Sweet, sweet, music floated from the 11 steel bands participating in the 2014 Panorama Championship at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, with D’ Radoes wining the Champion trophy.
There was a tie for the second position with Casym Steel Orchestra and Adlib Steel Orchestra taking that spot.
Brooklyn residents and visitors from around the world were treated to the sweet rhythms of steel pan music as the finest steel orchestras in New York and Toronto played their hearts out to impress the judges.
Brooklyn’s Panorama like Trinidad’s is a major steel pan competition, where orchestras comprising 75 to 100 musicians play steel drums and a variety of other instruments. Each orchestra played a 10-minute rendition of a popular calypso and the prize went to the band with the best arrangement.
The panists played complex orchestrations from memory as a result of year-round practice to reach that level of excellence. They have to practice over and over again until the bandleaders decide that the notes are exactly right for presentation in the competition. Many pan tuners, arrangers, and judges come from Trinidad just to perform at this high level competition.
