OC percussionists to participate in nearby Steelpan Festival Feb. 15

OC’s steel drum performance will be part of the concert at the University of Oklahoma. 

February 14, 2020 - Oklahoma Christian University is ready to make some music at the annual Steelpan Festival hosted by The University of Oklahoma Feb. 15 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Created by OU’s Associate Professor of Percussion Lance Drege and OC’s director of instrumental ensembles Scott Filleman, the Pan Music Festival focuses solely on the steel drum. 

Steelpan is a type of percussion drum invented by Ellie Manette in Trinidad and Tobago, the southernmost island in the Caribbean. Scheduled around the same time as Panorama, an annual steelpan festival held within Trinidad and Tobago, OU’s Steelpan Festival offers Trinidadian sound to audiences both young and new.

Filleman is thrilled to give OC students the opportunity to experience authentic Trinidad and Tobago culture through attending this festival.

“Steelpan is not a performance instrument in its most traditional form; in its most authentic form, steelpan is about the people,” Filleman said. “Steelpan is authentically Trinidadian. It represents a people that went through some very real struggles to get a sound that they gifted to the world. They are fiercely proud of the instrument, but they’re also passionate about spreading its joy. We want to preserve and honor that as much as possible.”

Along with six other bands, the festival will include the pieces “Savannah Grass,” “Moving Day,” “Big People Party,” “Soka Junkie” and “Dance Macabre.” Each song is a mesh of the soul and calypso genres. OC will perform “Nah Going Home” and Bob Marley’s iconic “Three Little Birds” in solo performances.

Ian Robison, an OC steelpan player and a veteran performer at OU’s Steelpan Festival, discussed his favorite memory of the event. 

“One of my favorites was either from my junior or senior year in high school where the guitar (or cello) pan players--the players that play three different pans at once--from OU came up with some choreography for one of the songs and, soon, all of the guitar pan players starting following them. It was a blast,” Robison said.

Unlike other concerts, steelpan encourages audience interaction.

“This is like a rock concert in an auditorium,” Filleman said. “We want the mosh pit down in front, and we want the audience to be engaged: clapping, screaming-hooting-and-hollering. We want the audience to feel like they are part of this event.” 

The free Steelpan Festival will be held Saturday at OU’s Sharp Concert Hall.