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We have lost a patriot and a staunch pan supporter. Mark Loquan valued Pan perhaps more than his successful corporate career. In 2024, the government wisely honored his energy and steelpan innovation contributions with the Order of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. His passing this month leaves us all deeply pained.

We spoke to him in 2023 and found his passion for our culture boundless; his ambitions for Pan visionary. Mark composed music for Panorama and artists like Denyse Plummer and Destra,…

We should all applaud the Pan Tuner Apprenticeship Programme for its emphasis on young people. Launched last month, the initiative aims to train 15 people aged 17 to 35 for two years. The age cohort is useful because it means participants can have a long career ahead of them. It is a sustainable idea, assuming training is thorough and professional, and…

We have fond memories of Dalton Narine as a writer and a friend. He passed away on February 11 and left the pan fraternity in mourning. Dalton was our muse on many things about pan. He had strong opinions about Panorama, once describing it as a blocking agent in pan’s development. He believed too much energy was spent on the competition, leaving bands little time for anything else.

Dalton had an encyclopedic knowledge of the instrument and even deeper details of Trinidad All Stars, a band where he…

The steelband fraternity has lost a stalwart. Rudy Commissiong, who led the Esso Steel Band for 35 years , died in January at the age of 94. Under his leadership, the band produced eight albums and was a fixture in Bermuda for many decades. Commissiong began playing at 17 under the tutelage of  TASPO member the late Ormond “Patsy Haynes.” The Royal Gazette of Bermuda has kindly permitted PanTalk to run its obit of February 5.

The Royal…