunders, Richard Pierre, Joanna Short and Michelle Huggins Watts. For the orchestra, judges were Richard Pierre, Dr Louis Nurse, Dr Roger Henry and Maria Achaiba.

Eight ensembles and eight orchestras will advance to the finals to vie for over $3 million in cash prizes. The first-place winner in the ensemble category will walk away with $100,000, and the top band in the orchestra category will receive a grand prize of $500,000. There will be no semifinal round.

Queen’s Park Savannah is the venue selected for the top eight orchestras to compete.

“It was a magnificent show,” said Blackett, commending the players and arrangers for the level of music, which she described as”sky-high.”

“The environment, playing at the Naparima Bowl, rather than at a panyard, added to the ambience and lifted the skills of the players. It was a really good show.”

President of Pan Trinbago Beverly Ramsey Moore was also bowled over by the atmosphere the Naparima Bowl offered.

“I am loss for words about what happened here in South. South took a different approach. Whilst we were going to the panyards for the other regions, South brought everybody into this great space, where the acoustic for this kind of event is tremendous.

“I really want to commend chairman of the South/Central Region Philip Barker and his team and the board of the Naparima Bowl for allowing us to use this space, for what I saw here tonight. They have definitely taken pan up another notch, and so we are really, really happy, especially in this month, which you know is Pan Month and in which we have several activities.”

She was pleased at the number of young people making their debut in this type of competition.

“It took a little bit of doing, in terms of having them calm down from the Panorama jam. “We have been through the single-pan category and that was amazing. The dress code, the discipline, the order, I mean that is something, as president, of which I am extremely proud. Proud that we could have mobilised in such a short space of time to execute this event.”

Ramsey Moore recalled that after Carnival she had a conversation with the Prime Minister, who made a call to bring back the classics.

She pointed out that classical music is all about the skills of the players.

“It’s a different feel from Panorama. It is all about the execution. Every band playing a test piece and the execution of that piece, and the dynamics added to the selection.”

“In Pan Trinbago we declared there is no season for this beautiful instrument, and our responsibility is to provide the enabling environment for all our bands, to ensure that they keep activities and pull young people within the sacred space of the panyard.

“Competition drives that community spirit, that community love, that patriotism. As much as we love having a stage side and all of that, competition brings a different type of ball game. What I saw here tonight, is exactly what we believe in and what we wanted.”

Ensemble results

Golden Hands – 543

Phoenix – 531

St Margeret’s Super Stars – 520

Alpha Pan Pioneers – 519

Hiltoppers Steelpan Academy – 518

Alumknights – 513

Sforzata – 510

Simple Song – 502

Power Stars – 501

Longdenvile Claytones – 486

Trinity All Generations Steel (TAGS) – 482

Potential Symphony – 478

Dixieland – 477

Augmented Groove – 475

Tamana Pioneers – 404