Published on:
28
March 2013
Lornshill Academy Steel Band have made their debut concert, less than four months after £10,000-worth of steel drums arrived at the school from the Caribbean.
It was a dream come true for Lornshill Academy music teacher, Maureen Howitt. Originally from Florida and Virginia, Maureen moved to Leicester, England in 2003 where she first worked as a peripatetic percussion tutor.
A Bachelors of Music in Music Education, she graduated with a first-class honours degree from the University of Florida with an emphasis in Percussive Studies.
She said: "I had four years experience performing in a professional steel drum ensemble, nine years experience as a music teacher in the UK and 20 years experience as a percussionist.
"Ever since leaving the US I have always dreamed of running a steel band. It was my favourite ensemble to perform with because of its relaxed atmosphere and lack of pressure when performing."
And in December, the Lornshill Academy teacher's dream became reality when the specially made drums from Trinidad arrived at the school.
The band was formed thanks to a £10,000 grant from "Awards for All."
Maureen added: "I heard about "Awards for All" from my husband and when I looked on their website I got hopeful that my idea might have a chance. I got the go ahead from my head teacher to proceed with the application.
"I decided to wait until after the Olympics to submit the application as I assumed there would be a high volume of applications at that time and I hoped to better my chances. I put the application in at the end of August last year and found out in September and here we are."
On Wednesday 27th March the Lornshill Steel Band made their debut playing in front of primary pupils and the whole of S1 in the morning and then a second concert in the afternoon with an audience consisting of all music pupils and the entire S2.
Throughout the day there was also two workshops for steel drum members hosted by a top Trinidadian steel drum player, arrived from the Caribbean specially for the event. He also provided the newly formed band with a talk about the drums and gave them a performance of his own.
The new Lornshill Steel Band is already proving to be in great demand. They have been booked to play at the school's prize giving on 24th April and then at the People's Palace in Glasgow at an "Awards for All" event. The band will also be entertaining the crowds at the Menstrie Gala Day on 2nd June.