Local youth bands feel de vibe.
Members of the Jesse Ketchum Steel Band practice for Caribana Monday afternoon at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts.
Staff photo/NICK PERRY
As Caribana returns to Toronto, two groups of downtown Toronto youth will show off their steelpan skills to thousands of revellers.
The St. James Town Youth Centre Steel Orchestra and Jesse Ketchum Pan Vibrations will join the teeming Caribana festivities, taking part in the Pan Alive steel band competition - a celebration of Caribbean music - at Lamport Stadium on Friday, July 30.
The two bands have long histories within the community. The St. James Town orchestra started 17 years ago while the Jesse Ketchum band has been around for 14 years.
The former started as part of ongoing festivals being held in St. James Town.
"We would always bring in a guest steel band for multicultural festivals we held back in the '80s," said St. James Town Youth Centre Steel Orchestra spokesperson Ken Bhagan. "We finally decided to start up our own band for youth and they really enjoyed it."
The orchestra practises throughout the school year as an educational component of a camp run out of the youth centre and has members aged six to 24.
"We have young people who started here and have stayed with the band for years," Bhagan said.
In addition to teaching the kids the ins and outs of steel drum playing, the band helps them build social skills and confidence while playing in front of huge audiences.
"They'll be playing in front of 2,000 or 3,000 people at Lamport, but that's nothing new," Bhagan said. "These kids have been on national TV."
Jesse Ketchum Pan Vibrations, which practise at the Rosedale School of the Arts while their own school undergoes construction, will take part in Friday's Pan Alive competition and also join in the Caribana Parade on Saturday.
Former Jesse Ketchum Junior and Senior Public School teacher Heather McIvor decided to take point on starting up a steel band at the school after taking a vacation in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Trinidad was very multicultural throughout and I thought, 'Wow, that's just like our school,'" she said. "We have about 50 different nationalities at the school."
Jesse Ketchum students can start playing steel drums in Grade 4 and continue throughout their school years. Some band members stay on once their schooling is over, and the band boasts 39 players ranging in age from 11 to 30.
"This year, we seem to have an exceptional bunch," McIvor said. "It's fun for the students, but they're also very dedicated and talented."
The two bands will challenge for the Ontario Steelpan Association Pan Alive competition at Lamport Stadium at 1151 King St. W. from 7 p.m. to midnight on Friday, July 30.