MAN OF STEEL

摘要

There was never doubt about which instrument Seion Gomez would play. After all, the award-winning steel-pan arranger was born in Trinidad, the birthplace of steel pan. His father was a founding member of Phase Ⅱ Pan Groove, a steel band celebrated for its musical innovations. Gomez first picked up the sticks at age 9 and was arranging for steel bands across Trinidad by age 18. ¶ Nowhere is Gomez's talent on greater display than at Panorama, the annual steel-band competitions that take place in the islands. "Panorama is the Super Bowl of steel pan in Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout the Caribbean," he explains. ¶ Gomez established himself as a star at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Panorama, held every July, leading the Sion Hill Euphonium Steel Orchestra to six consecutive titles. But this native son takes special pride in leading the 90-mem-ber Buccooneers Steel Orchestra in Trinidad and Tobago's Panorama, held in the weeks before Carnival in February. ¶ "When a performance is going well, the experience is like heaven," he says. "You close your eyes, and the music takes you. The more you listen, the more you hear, and you can't let it go."