This past July, over 40 pan musicians gathered to attend the Pan Ramajay Summer Steel Band Festival in Denver, Colorado. The week-long event, from July 19-24, featured prominent players/clinicians Jim Munzenreider, Alan Lightner, Ray Holman and festival organizer, Tom Miller.
“There were 40 or so participants this year with the majority being at intermediate and advanced level,” said Miller. “We mixed the smaller beginner level into intermediate on several pieces to give them the experience of playing with a large ensemble as well as push them some. It seemed to work well, was a lot of fine for them and left no musical casualties.”
The event featured rehearsals for beginning, intermediate and advanced bands, which all performed arrangements that matched their skill levels. “I always enjoy the new original pan music that the faculty guests bring to the event,” said Miller. “The composers have a real natural feel for writing to the different skill levels we have at the festival, so eventually the titles can become a part of the Pan Ramajay Productions sheet music catalog offerings for other programs to utilize.”
Lectures also took place, including one from Holman on his musical influences. “Ray gave a real nice talk as to the prominent musical influences throughout his life, that helped to shape his composing and arranging styles for pan,” said Miller. “It was very interesting for the participants to hear him speak of the wide range of music from classical, jazz, pop and world styles, that Ray was drawn to and then drew upon to create the beautiful pan music that he is known for.”
The final concert took place at the Dazzle Jazz club in Denver, featuring the group Pan Nation and the guest artist faculty. Dazzle is a national Jazz venue that presents touring Jazz headliners as well as local Jazz groups. “We were fortunate that this venue was interested in presenting this concert,” said Miller. “It was a really nice atmosphere for a pan concert and nearly sold out. Future events of this kind from the festival will most likely continue there.”
The goal for the festival, as compared to other events of its kind like the Mannette Festival of Steel, is to provide a place for local players and enthusiasts to gather to celebrate the instrument. But for Miller, there’s also another goal he hopes to hit each year.
“I really feel excited about being a part of building the awareness of and participation in pan throughout the Rocky Mountain West region with the Denver/Boulder community at large. It is a bit more challenging in this region as the major cities have a farther proximity to each other as opposed to the east, midwest and west coast regions, so the awareness may be a bit lower overall,” Miller said. “But great progress is being made not only through this Pan Ramajay Summer Pan Fest but elsewhere in this region. There is a great new non-profit organization based here, the Steel Pan Collective, that sponsors a one-day pan music festival in June of each year, among other projects. Rocky Mountain Steel Bands has really grown into a presence here and there are several other elementary, high school and university programs that are fairly new as well.”
To learn more about the Pan Ramajay Summer Steel Band Festival, visit www.ramajaypanfest.com.
