Kemp kids relate to steelpan culture

Pots and pans could be flying off the shelves to make music following a steelpan drum workshop for Grade 5 students at Jack Kemp Community School.

The fun workshop was taught by Danielle George with the Trincan Steel Orchestra in Edmonton to kick off the school’s recent multicultural heritage day.

“It’s so much fun.

I started when I was seven,” said George.

She says her dad moved from Trinidad to Edmonton years ago and realized there wasn’t anything from back home, so he started the steelpan band.

The steel orchestra just celebrated its 40th anniversary and performs at parades and festivals and birthday parties and weddings.

George promotes panning on her All Things Pan Facebook page, which caught the attention of someone from the school who thought it would be great for kids to learn and signed her up.

“I brought a whole bunch of steel pans for the kids and then I brought my own pan to play for them later,” said George.

The itinerary for the day included an afternoon assembly with presentations about Ukraine and Finland and musical entertain - ment with more panning by George and Mexican music by the Mariachi Project.

“It’s a day to celebrate all of our students and backgrounds and cultures,” said school principal Elena Brand.

“There’s lots of opportunity to learn something new and different.”

The cultural mix included taekwondo and kung fu demonstrations, Indian dances, powwow dancers and Metis jigging.

George was also invited to talk about the history of Trinidad and the steelpan and the effect it has on players and listeners.

“It’s a release. It’s like when you play the piano. Depending on the song you want to dance to, you want to party and also just seeing people have fun,” she said.

The pan is the national musical instrument of Trinidad and Tobago.

George told the class there are individual notes on the pan that you strike with rubbertipped sticks.

“If you play a lot of piano or guitar, you’ll get it faster than someone who hasn’t played an instrument before,” George said.

One of the fast learners was an enthusiast named Dominic who offered his take on the steel pan.

“I’d say it’s a nice rhythm and it makes me feel happy,” he said adding, “we played Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

Dominic also explained you have to play the notes in a specific order.

With his ear for music, the youngster told reporters George was currently playing Three Little Birds on the steelpan.

The pan may have another new young fan named Ava who was digging her class playing time.

“It was fun and it was cool to like play and stuff,” said the Grade 5 student.

She says she also learned the pan was hard to play and “you have to really know the notes and know where the notes are.”

Brand explained learning new instruments is part of the curriculum and multiculturalism is a part of the music curriculum with the steelpan drumming targeting the Grade 5s.

“We’ve done a number of activities with our Grades 4 and 6 classes. The students are just sitting back and able to enjoy. We are doing a cultural dress day, so they can wear a cultural outfit,” said Brand.

“We also have a luncheon that parents and families can share with their kids’ classrooms.”

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Thursday, March 23, 2023

MERIDIAN SOURCE