Keisha is the #1 pannist in the world

TEN-YEAR OLD Keisha Codrington is the number one steelpan soloist in the world. Codrington earned the prestigious title for her scintillating rendition of Lord Kitchener’s “Pan Night and Day,” at Thursday night’s finals of the biennial World Steelband Music Festival at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s. Keisha’s father Cary Codrington arranged the song for the competition. She successfully beat defending champion Leon Foster Thomas from the United States into sixth position and returned the glory to Trinidad and Tobago. Thomas, a foreign-based local pannist, who is pursuing his Masters Degree in Music at Florida Memorial College, was no match for the Standard Four student of Laventille Girls’ Government School, according to the three-member panel of adjudicators of Merle Albino De Coteau, Junior Augustus Howell and Joycelyn Pierre. Keisha scored 281 points for her mesmerising performance.

Thomas played his own composition entitled “A Night’s Tale” and gathered 258 points. Keisha’s performance set her ten points ahead of soloist front-runner Kenneth Joseph, who was nestled in the second spot for his interpretation of Christian Sinding “Rustle of Spring.” He scored 271 points. In the duet segment of the competition Thomas and Alea Nicholson were adjudged winners with a score of 274, a three-point difference from second place contestants Keisha and Cary Codrington. Thomas and Nicholson chose Chopin’s “Etude in F Opus No. 25,” while the Codringtons played “Sonata.” The Single Pan Band title was awarded to Dem Boys of Tobago, under the musical direction of Rodney Stowe. Dem Boys amassed 528 points for their rendition of the test piece “Symphony In G” from the song book of Lord Kitchener and Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amor,” as its tune-of-choice. The performance by Dem Boys was so outstanding that the Tobago representatives beat defending champion Marsicans into second place by a margin of 23 points. Marsicans earned a total score of 505 points.