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Diatonic Pan Institute to represent Trinidad in St. Vincent & the Grenadines Diatonic Pan Institute would be representing Trinidad and Tobago in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the celebration of their 35th Anniversary of Independence. Members of the Diatonic Pan Institute are schedule to take part in various Independence Concerts during the period 25th October – 28th October 2014 with the 27th of October being Independence Day. The invitation was sent from the National Independence Committee in conjunction with the Youlou Pan Movement. The Youlou Pan Movement is the Governing body for steelpan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Diatonic Pan Institute represented Trinidad and Tobago in Folkmoot USA, North Carolina's Official International Folklore Festival. This festival took place July 18-27, 2014 and is a two-week celebration of the world's cultural heritage through folk music and dance. In 2014, some 250 colorfully costumed traditional dancers and musicians from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), Trinidad, Colombia, Russia, Turkey, Romania, and Hawaii, USA, along with groups representing Appalachian and Cherokee cultures performed. The Festival is headquartered at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville, about 25 miles west of Asheville, but performances can be seen in 12 cities, including Asheville, Hendersonville, Franklin, Burnsville, Maggie Valley and Waynesville. The Festival is now 28 years old and more than 200 groups from 100 different countries have attended the festival to date. Diatonic Pan Institute prepared and performed a package of a cultural mix of pan and dance that truly represented this nation and the versatility of the steelpan.
Diatonic Folkmoot Festival Performance
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Proclamation
Diatonic Vacation Pan Class 2014 Diatonic Pan Institute concluded its Vacation Pan Camp for minors (6-12 years) on 22nd August 2014 ending in a graduation. The programme ran for 6 weeks and was administrated by Summer Balkaran – Vice Captain of Diatonic. Because most of Diatonic instruments was out of the country on our recent travel to North Carolina for the Folkmoot Festival space was limited. A total of 17 children participated in the programme and was thought to play the pan by tutor - Mr. Roland Moose Joseph with assistants, Sean Thompson, Patricia Thomas, Kyle Williams and Zaria Baxam. They were also introduced to sports– cricket and football to be exact which was co-ordinated by Wayne Sylvester and Sheldon Raymond. This is our 2nd year of staging the vacation pan camp and thankfully we were able to offer the programme free of charge because of the sponsorship of Point Lisas Nitrogen Limited.
National Steelband Music Festival – Pan is Beautiful XII Diatonic Steel Orchestra participated in its first major National Competition ‘The National Steelband Music Festival – Pan is Beautiful XII’. Our involvement in this exercise was very demanding requiring some adjustment to our planned 2013 projects in order to successfully participate. Diatonic competed with distinction among seasoned campaigners, performing the test piece Mr. Pan Maker arranged by Mikey Frederick and a Tchaikovsy piece; Symphony 4, 4th movement, arranged by the youthful Khion De Las. We made it to the final, emerging as the crowd favorite and questionably not placing in the top three. More important it was an enjoyable exercise and lots of relationships were established with players and other steel orchestras. OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT HOWEVER IS THE RESPECT WE NOW ENJOY IN THE STEELBAND MOVEMENT.
Diatonic Pan Institute - Vacation Pan Classes Diatonic Pan Institute staged its 1st Vacation Pan Classes from the 08th July – 09th August 2013 culminating in a successful graduation exercise on 10th August 2013. The class was open to children between the ages 6 – 12 years and was an extremely enriching experience for all. We at Diatonic make youth development our primary concern and the result of these pan classes were extremely rewarding to us. The program was also used as an opportunity to develop our youthful members, and as such the classes was administered by our nineteen (19) year old steelband Vice Captain – Summer Balkaran and five (5) other members of Diatonic all secondary school students as tutor assistants.
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Proclamation of Steelband Appreciation Week - Indiana
Diatonic Mayoral Certificate - Indiana
Diatonic Steel Orchestra Pan Tour to Indiana Diatonic Steel Orchestra recently returned from a nine days tour (October 07- 16) of five cities in Indiana. The tour was organised as a means of assisting the Indiana Steelband Association in establishing the steelpan in an Indiana community where most of the citizens never saw the steelpan least hear one.
Diatonic Steel Orchestra objective however, being a division of Diatonic Pan Institute, was to create some level of commerce through the sales of steelpans and to bring visitors to the shores of Trinidad and Tobago. The tour proved to be a success beyond what was envisage. The Governor of Indiana proclaimed the week Pan Appreciation Week in honour of Diatonic visit, and the Mayor of Indianapolis gave the Mayoral Certificate of Appreciation on the occasion. In addition, cultural ties were established with the Indiana Wesleyan University where they will be purchasing pans to establish a steelband at the University and sending students to Trinidad annually for tutoring in the art of playing the instruments.
Diatonic, before leaving Indiana was instrumental in the formation of an Indiana community steelband, a project expected to yield further commerce through the purchase of instruments to complement those donated by Diatonic.
Diatonic takes this opportunity to thank T&T Entertainment Company for their tremendous support in making this tour possible. Also, Point Lisas Nitrogen Limited for their timely intervention and the Tourism Development Company. SEE PHOTO GALLERY ON HOME PAGE FOR OTHER PICTURES |
Mr Panmaker -
