For the second year the GBTI/Buxton Steel Orchestra walked away with the first prize for the school big band category in the Mash Steel Panorama competition and it is testimony to the hard work of the young members who have taken to steel pan.
While the band is less than five years old, coordinator Fitzroy ‘Rollo’ Younge, in an interview with The Scene said the young members are committed and they meet three days a week for practice but these days can increase if they are competing or have many engagements.
Buxton is said to have once had a rich history of steel pan which the community was proud of but like some things there was a time when this was not so. According to Younge, for about 50 years steel pan was absent in the village and back in 2010 a decision was taken to breathe some life back into it.
With its back-to-back win the village could now safely say that it has begun to once again stamp its authority in the steel pan world and Younge said this is just the beginning of much more to come. He recalled that when the band first entered the competition it placed fourth which was very disappointing but it was motivation enough to fight the next year. And fought it did as in 2014 it walked away with the top prize and did so again this year. If GBTI/Buxton Steel is to have its way the feat would be repeated come next year.
The fact that all 32 members are young people between the ages of 10 and 18, with more joining every year, it would not be wrong to say that the village’s steel pan life is in safe hands and it is hoped that the young people will allow the art to live on long after they may have exited the band.
All the members except for four children attend the Buxton Secondary School. Three of the four attend the Annandale Secondary School and another St Rose’s High and most of them live in the village.
Explaining the formation of the band Younge, who is a part of the Buxton Restoration Committee, said it was the idea of that committee to make steel pan a thing of the day in the village again because its members knew what an important role it once played.
And so in 2010, the committee orchestrated former president Bharrat Jagdeo’s first visit to the East Coast village and he later presented steel pan instruments to the village.
Since then there has been no looking back. The band started off which just eight members and in less than five years has grown to 32 and Young expects that it would continue to grow. He explained that some $8 million has since been invested in instruments for the band while instruments have also been donated.
“We did not have a steel band for about 50 years and back then there were about three powerful steel pan bands in the village. We wanted to bring back the art which had died…, we wanted to resuscitate,” Younge said.
Well the committee can probably be involved in some back thumping as from all indications the art form is now alive and well and one of the important objectives of forming the band is also being achieved and that is have the young children be involved in a meaningful activity after school.
“It is an after-school programme and rather than them being on the streets getting into trouble, they come and practice,” Younge said.
He said one of his main roles is to help to “steer the youths in the right direction”.
The band’s trainer, tuner and arranger is Frank Lynch from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and Younge said he has been with them for the last three and a half years.
Asked if there is a specific criteria for members to join, Younge said there is none once the child is interested and committed then he/she has a chance. He explained that new members are encouraged to indicate their interest in July of each year which is the time when Republic Bank funnels money into the art form through the Ministry of Culture, which would see a three-week training programme being held. The training programme is for bands across the country and it is following this programme that new members for those bands are added. Following the programme there is a graduation held at the Pegasus Hotel.
Younge said the band is usually booked for at least two or three times a month and the members receive a stipend whenever they play out. During the Christmas season the band is in demand and Younge said their calendar became so hectic last year that the band had to be split in two to meet the demands.
There is no doubt that the band, which is solely sponsored by the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), would continue to stamp its authority in local steel pan as according to Younge the young members have the passion to keep it going.
