Pan’s Alive With Dream Of Becoming “More Mainstream’’

By Lincoln Depradine
PRIDE Contributing Writer

TORONTO, Ontario — Ken Bhagan has a major wish for the future of the local steelband movement.
For now, however, the chairman of the Ontario Steelpan Association (OSPA) is focused on getting more people to attend this year’s Pan Alive competition, which forms part of the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto.
“We expect 13 bands at Pan Alive and we anticipate a high level of competition. We have hired someone to help with marketing and promoting and staging the show, and to help increase crowd attendance,’’ said Bhagan, who is serving his second term as OSPA chair.
When Bhagan is not attending to the business of OSPA, he always could be found at the St. Jamestown Youth Centre, where he has been executive director for 22 years.
“I’m here seven days a week,’’ Bhagan said, of the Youth Centre, whose programs include an eight-week summer day camp for children, 4 to18 years; a summer basketball league; and scholarships for students attending high school and university.
Bhagan, a former Quebec high school teacher, said his work in Canada is a continuation of his community involvement that began in Trinidad and Tobago.
“My work with young people goes back to my days in Trinidad. I was the sports master at a high school for boys, and I have been associated with steelpan and steelbands for almost 55 years,’’ Bhagan disclosed in a recent interview with Pride News Magazine.

Ken Bhagan relaxes in his office. Photo by Lincoln Depradine.

“I come from a small village called Mayo, way down in the south of Trinidad. We had a small band that went to the music festival in San Fernando and won and then went into Port of Spain,’ he added.’
As part of the offerings of the St Jamestown Youth Centre is a steelband that participates in the annual carnival pan competition in Toronto.
“The St Jamestown Youth Centre Steel Orchestra, which is part of our afterschool program, involves kids from China, Africa, Nepal, Japan and many other countries,’’ said Bhagan, who also is chairman of the Canadian Federation of Steelpan.
The federation was established four years ago and members of an orchestra, drawn from various steelbands, will perform at events at this summer’s Pan American Games in Toronto.
“St Jamestown participates in Pan Alive every year and is preparing for this year’s competition,’’ said Bhagan, a recipient of a 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service to the community and the country.
“I get a lot of joy when I go downstairs and I see these young people learning, playing and enjoying themselves. I get satisfaction at seeing that,’’ admitted Bhagan, who also works with seniors.
Pan Alive 2015 will be held Friday, July 31, 7 PM, at Toronto’s Lamport Stadium, 1151 King Street West.
Pan Fantasy Steel Orchestra is Pan Alive defending champion. The band will be travelling to Trinidad and Tobago, in August, to participate in an international competition.
“Pan Fantasy is representing the Ontario Steelpan Association in Trinidad at the international panorama, which will be held the week after Pan Alive. The Ontario Steelpan Association chose Pan Fantasy, as the winning band of last year, to represent us in Trinidad,” said Bhagan.
According to Bhagan, his dream is to see steelpan become “more mainstream’’, where shows such as Pan Alive and Snowflakes on Steel attract patrons “not only our own Caribbean community but also from the rest of the wider community, so that pan is part of the mainstream culture and not just for the carnival parade or Pan Alive. I would like, for example, to see pan and classics performed in the fall or at Christmas at Roy Thomson Hall.’’