A small section of the Miami University Steel Band will play an intimate show at the Armstrong Student Center's (ASC) Shade Family Room Thursday.
The Steel Band is offered as a Miami class, which affords students the opportunity to learn steel percussion instruments, originally developed from the Caribbean Islands.
The Steel Band is led by associate professor of music, Chris Tanner, who originally founded the group as a graduate student in 1994. It has upwards of 20 members each semester, who put on one concert, collectively, every term.
This performance, however, only features a handful of experienced members due to the early timing in the semester.
"This group of people is small but it's a little taste of the things the Steel Band can do," Tanner said.
"I have been a percussionist for 11 years," senior Anne Gotwald, President of the Steel Band, said. "What drew me to Steel Band was the opportunity to try something completely different."
Gotwald will be playing lead pan at the ASC performance.
"I never expected to gain such a sense of diversity and leadership, that I will carry with me for the rest of my life," Gotwald said.
The Steel Band is not commonplace in every college.
"You can't see a steel band in every town in America," Tanner said. "It's not like other musical ensembles; it's something very special and diverse here at Miami."
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The Steel Band performance is at noon Jan. 30 in the ASC Shade Family Room.
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