By Jared Liddel

Hanani Ben Lewi is a 23-year-old student of the University of Guyana, but academics are not his only focus; he also has a love for music, particularly steel pan music, which he has been sharing with the world for the past six years.

In an interview with The Buzz, Lewi said that he has been playing the steel pan since 2011 as part of the Bishop’s High Steelpan orchestra. “[My love for steelpan] started in 2009, at my Primary School North Georgetown Primary, after Common Entrance exam we had some time and my friends and I were involved in a dance class, and we were in the auditorium and I saw the pans and I played with it a bit and I was a bit drawn to it but I didn’t follow it up that much at that time. It wasn’t until I started secondary school, the then Ministry of Culture was housed behind Bishop’s and the National Band practised there, and from hearing the music, I told my mother this is what I want to do,” Lewi explained.

He further explained that at that time in the school, first formers were not allowed to be in the school’s orchestra or choir, but he and his friends were determined to follow this art form so they pleaded with the headteacher who changed the rules and allowed them the opportunity to join.

Lewi, who has competed in five years of Guyana’s national steelpan competition, Pan-O-Rama, has copped the coveted first-place prize in the solo category four times consecutively and currently holds the second place prize for this year’s competition. He described his journey as extremely rewarding saying, “I have played for several important persons and had the opportunity to play at many important places due to my gift, so I feel very rewarded that I followed my passion for this art form.”

Lewi said that he felt compelled to share his knowledge of the musical instrument that is indigenous to the Caribbean, not only through playing and entertaining but also through teaching. This led him to his first longtime job where he took up the mantle of teaching the art form at his alma mater, ‘the Bishops High school’. He also led the school’s steel pan orchestra to victory while he was in charge of the band copping second and third place titles. He said the feeling he got from passing on the knowledge he had with the future generation has been rewarding.

He stated that he sadly had to step down from his post of a music teacher to focus on his studies at the university in 2019. Lewi told The Buzz that after a few months, he missed that part of him that shared his gift with other persons who are as in love with this art form as he was and he subsequently decided to start his own music class, ‘Steel and Notes’, where he would now not only be able to share with the students of his previous high school but to anyone who wants to learn.

“I would advise [aspiring steelpan musicians] to have discipline and passion. Any art form requires respect for it. Once you have a respect for the instrument you would say I want to learn everything I can so that I can play this the right way and I want to play the best that I can play. I would often tell them don’t judge your progress based on someone else’s, just dedicate yourself to the art form and respect it and love it and you will succeed.”

He further stated that anyone of any age can love art, and it is that love for art that drives him to play, to educate and to share, to touch the hearts of persons through his love of the steel pan art form.