- December 23, 2024
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Maken Harding (with mallet in the air), Lexi Rausch, Julie Bogdanov and Tristan Lee. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas steel band instructor, Dr. Jared Allen, speaks to the audience. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Blue Steel (advanced) Band performs. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Christian Martin, in the gingerbread man costume, plays the six bass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
From left, Maken Harding (with mallet in the air), Lexi Rausch and Julie Bogdanov. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Carissa Simmons on the six bass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Collin Jones on the drums. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alicia Naticchione on the six bass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mason Seepersad on the six bass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Haley Olson acknowledges the audience as the Trinidad band is introduced. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Blue Steel (advanced) Band members perform. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Trinidad and Tobago bands are introduced. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Natalie Mill, second from right. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dr. Jared Allen doesn't like seeing all the seats filled at a Matanzas High School Blue Steel concert.
He would prefer the audience members get out of their seats, sing, dance and get into the spirit of the Caribbean-inspired music.
"It's a full experience for the audience," he said, a few days before the Pirates' six steel band classes performed "A Holiday Extravaganza" on Thursday, Dec. 15, at Flagler Auditorium.
Allen is one of three full-time public school steel band teachers in the state of Florida. He teaches six classes with over 200 combined students, all of whom performed at the extravaganza.
"It's very loud, high energy music. Most songs are fast-paced polyrhythms and are very complex to play."
— JARED ALLEN
Encouraging audience participation is not the only thing that sets a Blue Steel concert apart from most other school band concerts.
The advanced Blue Steel band, which leads Matanzas's steel band program and won a silver medal at the 2022 Virginia international PANFest, performed first at the extravaganza, while the three beginner bands performed last.
"I like to save the beginners for last," Allen told the audience, noting that most of the beginners walk into the classroom in August having never played an instrument and not knowing how to read music. Through the first semester they learn how to play individually and then how to make music as a group.
That progress makes the beginners "super impressive," Allen said.
VOICES OF A CHOIR
Allen has been Matanzas' steel band director since 2016. Before that, he was the percussion director at St. Petersburg's Johns Hopkins Middle School, where he taught steel band, percussion, piano and guitar. There are 60 to 70 steel band school programs in Florida, he said.
Matanzas has had a steel band program since the high school opened in 2005. Former principal Chris Pryor introduced the program and Rachel Palmer was hired as the director. Steel band became so popular that Palmer became a full-time steel pans teacher.
Steel band music originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s as part of the Carnival resistance to government restrictions. The steel pans are the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century, said Allen, who earned a master's degree in Carnival studies in Trinidad.
The pans that make up a steel band imitate the voices of a choir, Allen said. The tenor pans have the highest pitch, like a soprano, and cover the melody. The double seconds are the alto or medium high voice. They strum the chords and plays notes at the same time, Allen said.
The guitar pan has the medium-low voice. And the six bass, which consists of six large barrels played by one individual, has the bass voice.
The result is a very unique Caribbean sound.
"It's very loud, high energy music," Allen said. "Most songs are fast-paced polyrhythms and are very complex to play."
'ALWAYS GOOD VIBES'
Senior Lexi Rausch is in her third year in the program and is a member of the advanced Blue Steel band. She plays the tenor pan.
"I like having the melody parts," she said. "Its more challenging."
The two intermediate bands are named Trinidad and Tobago. They performed individually and together at the Extravaganza. The beginner bands are named after three "Behind the Bridge" neighborhoods of Trinidad that are associated with the origin of steel pan music — Laventille, Gonzales and Belmont.
Many newcomers to the Matanzas program start in the intermediate class if they know how to read music, Allen said. Senior Aidan Newbolt has an extensive background in music playing violin in the Flagler Youth Orchestra and alto saxophone in the Matanzas jazz, marching and symphonic bands. But the beginner steel band class was the only one that fit his schedule.
"This class was something I hadn't done yet," said Newbolt, who plans to major in psychology and minor in music education in college.
While he has learned to play the pans, he asked to play the drums in the beginner band. A lot of steel band directors play the drums themselves, but at Matanzas it has been a tradition that students play the drums, Allen said. Newbolt had never played drums before, but he is thriving with another new instrument, Allen said.
As the beginner bands played, the other steel band members danced in a line around the auditorium.
"The music is fun," Rausch said. "There are always good vibes when we perform, especially in front of a crowd. Tonight was a lot of fun."
