The Delta State University Steel Band, under the direction of Dr. Larry Bradford, assistant professor of music and assistant director of bands at Delta State, will perform in concert at 3 p.m. Feb. 20, at St. James’ Episcopal Church located at 1026 South Washington Avenue in Greenville. The concert is a part of the St. James’ Concert Series.
Comprised of music majors as well as non-majors, the Steel Band is a popular ensemble at Delta State, giving campus concerts as well as touring in and out of state, including the Mississippi Bandmasters Convention, The Mississippi Day of Percussion, the 2007 Toyota Gator Bowl, and the Goombay Gulf Coast Caribbean Festival and at City Walk in Orlando. They have recently been invited to appear on the Warfield Concert Series in Helena, Ark., in May 2011.
Steel Bands are made up of tuned steel drums or “pans” as well as an “engine room” of other percussion instruments and drums plus bass guitar. Pan ensembles became popular in the 1940s and 1950s in the West Indies and have grown in popularity throughout the United States and Americas. They are known for playing music with a casual Afro-Caribbean style as well as compositions and arrangements of more traditional music.
This concert is presented through generous memorial gifts from the Carlton and Mitchell families, parishioners of St. James’.
Admission is free and the public is cordially invited to attend. For more information, call 662-846-4606 or 662-334-4582.
