With numbers growing in the National Youth Orchestra of Steel, a home is needed, says music director Lowrey Worrell.
Worrell called for help from the private sector during a press conference at the West Terrace of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), St Michael’s headquarters on Wednesday.
The music director reported that the orchestra now has over 90 members, with an increase in applicants for the initial program and the orchestra following their excellent performances during the Crop Over Festival.
“We need private Barbados investment – the private sector – because the pans are not cheap and as the program grows. We need more pans, we need more infrastructure. We will soon run out of space. I mean St Leonard’s is a school, [but] we want to have our own house and it helps to tutor better. We need to increase tutors as the group grows,” revealed Worrell.
He acknowledged that the NCF was a major contributor to the orchestra’s success [the NCF invested $250, 000 in developmental programmes during this year’s Crop Over season] but stressed that private sector investments were also necessary.
“The NCF has shown their support, [we] it just takes other people to show their support.”
“We are seeing and being heard. after Pandemonium, I was contacted by the CEO of Republic Bank Exodus who said he was looking into it [Republic Bank Pandemonium]. He was in awe of the young people, and this is Trinidad, the Mecca of Pan… If they can see the value, if Canada can see the value, it means the rest of the world can see the value in what we’re doing. we do,” Worrell. he insisted.
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The music director said he was shocked by the overwhelming response to the orchestra at the National Botanic Gardens for Pandemonium. He emphasized that there was a growing interest in the instrument in schools and concluded that the development program of the KKK has thus been successful.
“The KKK has given us the task to develop pana through our students or through the community….[Through] The Pans In The School program which was initiated this year by NCF and music officer Kevin Moore, we have been able to draw from schools to include members in the National Steel Orchestra, which shows that the development of pans across the school can function and it can help the wider country.”
“I am very pleased to say that the pan program is growing. From outside [Republic Bank] Pandemonium, we’ve had people call and start in the startup program and also join the orchestra because they liked what they saw,” added Worrell.
