This past July, hundreds of players and educators flocked to Denver, Colo., to attend the Pan Ramajay Summer Steel Drum Festival. The six day workshop took place on the University of Denver campus and featured classes and performances by some of the top players and educators from around the world, including Ray Holman, Alan Lightner, and festival founder, Tom Miller of Pan Ramajay.
PM recently caught up with Miller to discuss the festival, its roots, this years event and the impact its made on the Steelpan community.
How did the Pan Ramajay Summer Steel Drum Festival come to be? When did it start?
I was very fortunate to have been involved with Ellie Mannette’s, Festival of Steel, in Morgantown, W.V., each summer until 2008. It was such a wonderful experience to see Pan players come together to learn from and make music with Ellie and Pan greats Andy and Jeff Narell, Ray Holman, Robbie Greenidge, and others. I noticed that the majority of participants were largely from the eastern half of the US, which is in a closer proximity to West Virginia. It gave me the idea the perhaps a Pan festival located in the western half of the U.S. could accommodate Pan players from the western states that could not make it back east for whatever reasons each summer. So, in 2010, I started the Pan Ramajay Summer Steel Drum Festival on the University of Denver campus. It is a fabulous facility and Denver happens to have great access by air and automobile travel from the western states and U.S. at large. We have just held our fifth festival this past July with great success. Our guest artist faculty featured Ray Holman, Alan Lightner, Jim Munzenrider, Don Prorak and Rick Henson.
What is the goal of the festival?
The festival is a five-day event that focuses on Pan performance and education. The schedule of classes and events explores the music, technique, history, arranging, percussion rhythms and even how to utilize technology in Pan practice. Participants are typically grouped into one of three performing ensembles according to their self-determined experience level. The levels range from beginner to intermediate and advanced players. The groups have four rehearsals daily interspersed with convocation meetings and elective sessions. Evening concerts are also scheduled throughout the week.
Were there any stand-out moments or seminars from this year’s event? If so, what were they?
We were fortunate to have Ray Holman return to the festival again this year. Ray always brings such beautiful Pan music to this event. Ray also did a session of his musical influences throughout his career by performing on nylon string guitar and singing calypso. We also presented an evening concert through the University of Denver’s Summer Concert Series with the Pan ensemble, “Pan Nation,” featuring the guest faculty on some of their original compositions. The concert helped us reach the community at large in Denver, which was good exposure for the festival as a whole. Also, the great new music that Alan, Jim, Don and Rick bring always stands out.
What are some of the songs played during the closing concert?
The concert features a fair amount of original compositions and Ray’s 2014 Panorama entry, “The Wedding,” was performed as well as a gorgeous new ballad written by Ray in more of an orchestral style, sans drum set and engine room percussion. Don wrote a beautiful new tune, “Tempus Fugit,” which has a really unique feel for Pan. Alan’s, “Rise High”, Jim’s, “Off to the Races” and Rick’s, “Do you Mean It,” were also some of the originals featured. I will eventually publish all this original music from the festival at my sheet music website, ramajay.com, which really is a plus to continue building the existing repertoire of steel pan music out there.
How many people participated in the event this year? Is this an increase or decrease from previous years?
This year we had 52 people involved including the guest faculty and our pan tuner, Darren Dyke, who is essential to the week, as you might imagine. This is pretty much on par with past years’ participation, give or take. I have to say, that it really is all the participants that make this festival happen each summer and we could not do it without everyone. They all bring such an infectious enthusiasm and spirit to the week that creates a special sense of pan community, which in turn encourages and fosters the learning and creative process.
How will events like this impact the steel pan movement in the U.S. in the long run? What is the state of Pan today, both globally and in the U.S.?
My hope is that events such as Ramajay Summer Pan Fest, the Mannette Festival of Steel, the PANorama Caribbean Music Fest in Virginia Beach, and all the localized state festivals, will bring a greater knowledge and awareness of Pan, not only to participants, but to the public at large. The Steelpan movement has grown so much in the time I have been involved with it but it still is really in an infancy compared to other instruments. People need to hear more of this beautiful instrument and the beautiful original music that is being written for it now.
Are there any special plans for next year’s event?
Next years Festival dates are July 19-25, 2015. We will begin the planning process again later in the fall and updates can be found at ramajaypanfest.com as they occur.
Thank you for expressing interest in the Ramajay Summer Pan Fest and providing this interview for Pan Magazine.
