Get the latest gossip
‘Power of music’: steel pan bands foster joy and resilience at Trinidad and Tobago carnival
Caribbean country’s steel band competition, held this year amid escalating violence, celebrates an instrument born out of colonial resistance
A crescent moon hung in the cloudless sky over Trinidad and Tobago(T&T), as steel pan orchestras pushed through a throng of thousands of supporters who had gathered to greet them outside the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain. On stage on Saturday, rival orchestras used drama, poetry and dance to introduce their musical arrangements before exploding into an electrifying blend of rhythms that were greeted by the crowd with giddy, unadulterated joy. Akua Leith, a pan expert and managing director of pan-fabricators Musical Instruments of Trinidad and Tobago Company, said the art form doesn’t just represent national culture and identity.
Or read this on The Guardian
