Ten-year-old girl arranges for Panorama

TEN-YEAR-OLD Keisha Codrington will etch her name into steelband history today, as the youngest arranger in a National Panorama Competition. Success Stars Pan Sounds will premiere Keisha’s first effort as a Panorama arranger at today’s staging of the National Junior Panorama Competition, at the Grand Stand Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain. “Dead or Alive,” vocalised by reigning Road March Monarch Shurwayne Winchester is the tune-of-choice chosen by Success Stars Pan Sounds. The band will appear in position number 16 at the contest.

Junior Panorama is a production of Pan Trinbago’s Youth Arm, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. Today’s competition will not only present Keisha as the musical director of a band; it will also be her debut as a drummer. Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Keisha, the reigning World Steelband Music Festival soloist said she was happy to arrange the song for the band. She added: “Daddy told me that the band wanted me to arrange the song. I was happy. He didn’t say why the band wanted me to arrange the song,” she said. Keisha is a pupil at Laventille Girls Government Primary School, Laventille, and a grade three student of music.

In addition to the pan, she also plays the piano and percussion. Keisha completed the band’s Panorama tune last Friday and said she felt happy to hear the band play the entire song. “It wasn’t easy to start the song. I am a soloist. I now had to learn to do music for all the pans,” said Keisha. But Keisha did not turn to her father for help, rather her teenage brother Khari,14, and Kareem, 16. Her father Cary Codrington told Sunday Newsday, “In her absence I added arrangements to the song thinking I could help her and she took it out. She is stubborn. She doesn’t want my help. It seems she wanted to complete the song with advice from her brothers. They seem to be competing among themselves.” Delia Desouca, 15, captain of the Success Stars Pan Sounds said her band is ready to capture another Junior Panorama title. She said: “We are ready for competition. Player attendance and rehearsals have been good. Most of all, the school is very supportive of the band’s effort.”