Carnival Music in Trinidad - Week 3

Women in Carnival

Carnival season is a joyous time in Trinidad and Tobago. Yet, some people are silently ostracized from taking part in some Carnival activities. Women have had a difficult time breaking the glass ceiling of Carnival. This essay will explore the lives and journeys of women who have broken through that glass ceiling and have paved the path for more women to participate in all aspects of Carnival.

Pat Bishop

During the Carnival season in Trinidad, Panorama, a steelband competition, encourages bands to work as hard as they can to create a performance that focuses on a calypso, or a “pan tune,” from the current year (Dudley 74). The leader of these Panorama groups is usually the arranger. The arranger is arguably the most important aspect of a steelband group. They direct the group in performance, decide the repertoire, and arrange the songs. Oftentimes, the arranger is a woman. This is unique because the world of Carnival music is saturated with sexism. It is rare to see women Calypsonians, very few are successful in this area however; women such as Singing Sandra broke the barriers and prospered in a male dominated aspect of Carnival. In arranging steelband songs, women have found a niche. “Girls were more likely than boys to have taken music lessons and pursued formal music training. Bands began seeking the musical expertise of these women” (Smith 83). One of these women is Pat Bishop. Here is a video of Pat Bishop’s Desperadoes steelband performing her arrangement of “Bartered Bride” at the Steelband Music Festival in 1992:

“When the Desperadoes performed at Carnegie Hall in 1987, Bishop was their conductor” (Smith 83-84). Pat Bishop was born and raised in Port of Spain, but studied music in England in the 1960’s. Along with her contributions to steelband music, she has written choral pieces and folk operas (Blake). She was the director of the Lydian Singers, a choral group in Trinidad, which would sometimes be accompanied by a steelband. Bishop “was the first to conduct a combined Steelband and Symphony Orchestra” (“Pat Bishop”). Bishop was a trailblazer for women steelband arrangers, chartering new territory in the Carnival music world.

Daisy McLean

Daisy McLean performing at her first concert.

Women playing pan had been a foreign concept in Trinidad for many years in the past.  Women playing in the pan courtyards was a forbidden territory. Until one young girl decided that playing pan was her passion and that is what she was supposed to do with her one and only precious life.  Daisy McLean started out playing a Ping-Pong, an old type of steel pan, around the age of 6.  Her brother was a dedicated member of the Casablanca steel band. Sometimes, she would be found sneaking out in the middle of the night to play pan with Casablanca.  In an interview with Shannon Dudley, she stated that, “she felt accepted, respected, and treated well by the steel-bandsmen” (Smith 82).  She also stated that a pans-man like herself was only interested in making music and nothing else. 

Ursula Tudor

Ursula Tudor at a Desperadoes rehearsal.

A similar, passionate woman to McLean is Ursula Tudor, who made an amazing career for herself a little after McLean’s time.  Tudor did not start playing pan until she was about 26 years old because she was taught by her family that a woman’s place was not in the pan-yard.  As a result, she did not learn to play pan until she was married and her husband, who was a panist (one who plays pan), taught her how to play.  She first started playing bass for a band called the Serenaders.  After playing pan for them for a short period of time she decided to take her pan playing elsewhere and started playing tenor for the Fairyland Steel Orchestra.  But around 1970, an opportunity arose for her to join the Desperados, the group that Bishop directed, where she was able to play in Carnegie Hall and tour Jamaica with them.  Amazingly, after a while, four of her children grew up and played in the Desperados with her. 

These women helped break down barriers that were put in place a long time ago and helped start a movement of women playing in pan in a mostly male dominated world.

Sierra Marsh wrote about Daisy McLean and Ursula Tudor. Logan Kropp wrote about Pat Bishop.

Works Cited

Blake, Felix. "Pat Bishop." The Steelbands of Trinidad & Tobago. Islands         Research, 19 July 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

Dudley, Shannon. Carnival Music in Trinidad: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

"Pat Bishop." Pan on the Net. When Steel Talks, Mar. 2005. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

Smith, Angela.  Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History. Scarecrow Press, Jun. 7th, 2012. Pg. 81-83. Oct. 31st. 2015. Print.