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East of the River Police Boys and Girls Steelband |
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Steelpan Music Bridges Cultures |
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Accomplishments |
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Distinguished Trinidadian composer and arranger Roger Greenidge trains the students during after-school, Saturday and summer classes held throughout the year. Once proficient, the students are allowed to display their skills during performances. Since 1993, the Steelband has entertained nearly a million people in more than a half dozen states, the District of Columbia, and in the Caribbean. Among the Steelband’s notable performances are: opening ceremonies for the Washington-venue soccer games for the 1996 Olympics; the National Safe Schools Conference in Harrisburg, Pa. (1997); the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife (2000); and, Savannah’s Black Heritage Festival (2002). The Steelband has attended the Harambee Festival in Hendersonville, N.C. twice, has been to the original Gullah Festival in Beaufort, S.C. nine times and has performed three times at City Hall in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The Steelband has also performed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In the Greater Washington area, the Steelband has performed for patients, staff and families at the Washington Home for Senior Citizens, the Hospital for Sick Children and the Children’s National Medical Center, and for constituents and staff of the District of Columbia Public Schools, the D.C. Public Libraries and the D. C. Department of Recreation and Parks. Other area performances include the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Wolf Trap’s Theater in the Woods, and in December 2005, receptions for the National League of Cities and the Black Caucus of State Legislators. The Steelband has also entertained at events for such programs as Habitat for Humanity, the Black Family Reunion and Drug-Free Schools and Safe Communities. That the Steelband has accomplished its mission is evident in the recognition it has received: the U.S. Department of Education’s Drug-Free Schools and Safe Communities "Shining Star" award (1994); the District of Columbia’s Mayor’s Arts award for "Outstanding Emerging Artist" (1997); and the President’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities "Certificate of Excellence" (2000). In 2002, the Steelband took second place at the legendary "Amateur Night" at the Apollo Theater. Also to the band’s credit are an audiocassette tape, “Take One” and a CD, “Rising”. |
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East of the River Police Boys and Girls Steelband |
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Steelpan Music Bridges Cultures |
