Sophia plays pan for the glory of God

AS the big bands battle in the Queen’s Park Savannah for the title of best steelband in the land, one pannist will be standing in the middle of the Exodus pans giving praise to God for giving her the gift of life and music. Meet Sophia Subero, a young lady with focus and determination to use her musical abilities for the glory of God.

“I went to Barbados once and had the opportunity to play in a church along with a pannist who himself is into full time ministry. People told me after the performance that they were truly moved by the pan performance. It was then that I realised that I didn’t need words to worship God. Since childhood, my dream was to be a singer and I never lost that dream. I always saw myself singing gospel music but with the gift of pan that God gave me, I can reach people just the same. I’d like to play music for the glory of God because without him we are nothing. People need to realise that the earth is on loan to us,” declared the pleasant Arima native.

Sophia has been playing pan for as long as she can recall. Her skill and persistence earned her first place in the first World Steelband Festival solo category. She is the only woman to date to have earned the award. She has also been blessed to have played with Exodus during two of their winning seasons. Regarding her initial interest in pan, she said, “To be honest I just wanted to do whatever my sisters were doing and they always played. When my interests grew I began going to a school that Maureen Clement had established. Although the group was very young, we were very active. “It was difficult at times, but I’m someone who loves challenges. If I was given an easy piece to play I was always reluctant and was always eager to play pieces which were more difficult. The fact is that I just love playing and that makes it very easy to put the extra effort into getting things done to the best of my ability.

When Clement’s Entertainers Music School entered the Music Festival, Sophia would be introduced to the world of stage performances. “I virtually lived at Queen’s Hall for the Music Festival period. I played recorder and pan at the festival actually. I earned first place for recorder solo and several second and third places for vocal duets and so on. But in 1994 I was introduced to Exodus through Maureen. Maureen was at the time affiliated with Exodus and she took us there at a very young age for the experience,” said the St Joseph’s Convent graduate, who joined Exodus at age 11. The humble and grateful young lady gives a lot of credit for developing her overall musical ability to Maureen Clement, who takes a great interest in Sophia’s development to this day.

“I taught her from the beginning that she was always a very promising student. And now she’s very good, a very technically correct player. Sophia is a quick learner and she had a good mentor as well in her sister, who won a lot of competitions before her,” said Clement. Clement noted that Sophia is still young and has a lot to learn. Some of that learning can only come through experience but she is dedicated to her craft. I believe that she would soon become involved in the advanced aspects of the music, such as composing and arranging. Having been involved in competitive pan playing from such a young age one may wonder how Sophia managed to balance pan with a successful academic life.

“It is very time consuming so it wasn’t always possible to attend every single practice.” She laughed as she added, “It wasn’t always easy to get to school on time either. I’m a lot more responsible now. Actually what I used to do to cope with the loss of sleep was to sleep through lunch. I slept through several classes. I remember sleeping straight through some double periods.” “Anyone involved in anything to the extent that I’m involved in pan needs to have good time management.” Regarding her school life, Sophia said, “I actually recall not liking school at all when I was young. I attended a pre-school around the corner from my house and I used to run away. Don’t get me wrong, I was always eager to learn but when I look back, the system never seemed practical to me and I’m a very practical person. I need to see the practical use of something in actual situations. I never got into fights. I only got licks once and always did homework but not because I liked it but because I’m afraid of licks bad bad bad!”

“If there is one thing that I could change is that I would be a more focussed student, although I always did okay at school,” continued Sophia.
That attitude change took place while Sophia was pursuing her Advanced Level qualifications. “Only in Sixth Form did I realise the importance of academics, and I began to really study. I had a lot of encouragement from my then Spanish teacher. A lot of the things he said guided me to where I am today, and now I’m more focussed than ever before.” Sophia is currently pursuing a BA in Music and Arts at the University of the West Indies. The accomplished musician added, “I played with Lydian Steel with Pat Bishop. That experience was invaluable to me. We went on tour to Miami but I never entered any competitions with them. It didn’t matter though, because playing with them helped me to develop musically. Everyone there knows music and it motivated me in a big way. I learned about music history and how certain technical things are done in music in general.”

When asked about her involvement in pan and a possible conflict with her spiritual life, Sophia replied, “When I joined Exodus everyone knew that I wasn’t going to get involved in anything that went against God’s will, so no one ever tried to get me into doing anything like that. Everyone knows the role that the church plays in my life. Playing pan is a gift and I love to play. I don’t see the conflict.” Her mild tone became firm and assertive as she declared, “In everything, regardless of what it is, you just have to take a stand and let people know what you stand for in life. They’ll respect you for that as long as you respect them in turn.” Regarding the future of pan in general, Sophia gave another profound contribution. “Vision is a very important thing. We need a common vision. In any organisation the cliche of united we stand and divided we fall applies. We need to have a common goal for the instrument. The problem is that people want the best for themselves, and not the instrument. We need to avoid seeking personal interests regardless of if that’s human nature or not — it’s simply not right. We need an organisation, a group with a vision for the instrument that would help to get things done and move the art form in the right direction.” With her talent, determination and God’s blessings, it would not be far-fetched to believe that Sophia would one day play an instrumental role in the positive movement of the art form.