Wanda Atkins brings a taste of Panorama to France

With the global rise in popularity of our national instrument, the sweet sounds of the steelpan have become increasingly familiar, thanks to faithful members of our diaspora who act as good stewards of the culture to ensure that it is preserved and shared.
One such individual is Wanda Atkins, president of Calyps’Atlantic, a steelpan ensemble based in the Western French city of Nantes.
The isolation of the pandemic pushed Atkins to start thinking about using the internet as a medium to foster camaraderie between the disparate groups, and thus, the French Panorama was born.
Now in its fourth year, the online event is still going strong and on April 26, roughly 300 players from eight bands across different cities show their skills and compete against each other with original arrangements and evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges both from T&T and abroad.
This year’s lineup of judges includes Panorama’s first female title holder, veteran pannist and arranger, Michelle Huggins-Watts, former National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) artistic director and conductor Akua Leith, Northern Illinois University School for the Arts Steelband Director Yuko Asada and steelpan recording artist, Yoshihiro Harada, the first Japanese national to play in a T&T band. In previous years, American-born jazz musician and steelband arranger Andy Narell, Panograma founder Nevin Roach and half of DnK Steel, Danielle George were among those on the judging panel.

Atkins spoke of the pushback she initially received after floating the idea to some colleagues in the French pan fraternity, saying that while they seem to love playing the instrument, getting the French players to associate music-making with competition was another thing entirely. The French, she explained, don’t view music as a competitive activity in the way that they do with sports.
“People were against it,” she admitted, surmising that she “must have talked to the right people,” as everything started getting off the ground not long afterward.
The members of the French bands, while mostly from mainland France with a few hailing from the French West Indies, are not all newcomers to the instrument. Although many of them learned to play the instrument by rote, others are more seasoned musicians who have visited Trinidad and played with local bands—including Hadco Phase II Pan Groove and WITCO Desperadoes, among others—over the years.
Keeping close to the culture
The bands, although based in France, do not operate in a creative vacuum; rather, they remain very much connected to pan culture, keeping their finger on the pulse of what’s happening in Trinidad and Tobago, which allows them to ensure that their repertoire is up-to-date. Collaboration with veteran Trinbagonian arrangers and pan tuners is part of this effort. Multiple Panorama title holder, pannist and arranger Duvone Stewart is one such collaborator—he’s served as the band’s artistic director since 2003 and facilitates in-person workshops a few times a year. (You can read more about Stewart’s work with Calyps’Atlantic here.)
For the love of pan
With the event still in its nascent stages, there are no cash prizes for the winners; rather, the champions take home a trophy and earn bragging rights as those who managed to make the best impression on the experienced judges. But the event’s small budget aside, there’s more to the prize not being a monetary one—the French Panorama wasn’t created with the aim of fostering a competitive spirit around pan-playing, but rather to encourage cultural exchange and ambassadorship, build inter-group camaraderie and offer a virtual bridge for members of the various groups to share their love of the instrument where city lines and the business of transporting the instruments present logistical and financial hindrances.
Atkins and the team at Calyps’Atlantic managed to pull off an in-person meeting of the bands only once so far, last May. In the cool warmth of spring, some 14 bands assembled for Pan’Fest, a free, open-air event that offered eager audiences arrangements of soca, calypso, as well as pop and soul numbers, showcasing the versatility of the instrument. Stewart attended as a guest of honour and spoken word artist and poet Anthony Joseph and his band wrapped up the evening.
Good weather, delicious food—including a doubles stand run by Paris-dwelling Trini couple Carla and Justin Audroing—and sweet music made the day a success, however, it was an expensive, herculean undertaking to get all the bands in the same place. Atkins hopes to repeat this in subsequent years, perhaps even to have an in-person Panorama in the coming years.
Her goal is to ensure that the French overseas territories are also included. It’s been more of a challenge to get the bands from the French West Indies to participate, however, this year, Reunion Island will be represented, and Atkins considers that a great start, considering the level of coordination across different time zones and cultures.
In the end, an aspect of the French desire for non-competition remained in the concept, and the event has two categories, judged and non-judged, with participants free to choose which they enter.
“A lot of people feel very intimidated to do it,” Atkins said. “So it would be a shame not to actually give them the possibility [to participate].”
A bridge back home
The first American-born child in a Trinbagonian family, Atkins spent most of her childhood in Connecticut, where she was introduced to music at a young age.
“Piano saved me,” she said, recalling her school days in the US when she was faced with bullying and turned to the piano and the clarinet, among other instruments, as an escape.
Leaving the music behind in early adulthood, it caught up to her when she relocated to Nantes in 1993 after her uncle sent her a tenor pan.
“After I received the pan, everything changed,” she shared.
The unique gift pushed Atkins to go in search of community in her new home, and with her musical background, she couldn’t accept such a gift and not use it.
“I couldn’t just keep it in a box somewhere.”
Atkins soon reawakened her musical side, joining the ranks of Calyps’Atlantic and finding community with the group that she is still a part of some 15 years later.
She said that playing pan serves as a bridge back to the place she calls home, which, interestingly, isn’t Connecticut, but Roxborough and Arima, the places that have given her an appreciation for culture, a love of music, and the identity she wears with pride. She makes an effort to visit every year, immersing herself in the large families that welcome her with every trip.
Through her work with Calyps’Atlantic and her organisation of the annual event, Atkins continues to maintain that bridge, expanding it a little further each year.
She is proud of the work she’s done and is grateful to the many collaborators who join her in celebrating her home culture, who believe in the project and continue to help bring it to fruition. She revels in the atmosphere of community encouraged by the love of the instrument.
“I see all the connections being made,” Atkins said, “It’s tradition, it’s identity. I can’t leave this behind.”
The French Panorama will be broadcast live on their YouTube channel on April 26 at 2pm (Trinidad)/8pm (France) and will be available for viewing afterward.
Check out the channel for interviews with the judges and performances from previous years and their Instagram page for updates.
(Story by Tevin Gall, The Loop, April 3, 2025)