In June 2003, Mark Loquan initiated a project out of a strong belief that the music of Trinidad and Tobago should be recorded, scored, and integrated fully into educational curricula, for universal distribution. The exercise, undertaken jointly with Sanch Electronix Ltd, involved working with several reputable arrangers and steel orchestras to perform arrangements of 13 of his compositions with the intention of using such music for educational purposes.

Mark has been composing since 1978 and his music has been performed by a number of steel orchestras, worldwide. In 1998, at the Pan is Beautiful Festival the winning ensemble played one of his works. Both conventional and single-pan bands performed his pieces at Panorama in Trinidad and Tobago in1999 and 2001-2005. Internationally, his music has been auditioned in Brooklyn, Toronto, Finland and in 2002 at the European Steelpan Festival in Sete, France.

This project will compliment the initiative of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to use pan as a vehicle for implementing its music education programme in schools. It may be considered a resource for music literacy, arranging techniques and the performing arts. Furthermore, it is envisaged that Pan in Education will contribute significantly towards the provision of ICT education and skills training in schools throughout the 53 countries of the Commonwealth and beyond.

Many of these countries already use the steelpan in a structured way in music education programmes, since playing the instrument does not require intricate motor skills. The steelpan has also proven to be the ideal medium for producing excellent group music with a minimal learning curve.

Endorsements

ELLIMAC Production ® (EMP) Limited
Commonwealth Secretariat
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Microsoft Trinidad and Tobago
The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA)
Tourism Development Company Limited