Young Plett musos impress at international fest
Plett Pioneers Field Band (PPFB) participated in the second Annual International Marimba and Steelpan Festival (IMSF) last month, registering as ‘Small Open Ensemble’ and entering four of the competition categories.
This prestigious event, supported by Education Africa, St Benedict’s College and the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, was attended by participants from all nine SA provinces as well as Swaziland, Lesotho, Zim, France and Germany. Imagine more than 200 marimbas and steelpans, 72 institutions, 197 performances and 1400 participants at one amazing event!
The three esteemed music adjudicators were Andy Narell, Alex Jacobowitz and SA music legend Pops Mohamed. An IMSF patron, Narell is arguably the greatest solo steelpannist in the world, and classical marimba artist Jacobowitz shared his vast experience of an international perform.
Mohamed has amazing know-ledge of all things African and especially in the field of the continent’s music, and is a multi-instrumental performer with vast local and international experience.
PPFB scored top spots in two of the four categories, with a second place for their Strictly Classical performance of JS Bach’s Minuet in G, and a third for their In The Mix interpretation of Miriam Makeba’s famous Phata Phata.
To top it all, they also received the award for Best Overall Steelpan Performance, sponsored by IMSF patron Harry Partap – the high commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago.
The band thanks major sponsors Bitou Municipality, Ocean Blue, Hunter Hotels, The Grand, and Three Cities for making participation a reality, and extends gratitude to the following IMSF event sponsors who assisted with the trip budget: Bitou 10 Foundation, Education Africa, Dagbreek Eggs, and The Grand.
Your combined support has gone a long way to help the Field Band Foundation and Plett Pioneers Field Band enhance their effort to ‘create opportunities for the development of life skills in Plett youth through the mediums of music and dance’.
Source: CXpress