The Ohio Northern University Department of Music presents a Steel Band Day concert featuring the Glass City Steel from the Toledo Schools for the Arts, the Clark Montessori Steel Band and The Wild Steel-ions in Presser Hall on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m.
The music of the steel band is traditionally full of lively Caribbean dance rhythms and sing-able melodies. Steel drum music originated on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean in the 1940s, and it quickly became popular worldwide. Today, ONU’s Steel Band plays a wide variety of music, including popular rock tunes, original compositions by ONU students, arrangements made by ONU students, and a wide diversity of styles, from reggae to Beethoven.
The event is free and open to the public.
Jeff Martin, a 2013 ONU graduate, will conduct the Clark Montessori Steel Band. Martin teaches all levels of the steel bands at Clark. While at ONU, he studied percussion and steel drums with Dr. Sarah Waters. He had an extensive performing schedule in many ensembles, including the Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Marching Band, Men’s Chorus, Percussion Ensemble, and Steel Drum Band.
Glass City Steel is an exciting performance group from Toledo School for the Arts featuring the popular sounds of Caribbean steel drum bands. This 11-member ensemble plays events and concerts.
The Wild Steel-ions, under the direction of Waters, is comprised of junior high and elementary students from Ada and the Lima areas.
ONU’s Steel Band is comprised of ONU students under the direction of Waters. The ONU Steel Drum Band performs on campus and regularly at area schools and local events. In spring 2010, the band toured the South, giving concerts in high schools in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and New Orleans, La., and visiting Memphis, Tenn. In 2011, the band was invited to Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., to perform at the historic Fisk Memorial Chapel. The band returned to New Orleans in March 2012, this time performing at the University of New Orleans and then at Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio.
