The sounds of Caribbean music filled the site of an old car wash-turned-junkyard in East Flatbush on Wednesday. It is now what’s known as a panyard, where steel bands practice.
Metro Steel Orchestra captain Brenton Joseph and his fellow musicians were tuning each pan ahead of “Panorama,” a steel drum competition being held at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday.
The event is part of several days of West Indian American Day Carnival celebrations in the city. With high hopes, the musicians in Metro Steel Orchestra, a steel band founded in 1972, aim to defend their title.
“The music means a lot to me. The music is my safe space. Any stress I have, once I walk into the panyard, it all goes away,” Joseph said. “We won last year, and we have to like, go out and show that, you know, we deserve to win again.”
The orchestra comprises three generations and about 50 kids who swing by the yard to practice after school.
“We do it for the culture, you know, with no rewards,” Anthony Joseph, the CEO of the orchestra, said. “So, it’s very important to us.”
Peyton Webster is the youngest member of the group, and at just 6 years old, she is getting her start at learning how to play the steel pan.
She grew up surrounded by music, as she came from a family of musicians, with some even playing in the orchestra.
“It’s fun, and I get to have fun playing music with my other family members,” Webster said.
“It’s an amazing feeling, because I know, like, she’s in good hands, and she’s picking up where we are going to leave off,” Webster’s mother, Carlisha Marcelle, added.
Nine groups are expected to perform at “Panorama” on Saturday in front of the Brooklyn Museum. The competition kicks off at 7 p.m. Earlier in the day, a youth festival and junior parade carnival will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Sunday, musical performances from Sizzla Kalonji, Spragga Benz and YG Marley will happen at 3 p.m.
And of course, the final celebration, the 57th annual West Indian American Day Parade, also known as the Labor Day Carnival, will start Monday at Lincoln Terrace Park and head west along Eastern Parkway, ending at the Brooklyn Museum. The parade will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A full list of street closures can be found here.