18-Year-Old Arranger Leads Laborie Steel Orchestra To Victory

Laborie Steel Orchestra are the champions of the 2024 Youth Creole Pan Festival with 244 points.

Organised by the Saint Lucian National Steel Bands Association, the festival was hosted at Cultural Development Foundation Grounds at Barnard Hill, Castries on Sunday.

Laborie, along with fellow participants Pantastic Steel Orchestra ( second with 228.5 points) and Pantime Steel Orchestra (third with 222 points), featured traditional melodies arranged to keep a young modern audience swaying and jumping to the rhythms.

The event was a family affair, with parents and well-wishers coming to support the youth.

Vital in Laborie’s victory was young arranger Jervon Jn Pierre. The 18-year-old Sir Arthur Lewis Community College student’s version of Gozilay’s “Koute Manmaw” was well executed by his protégés in the orchestra, much to the approval of the crowd and the judges.

“It’s been extremely fun. I had fun working with our kids, and it just gave me joy,” Jn Pierre said in an interview amidst the post-victory celebrations. “It’s our first time winning a Junior Panorama in a while, and I fed off the kids’ energy.”

“Being able to balance going to school and waking up at 4:30 in the morning and having to write music and come and teach it, that was the main challenge,” he added. “But the kids’ performance was wonderful, and that made it all worth it.”

The victorious composer further implored youth to embrace music, particularly the steel band culture, as a tool for positive change and empowerment among them.

“It’s a good thing because in most bands the band is like your second family. So that second family can keep you away from the streets. You have two groups of people looking out for you, your family at home and the band,” he said. “The music is sweet. You enjoy yourself. You can sweat and exercise, and I’m a big fan of that.”

Originally five youth steelbands were scheduled to perform, however only three showed up for Sunday’s youth creole pan festival.