Written by Bill Willets and Ted Goslin
On Saturday, May 7th, the New York Pan Stars of Brooklyn, N.Y. took home the title of Grand Champion in the annual Virginia International PANFest. The competition took place at the 24th Street Pavilion in the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
The festival included a day-long workshop on Friday, May 6th, followed by a full day of adjudicated performances broken into several categories. Those categories showcased different levels of performers that included the following winners:
Elementary/Middle School – CAFE Rhythm Starters
High School – Rhythm Project All-Stars
Community – New York Pan Stars
Private Studio – Mosaic Steel Orchestra
The headlining groups included the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and Northern Illinois University (NIU) Steel Orchestra, led by steelpan virtuoso Liam Teague. Akua Leith, who is working on a Master’s degree at NIU, joined the group for an opportunity not available to him in his home country of Trinidad & Tobago.
“Back in Trinidad they only offer you an education up to a Bachelor’s degree but at NIU I can obtain a Master’s. That was the driving reason,” Leith said. “Outside of that, more emphasis is placed on scoring and the composition and using time wisely. The skill set here is also very high so we get to marry the best of both worlds together.”
The adjudicators of the event this year included CJ Menge, Dr. Jeannine Remy, Dr. Dawn Batson, Yuko Asada and Trinidadian steelpan legend, Cliff Alexis.
“This is my first time and I am really really impressed with things even as simple as the stage setup and the sound – they have done everything very well and it is very thought out,” said TJ Bouda King, another member of NIU Steel Orchestra. “I am very impressed. The bands and the quality of music here from elementary to the high school level is very impressive and something everyone should check out.”
