The National Parang Association of Trinidad and Tobago

28/11/2010 07:22

The National Parang Association was established in 1971 in Trinidad & Tobago.
Mr. Errol Mohammed had a vision of organizing Parang Bands accross the country under one unbrella.
He wanted to revive, protect and promote this noble artform.
The meeting was held at the Valencia Community Centre in April 1971.
The attendees included - The Lara Brothers, Santa Theresa, La Familia de Rio Claro, San Jose Serenaders, Old Oak Serenaders, Universal Serenaders and Valencia Handicraft.
Mr. Errol Mohammed was elected as the President, with other executive members: Vice President- Cynthia David, Secretary - Herman Pandu Gilbert, Treasurer - Cecil Fuentes and Public Relations Officer _ Cecil Clark.
In that very year the first NPATT launched its firts National Parang Festival. There was a competition two weeks before Christmas.
Mr Mohammed met with Mr. Leo DeLeon and Mr. Hamilton Clement of NBS Radio 610 with a view to bringing Parang to every home in Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1972 Parang Band Music recordings began.
This gave impetus to other informal Parang bands to organize themselves and join the association.
Many albums were recorded by these bands with an astronomical growth in Parang Compositions.
Mr.Mohammed then took Parang to Venezuela and other caribbean countries.
In December 7th & 8th,1990 a Grand show was held in New York.
A Parang Convention was held which focussed on Cultural Anthropologyn at the National Convention Centre in Chaguaramas.
The association raised funds and aggresively sought sponsorship for the artform to thrive.
This year the government has granted the Parang Association 1 million dollars.
The Parang Association has elections regularly and has a new executive.

NPATT today ................

NPATT continues to work towards keeping Parang alive in our nation, through Competitions and Education.
There is a plan to have a museum established to preserve archives of this rich heritage.
The Association also has a Youth Officer now, Mr. Wayne Jagdeo, who is responsible for Parang in the Schools accross Trinidad and Tobago.
Competitions are held every year where schools compete against each other. This is one way the artformi s being preserved and passed on to the younger generation.
This year Sacred Heart Boys' RC School won the competition. ( See newspaper article below)

Sacred Heart comes out on top in Junior Parang

By DNH

Story Created: Nov 21, 2010 at 11:48 PM ECT

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2010 at 11:48 PM ECT

THE auditorium came to life as the pupils from Sacred Heart Boys' RC School in Port of Spain sang and danced their way to victory at the National Junior Parang Festival in Chaguanas on Saturday.

Singing in position number 21, Sacred Heart captivated the audience with their melodious singing and had the entire Chaguanas North Secondary School auditorium swaying to every beat.

They sang "El Angel Gabriel" and "Anda Parrandero" to the delight of the audience.

"It doesn't matter which school you belonged to, they sounding sweet," one audience member said during one of the school's performances

With lead vocals by Jelani Corbie, the Richmond Street unit under choir mistress Michelle Diaz, had the fans, judges and even the MC spellbound with their performance.

The youngsters beat out runners-up Basse Terre RC and Malabar Government for the title. They also won a prize for best maracas player and musical instruments.

Earlier this month, Sacred Heart also copped the best parang band in the country at the SanFest competition at the Creative Arts Centre in San Fernando.

Titled "Es el Amor", Saturday's festival attracted some 24 primary schools from across the nation.

The list of winners is as follows:

1) Sacred Heart Boys'

2) Basse Terre RC

3) Malabar Govt

4) Newtown Boys'; St

Joseph Girls' RC

6) Caparo RC; Arima

Girls' RC

8) Brazil RC

9) San Juan Girls' Govt;

Newtown Girls RC

—DNH

HAD AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND: Members of the Sacred Heart Boys' RC School parang group perform during the National Junior Parang Festival at the Chaguanas North Secondary School auditorium on Saturday. They sang "El Angel Gabriel" and "Anda Parrandero" to take the top prize. —Photo: ANISTO ALVES

Retrieved 24th November, 2010 from : https://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Sacred_Heart_comes_out_on_top_in_Junior_Parang-109781959.html

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Spanish heritage of Trinidad and Tobago

The Voyage Begins

14/11/2010 19:15

The voyage begins.pptx (812 kB)

Where did Parang originate?

Parang's root is basically Spanish with French and African influences. Our history as recorded, shows that in 1498 Christopher Columbus came to Trinidad. The Spanish settlers did not arrive until 1592, almost 200 years later.

As part of colonizing the island, the Spanish invited the French and other Europeans to settle and help to develop it. Many of these settlers came with their slaves as well as about 4000 free African slaves. They established cocoa and coffee plantations where many native Amerindians were slaves too. Within a short time the Amerindian population dwindled to a few hundred.

In this "New world" as the Spanish saw it, they sent many Catholic Priests who were in charge of various parts of the island where missions were set up to teach the natives Christianity. A criterion for placement was that the priest had to be a master of music and so taught many songs about the Bible in Spanish; the birth of Jesus being one. This influenced what is now known as parang music since the music is primarily about the birth of Jesus. The songs are about the nativity and are usually sung at Christmas time.

Another belief is that when the Venezuelans came to Trinidad to work on the cocoa plantations they also brought with them their culture of music and song. These workers called cocoa panyols entertained themselves with parang music as there was neither radio nor electricity.

African influence is attributed mainly to the zanza mbira drum which looks like the box bass drum. This drum along with other instruments we saw in the museum at Lopinot influenced the rhythm as we know it. In addition the singing voice added a peculiar timbre that is distinctly parang.

What is Parang?

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The National Parang Association of Trinidad and Tobago

The National Parang Association was established in 1971 in Trinidad & Tobago.

Mr. Errol Mohammed had a vision of organizing Parang Bands accross the country under one unbrella.

He wanted to revive, protect and promote this noble artform.

The meeting was held at the Valencia Community Centre in April 1971.

The attendees included - The Lara Brothers, Santa Theresa, La Familia de Rio Claro, San Jose Serenaders, Old Oak Serenaders, Universal Serenaders and Valencia Handicraft.

Mr. Errol Mohammed was elected as the President, with other executive members: Vice President- Cynthia David, Secretary - Herman Pandu Gilbert, Treasurer - Cecil Fuentes and Public Relations Officer _ Cecil Clark.

In that very year the first NPATT launched its firts National Parang Festival. There was a competition two weeks before Christmas.

Mr Mohammed met with Mr. Leo DeLeon and Mr. Hamilton Clement of NBS Radio 610 with a view to bringing Parang to every home in Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1972 Parang Band Music recordings began.

This gave impetus to other informal Parang bands to organize themselves and join the association.

Many albums were recorded by these bands with an astronomical growth in Parang Compositions.

Mr.Mohammed then took Parang to Venezuela and other caribbean countries.

In December 7th & 8th,1990 a Grand show was held in New York.

A Parang Convention was held which focussed on Cultural Anthropologyn at the National Convention Centre in Chaguaramas.

The association raised funds and aggresively sought sponsorship for the artform to thrive.

This year the government has granted the Parang Association 1 million dollars.

The Parang Association has elections regularly and has a new executive.