Amy McAllister – Music is the Universal language of the World and the Steelpan is one of its Voices!

Amy’s first exposure to the steel pan instrument was through her parents. She loved playing their wedding video repeatedly, watching as her mum walked down the aisle to the melodious sounds of a two-piece steel band, unaware that she would later in life, fall in love with that very instrument.

 Amy’s musical journey started at the age of 10, when she started learning to play the piano. She very quickly fell in love with the versatility of the instrument and the practise to learn songs by ear. From a young age, she loved writing songs and composing music, inspired by her Uncle, Mandolin Jack, who is also a songwriter with a love for American Folk, Country and Blues. She began her graded ABRSM examinations and continued studying music in school, playing hymns for the school mass and had the opportunity to play at Kensington Town hall. In college she was even in a band as a keyboardist and singer. Her most memorable moment was when she was 13, playing her own composition, ‘Midnight Jazz’, on the piano for her school concert. The positive response she received from the audience was so astonishing it was enough for her to know this is something she should not stop doing!

Amy playing at Ebony Blockorama

 While in school, Amy started playing steel pan, where she was taught by David Ijaduola. Her first steelpan instrument was the 7 bass and she remembered the first song she ever learnt was ‘Valerie’ by Amy Winehouse. Soon, she was moved to the tenor pan where she began to feel right at home. In 2013, she was introduced to Ebony Steel Band by David who invited her and a few others from her school to play for the Junior Panorama Competition that summer. From then, she never left!

 In Ebony Steel Band, Amy played in the UK Junior Panorama competitions from 2013 to 2018, competed in 2015’s Pan Explosion and has taken part in the UK National Panorama competition every year since 2014. Despite it being a lot of hard work, nothing beats the feeling of performing on the panorama stage with your band. She believes there is something truly magical that happens when a large group of people can come together like that, and for 10 minutes your spirit is set free and the vibe you collectively feel with those around you is priceless.

Amy at Ebony Blockorama

In the 2023 UK National Panorama competition, Amy was made Tenor section leader. She described this role as being out of her comfort zone but a rewarding opportunity and felt honoured the band could trust her to lead the section to victory!

Amy playing at the 2023 UK National Panorama Competition.

 Amy has travelled around the UK, Italy and Switzerland on tours with Ebony. Her most memorable tour was taking part in the International Panorama Competition in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015. This was Amy’s first experience visiting Trinidad and watching the well-known steel bands such as Renegades, Trinidad All Starts and Phase II Pan Groove. Amy wishes to return to Trinidad to play for their Panorama competitions in the future.

 Amy also had the amazing opportunity to be featured on David Ijaduola’s debut album ‘The Lucumí Project’. This has been one of her favourite projects so far and particularly loved David’s fusion of Steelpan, Afrobeats and Jazz. It was lovely being part of something that she also had a personal connection to, coming from a Zimbabwean background herself.

Amy playing iron in the rhythm section.

With piano and steel pan, Amy went to university to study Physics and Music as a joint honours, writing her dissertation in the fundamental physics of the steel pan. She also got the opportunity to incorporate steel pan in compositions and arrangements for her music exams. Personally, this is where she really got to understand why she loved music so much.

 From a young age, Amy has always had a natural interest in puzzles and solving problems, but when she started learning the piano, her understanding for maths grew out of nowhere, and ignited an interest in physics. At university, she got to explore the relationship between physics and music, and the steel pan proved to be an incredible tool for this. The same way she enjoyed trying to figure out a mathematical proof is the same reason she loved working out the chord sequence of a song and playing the steel pan really strengthen this skill because it is mostly taught orally.

Amy took a break from piano and steel pan to focus on her Masters in Astrophysics and to graduate in 2020. She is now currently preparing for her Performance Diploma exam in Piano in March 2024.

Amy playing at the UK Junior Panorama Competition.

Living and working in London, everything is always very fast-paced. Amy stated, “Steel pan lets me slow down and remember to be in the moment.” In the future, Amy would love to start arranging music for Ebony Steelband. Her vision is to hear popular panorama tunes arranged for other ensembles. She said, “We often hear steel pan versions of popular pieces, but what about an orchestral version of Duvone Stewart’s ‘Far From Finished’ for example?”.  She would also love to see more female arrangers in National Steelband Panorama competitions.

Amy performing at the Holland Park Opera House with Ebony in 2021.

 Amy is very optimistic and sees a bright future for the steel pan artform with the accelerating growth of media and technology, the world is becoming more equipped to see what the steel pan has to offer. Everyone just has to be ready to accept and relate to its future growth and recognition.

 Panpodium is proud to have featured Amy who is an amazing individual with great potential and the ability to be an important factor in the continued development of the steelpan artform.