August 3, 2016: The National Steel Symphony Orchestra of Trinidad and Tobago under the baton of conductor Jessel Murray delivered fantastic and exhilarating performances of their 2016 theme, Journey of the Ancestors at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, San Fernando on July 31 and August 1.
Journey of the Ancestors is a tribute and musical celebration of the ancestors of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. According to conductor Jessel Murray, “the 2016 version of Pan on a Higher Note – Journey of the Ancestors is a tale of two acts. The first act is a showcase of orchestra orthodoxy in pairs: two Viennese works and two British tone poems as well as two spirituals and two South African works. The second act is a series of self-contained suites”.
The concert consisted of performances by the Orchestra with a guest cast comprising of soprano soloist Turon Nicholas, soprano soloist Anikha Ballah, guitarist Larry Lee Luck, the Metamorphosis Dance Group, Flamenco Dancer Nalini Akal and the Presentation College Senior Choir. The repertoire included Johann Strauss II’s Fruhlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) transcribed by Nervin Saunders, Albert Ketelbey’s In a Persian Market and In a Monastery Garden transcribed by Jeannine Remy, Ernesto Lecuona’s Malaguena, Sergei Prokofiev’s Prokofiev Suite transcribed by Jeannine Remy and Dorothy Masuka’s Pata, Pata .
This event hosted by the Culture Division of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts was attended by Dr the Honourable Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts who along with her family enjoyed the evening of musical excellence particularly the final segment of the show which culminated with a tribute to the late national pan arranger and composer Jit Samaroo with the Orchestra playing two of his renowned pieces namely “Pan Parranda”,“Ustsav Ki Awaz” and a Jit arrangement of “Pan in A Minor”. The audience was exhilarated with this perfect ending to a wonderful evening of musical beauty.
Members of the Metamorphosis Dance Group at Pan on a Higher Note 2016.
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