✨️NMU 2025 Steelpannival✨️
Hosted by Nelson Mandela University
With special guest: Andy Narell
“... as I spend more time teaching and working with steel bands, I realize that much of what makes steel band music such a positive force is the social impact of participating. … The tradition that developed in Trinidad of amateur musicians coming together to play at a very high level is spreading all over the world. It breaks down barriers of age, gender, ethnicity, and race.”
“I get energy from young pan players. The kids work all year practicing the music, and I come in for a few days to help them understand the music and play it better. … It’s a great feeling knowing that your music and teaching has an impact on people’s lives, which gives much more meaning to my life as a musician.” - Andy Narell (Percussive Arts Society)
The Steelpannival is more than a performance, it is an opportunity. A national gathering of youth steel bands, passionate educators, and musicians that are united through a shared commitment to growth, education and community. This year, Nelson Mandela University is proud to host Andy Narell, the esteemed internationally renowned steelpan virtuoso, composer, arranger and performer, who will not only perform his classics as a soloist and with the NMU steel band, but also lead workshops designed to empower, develop and make the dreams of young South African pan players from across the country come true. The 2025 NMU Steelpannival creates that very space, where players are not in competition, but in conversation. Over the course of the event, learners from diverse schools come together not only to showcase their talents, but to be celebrated, to collaborate and to forge lasting musical and personal connections and memories. These are the finest steel bands in South Africa and include:
Queens College Junior Boys
Clarendon Girls High School
Graeme College
Framesby High School
Lawson Brown High School
Victoria Park High School
Theodor Herzl Schools
As the only university in South Africa that offers formal steelpan education at diploma and degree level, NMU is uniquely positioned to host this initiative. This encourages and opens doors for so many talented matriculant steelpan students who want to continue pursuing studies through steelpan, as they major their degree on steelpan. The Pannival affirms the university’s role as a national hub for steelpan development — a place where education meets performance, and tradition evolves through shared practice. In the words of Andy Narell:
“Steelpan is a vehicle for community. When we play together, we grow together.”
Also check out other Music events in Port Elizabeth, Entertainment events in Port Elizabeth, Workshops in Port Elizabeth.
