Sounds of Steel is a community steel orchestra with over 40 members based at Portchester Community School, near Fareham in Hampshire.  Members of Sounds of Steel are aged from approximately 12 – 22 years of age.   Peter Beadell who is Head of Music at Portchester Community School and also steel pan coordinator for Hampshire Music Service started the band about eight years ago.

The group won the ‘on the road’ competition at Notting Hill Carnival in 2001 and 2002.  When Sounds of Steel won in 2001 it was the first time a group from outside London had ever won the competition.  Sounds of Steel have toured Spain, Italy, Germany and the Caribbean islands of Grenada and Barbados in recent years as well as performing at many prestigious events in this country.  Two big highlights for the band have been playing for HM Queen Elizabeth 11 at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and playing in the Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.

Sounds of Steel spearhead the Portchester Pan Project.  This project seeks to support Steel Pan work through partnerships with schools, teachers, the youth service and community groups. Some of the older members of Sounds of Steel are training to become steel pan tutors and we are delighted to say that our tutors were the first in the country to pass the OCN tutoring course in steel pan arranging and teaching.  At Portchester we provide steel pan courses under the adult education programme and also classes for junior school age children as well as classes for older children.  In association with Hampshire Music Service we visit schools giving steel pan demonstrations and workshops and we also send tutors into schools, which have their own instruments.

As well as our Portchester centre we have also opened steel pan centres in the north of Hampshire in John Hunt of Everest Community School and to the west of Hampshire at Testwood School, Totton.

This year saw our second Hampshire steel band festival organised by Peter Beadell, with support from Hampshire Music Service.  All of the Hampshire Schools with steel bands were invited and a very successful day was held at Thornden Hall, Chandlers Ford.  We had daytime workshops provided by Toussaint Clarke, Leroy Clarke, Wayne Gibson and Dan Sadler and we were delighted to welcome Southside Harmonics as our guests for the evening concert.

A new initiative we have is our Panjazz project.  This is an exciting new venture to bring steel pans together with the more traditional jazz instruments such as the saxophone to produce what we think is a sensational sound.  The Panjazz ensemble performed at the Hampshire steel band festival and delighted everyone with their original sound.

Although we get great support from Hampshire Music Service and Portchester Community School, Sounds of Steel and the Portchester Pan Project are mostly self-funded and we raise money by performing and selling our two cds – Sounds of Steel and Sounds of Steel Live in the Caribbean.  We do not have a sponsor and we would welcome any enquiries, as transportation, uniforms and instruments are all very costly.

Anyone interested in booking Sounds of Steel or finding out more about the Pan Project please contact Peter Beadell (steel pan coordinator) or Christine Murphy (steel pan administrator).

PORTCHESTER PAN PROJECT
We are based at Portchester Community School, White Hart Lane, Portchester, Fareham, Hants.
PO16 9BD
Tel 023 9236 4388  Fax 023 9220 1528
Email: christine.murphy@portchester.hants.sch.uk or Pete at soundsofsteel@panpodium.com