Thank You to All Our
Friends & Supporters!
Wishing Everyone :
Very Merry Xmas
& a Blessed, Safe, Prosperous and Musical
2026!
UKSPG - Forged in Sound, Steel and Skill!
Forged in sound, in steel, in skill,
On November’s fourth, two thousand seven,
Craftsmen gathered with shared will,
Hands shaped by earth, hearts tuned to heaven.
Not for profit, yet rich in aim,
A brotherhood, a guiding light,
To guard the craft, uphold its name,
Support each home, each family’s fight.
On twelfth December, two thousand ten,
The Guild stood firm, made whole, complete,
A covenant of tuned amen,
Where labour, learning, care would meet.
A forum born for practice shared,
For wisdom passed from hand to hand,
For teaching minds, for skills prepared,
For futures tuned across the land.
From health and safety, strong and sure,
To research, progress, bold and new,
From large commissions, worked as one,
To raw materials wisely used.
A union voice, a listening ear,
A shelter when the road is steep,
A place where every note is heard,
Where members speak and all may keep.
For music stands between the worlds,
As Beethoven so truly knew—
A power greater than its source,
A force both spiritual and true.
So too the pan, in fire born,
Now rings across both near and far,
As Guild members, globally sworn,
Tune instruments that travel stars.
They seed new bands where none had been,
In virgin lands, new rhythms rise,
Expanding culture, hope unseen,
Steel voices claiming open skies.
With leadership both firm and fair:
Chairman Robbie Joseph’s hand,
Vice Chair Toussaint Clarke stands there,
Guiding vision, strong and planned.
Secretary Cordelia “Dene” Johnney,
Keeps the pulse, the words, the way,
While Treasurer Aubrey Bryan guards
The roots that let the Guild hold sway.
The UKSPTG moves ahead,
To promote, develop, innovate,
A living craft, a future fed,
By tuned devotion, sound and faith.
In every note, in every pan,
The Guild’s true mission rings out clear—
Steel shaped by heart, by mind, by hand,
For generations yet to hear.
Premier steel-pan tuner hits the right notes ahead of Cariwest Festival in Edmonton
Edmonton's premier steel-pan orchestra has flown in the best of the best to take care of their instruments ahead of the Cariwest festival this weekend.
The TrinCan Steel Orchestra sought out Augustus Peters, a renowned steel-pan maker and tuner, to ensure their instruments make sweet Caribbean music during the 35th annual festival.
"We're right down to the wire to make sure those pans are absolutely crisp for Saturday's performance," said Taneya Rogers, a performer with the band.
Peters hopped a plane from Japan to Edmonton to be here in the days leading up to Cariwest.
His art is subtle, and requires years of experience to ensure each note rings true.
"It's always a learning experience because they have so many different styles of pans and approaches to making it," said Peters, comparing his job to that of a tuning peg on a guitar."Unfortunately, unlike a guitar, the steel pan doesn't have that adjuster, so that's me."
Peters has been honing his craft for nearly two decades, and travels to several countries each year tuning steel pans.
Steel pans, or drums, originated on the island of Trinidad in the 1930s. They're made from oil drums with a special concave top. Different notes are delicately hammered into the curved surface to create harmonious musical tones.
"Basically, I adjust the pitch and preserve the precise pitch of the instrument," said Peters Thursday on CBC Radio's Radio Active.
Ensuring a good start
The Cariwest Festival is one of Edmonton's liveliest annual festivals.
It showcases Caribbean culture, recreating the original Carnival festival held in Trinidad and Tobago each year.
The steel-pan is a symbolic element of Carnival, and Rogers wants to ensure her band sets the tone for the festival parade on Saturday.
"We lead the parade, so we're the very first truck that you're going to see," she said.
"Trinidadians are described as the happiest people on the planet. Carnival is the happiest event on the planet and that's what we want to recreate."
The Cariwest festival runs Aug. 9-11 at the Federal Plaza Building near the Alberta Legislature grounds. People attending can listen to live music, try Caribbean food and dance at the Caribbean Village.
By ca.news.yahoo.com