Remarks by bpTT Chairman and CEO Robert Riley at a function to mark the 40th Anniversary of the bpTT Renegades
Remarks by bpTT Chairman and CEO Robert Riley at a function to mark the 40th Anniversary of the bpTT/Renegades Steel Orchestra partnership
Mr Vel Lewis, deputy permanent secretary, Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism.
Mr Michael Marcano, president of Renegades Steel Orchestra
Ms Candace Andrews, captain of Renegades Steel Orchestra
Band members
Supporters
Colleagues
Other invited guests
Members of the media
Mr Michael Marcano, president of Renegades Steel Orchestra
Ms Candace Andrews, captain of Renegades Steel Orchestra
Band members
Supporters
Colleagues
Other invited guests
Members of the media
Good evening
It is an honour for me personally, to be participating as Chief Executive Officer of BP Trinidad and Tobago at this significant event in the history of the relationship between our company and the eminent and renowned Renegades Steel Orchestra. And it is with great pride that I will soon put pen to paper to sign a document symbolising our continued commitment to the Renegades as its principal sponsor on this the 40th anniversary of our enduring relationship.
Our association with the Renegades has been a highly rewarding experience. Rewarding in that it has allowed us as an international business corporation to make a contribution to the growth and development of one of the most distinctive elements of the culture of Trinidad and Tobago – the steel pan. Rewarding, because it has given us the opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives, livelihood, and welfare of hundreds of ambitious young men and women in this country as a whole and in the suburbs of East Port of Spain. Rewarding also, because through our involvement with this steel orchestra we have been able to showcase the musical talent of this country to the rest of world in places like the Caribbean, Canada, the United States, England, Europe, Africa, South America, the Middle Eastern countries, Japan, China, India, Australia, and many other countries and international centres.
It has been a rewarding and satisfying experience for us, and I hope it has been equally rewarding and satisfying for the Renegades and its home community in East Port of Spain.
Our relationship with the Renegades began in June 1970 when our company was known as the Amoco Trinidad Oil Company. It was during the time of the “Black Power” revolution in Trinidad and Tobago. The Government of the day, seeking to soften the potential for violence and widening social protest, invited the company to become a sponsor. Our company which had just discovered oil off the East Coast was a virtual newcomer to corporate life in Trinidad and Tobago. And, as it turned out, we got directly involved in working with the youths of east Port of Spain producing music through the Renegades some 18 months before we even produced our first barrel of oil.
Around that time, the band was already turning away from its reputation for violence and gang warfare. But still the very name “Renegades” continued to evoke fear and conjure images of violence.
Our sponsorship quickened the pace of reform that had already begun in the band. It was like a fertiliser for progress. With the support of its new sponsor the band placed greater focus on the development of the musical skills and the social welfare of its members. The Renegades immediately secured the services of Jit Samaroo as its musical arranger for Panorama and the development of a wider musical repertoire. The band also retained Bertram Kellman as the sole tuner for its full range of instruments.
This resulted in what we have good reason to believe is the longest sustained relationship by any steel band with its arranger, pan tuner and sponsor in the history of pan. This consistent four-way relationship remained intact for some 36 consecutive years until the retirement of Jit Samaroo as the band’s musical arranger in 2007. And even though the relationship with Dr. Samaroo has changed, he continues on contract as the band’s Musical Director Emeritus.
During our 40-year relationship with the Renegades the band recorded many outstanding accomplishments. As Michael Marcano would have stated, after winning its first Panorama title in 1982, Renegades dominated the competition during the eighties and most of nineties up to 1997, winning the title on nine occasions and claiming a position in the top three spots 15 times between 1980 and 1997. No other band has won the title as many times within such a time frame and only one other steel band, the WITCO Desperadoes, has won the title ten times overall, with one win more than the Renegades.
When the Renegades won the title for the second time in 1984 it was by 17.5 points ahead of the second placed band, establishing at that time the widest margin of points by any winner in the Panorama competition.
To date, Renegades is still the only band to have scored a hat trick by winning the title for three consecutive years – 1995, 1996 and 1997.
Other highlights of the 40-year journey include the award of the Chaconia Gold Medal, Trinidad and Tobago’s second highest award, in 1992. The award recognised Renegades’ outstanding contribution to the culture of Trinidad and Tobago. In 1986, the band received the Keys to the City of Port of Spain, and then in 1990, a Pan Trinbago Award for its outstanding contribution to the development of the steel band movement.
The band’s arranger, Jit Samaroo was also awarded the Hummingbird Medal of Merit (silver) in 1987 and the Chaconia Medal (silver) in 1995 for his successes with the Renegades, his family band the Samaroo Jets and several other musical accomplishments. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies in 2003, becoming the first pannist in this country to be thus honoured.
The Renegades Steel Orchestra has also had notable successes in the “Pan in the 21st Century” competition, the J’Ouvert morning bomb competitions, and the Trinidad and Tobago National Steel band Music Festival.
All these musical accomplishments are significant, rewarding and satisfying in themselves. But from the perspective of the sponsor, they can never be as valuable as the band’s overall contribution to the community as a vehicle for improving the lives of our young people. We see the steel band as a positive uplifting force, providing opportunities for young people to learn music, imparting the values of discipline, organisation, and preparation for some of life’s challenges. We have assisted not only with our sponsorship obligations, but with educational grants and bursaries from time to time. Some of our players have gone on to full time careers in music, while others have become professionals in other fields.
Our junior band, the BP Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra, established in 1999, has been exemplary in its progress. The youth steel orchestra has won the national junior competition six times, scoring two hat tricks of wins – 2002, 2003, & 2004 and then in 2008, 2009, & 2010. And in the intervening years, 2005 – 2007, the band took second place each year. Since its foundation, more than 400 young players have come through our junior band. Many of them have excelled on the pan as well as in their scholastic achievements. Quite a few parents have already borne testimony to the fact that their children became high achievers after they got involved with learning to play the pan.
So for me it is a pleasure to be here this evening participating in this ceremony. There is one minor personal disappointment that I have about the Renegades – since I became the Chief Executive Officer of this company they have not given me the pleasure and experience of a Panorama win. And while pan is not just about winning “Panoramas”, it is my fervent hope that in this new dispensation they will give me this pleasure.
Members of the Renegades Steel Orchestra, and members of your executive, I offer you my congratulations and very best wishes for the future. I also wish you every success with your objective of becoming the premier steel orchestra in the world, and your equally noble objective of becoming a self-sufficient organisation, capable of providing sustainable employment for as many as your members as possible.
I thank you today for your efforts at making the world a happier place with your music.
In this section
Remarks by bpTT Chairman and CEO Robert Riley at a function to mark the 40th Anniversary of the bpTT Renegades
Remarks by Michael Marcano on 40th anniversary of the bpTT Renegades (continued)
Remarks by Michael Marcano on 40th anniversary of the bpTT Renegades 
