Parents and teachers in the Appoquinimink School District packed the amphitheater outside Bunker Hill Elementary School for the first time June 3 to hear the tropical sounds of the Caribbean emanating from the stage.
The audience watched as several students from each of the three middle schools in the district picked up their rubber sticks and struck steel pans to the tunes of “Edelweiss” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and more.
For the past six weeks the students at Meredith, Redding and Waters middle schools have been learning how to play the steel pan from professional steel pan artist and Trinidad and Tobago native Aneysha deCoteau.
The exhibition last week marked the end of the district’s second Artist in Residence program, which brings artists of various mediums from around the world to provide Appoquinimink students with a cultural learning experience.
The 23-year-old has been playing steel pans for 20 years and teaches elementary school children how to play the instrument in her hometown of Tacarigua.
DeCoteau said the steel pan, which is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, is a wonderful instrument for children to play because it’s very simple to get the right sound.
“With these instruments, when you hold the stick and the rubber bounces off the metal, it will be correct pitch,” she said, “so kids get immediate gratification when they play.”
During the exhibition, a faculty ensemble opened with a steel pan version of “The Star Spangled Banner,” and students performed several songs, including “Kalinda (The Art of Stick Fighting),” and even the limbo. While many students manned the pans, a few sat in front of the stage beating on African drums.
Colin Deutch, a sixth-grader from AGW, said he enjoyed learning from deCoteau and had been looking forward to playing in front of his family and friends.
“It was kind of cool to see a different culture through music instead of books,” he said.
Trishanna Singh, an eighth-grader from RMS, said she loved the different sounds she could make on the pans and it made her consider playing similar instruments in the future.
“We learned that you can play almost anything on the steel plan, as long as you know the notes,” she said. “It works with any different style of music.”
DeCoteau said she had a wonderful stay in Delaware, and she hopes the students got something out of her visit.
“I want them to be pleased with themselves and their parents to be proud of them,” she said, “which they will be.”
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Parents and teachers in the Appoquinimink School District packed the amphitheater outside Bunker Hill Elementary School for the first time June 3 to hear the tropical sounds of the Caribbean emanating from the stage.
The audience watched as several students from each of the three middle schools in the district picked up their rubber sticks and struck steel pans to the tunes of “Edelweiss” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and more.
For the past six weeks the students at Meredith, Redding and Waters middle schools have been learning how to play the steel pan from professional steel pan artist and Trinidad and Tobago native Aneysha deCoteau.
The exhibition last week marked the end of the district’s second Artist in Residence program, which brings artists of various mediums from around the world to provide Appoquinimink students with a cultural learning experience.
The 23-year-old has been playing steel pans for 20 years and teaches elementary school children how to play the instrument in her hometown of Tacarigua.
DeCoteau said the steel pan, which is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, is a wonderful instrument for children to play because it’s very simple to get the right sound.
“With these instruments, when you hold the stick and the rubber bounces off the metal, it will be correct pitch,” she said, “so kids get immediate gratification when they play.”
During the exhibition, a faculty ensemble opened with a steel pan version of “The Star Spangled Banner,” and students performed several songs, including “Kalinda (The Art of Stick Fighting),” and even the limbo. While many students manned the pans, a few sat in front of the stage beating on African drums.
Colin Deutch, a sixth-grader from AGW, said he enjoyed learning from deCoteau and had been looking forward to playing in front of his family and friends.
“It was kind of cool to see a different culture through music instead of books,” he said.
Trishanna Singh, an eighth-grader from RMS, said she loved the different sounds she could make on the pans and it made her consider playing similar instruments in the future.
“We learned that you can play almost anything on the steel plan, as long as you know the notes,” she said. “It works with any different style of music.”
DeCoteau said she had a wonderful stay in Delaware, and she hopes the students got something out of her visit.
“I want them to be pleased with themselves and their parents to be proud of them,” she said, “which they will be.”
