Pan Jazz to the world0

You can’t help being enthused and inspired by our affiliate Pan Jazz International which is a truly global music community that brings young people of all backgrounds together from across the globe with music.

Not just any music, they play funky jazz with orchestras built around the Carribean-style steel pan drum. They are a collective of music enthusiasts who starting with only six youngsters in the 1980s have managed to grow into a global family that spans three continents and boasts a wealth of diversity.  Their community comprises the founding UK-based Porchester Panyard; the South Africa Pan Jazz Project and Pan Jazz Project India.  These three groups are funded in part by the proceeds from their own performances and other fundraising efforts.  In the spirit of cultural exchange and global community a contingency of 45 members of the Porchester Pan Yard has recently returned from a tour in South Africa.

There they had the appropriate honour of playing concerts as part of (and in the spirit of) the just ended football World Cup festivities alongside members of the South Africa Pan Jazz Project. Through interaction and cultural exchange based around the medium of music; the two groups have developed lasting bonds in a web which will continue to perpetuate as the Pan Jazz fervor continues to grow with more and more exchange programmes. Their work is especially poignant in a place like South Africa; where social divisions from the past have left inevitable scars.

Pictures and a testimonial from one of instructors on the recent trip are available after the ‘read more’ jump.
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