Concert Program
Student Recital Series
Tiajuana Hernandez, Graduate Steelpan Recital
Sunday, April 26, 2026
11 am
Recital Hall
Special Guests
Keon Baptiste, tenor steelpan
Kayla Lockhart, voice
Maggie Garner, voice
Segun Owele, voice
Daniel Chukwunyem, voice
Danny Clements, flute
Miles Macklin, trumpet
Joshua Hale, keyboard
Evan Miller, drumkit
Shariyah Wright, dancer
Emma Cho, marimba
Jenna Zimmerman, marimba
John Wolff, marimba
NIU Steelpan Studio
NIU Percussion Studio
Concert Program
Program
| Friday | Kevin Bobo (b. 1974) |
| Running Late is the first movement of a tenor / lead steelpan solo piece Friday. Friday is a study in four movements of the musical possibilities of steelpan. The demands placed on the performer require skills of an expert steel pannist, since solo steelpan compositions of a homophonic or polyphonic nature are not typical. The piece is a musical portrayal of four events that would take place on a typical Friday. | |
| Sonata No. 1 in G minor – “Presto,” BWV 100-IV Presto, IV |
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) |
| Baroque piece, composed for solo violin and adapted for double seconds steelpan. It features a uniformed rhythm of continuous sixteenth notes with creative patterns of pitches and contour. | |
| Invention No. 8 in F major (BWV 779) | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) |
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Keon Baptiste, tenor steelpan Baroque Canon composed for piano featuring contrapuntal technique. Originally arranged for tenor steelpan and tuba by Dr. James Gourlay, this version was adapted for tenor and cello pan. |
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| The Honey Bee | Liam Teague (b. 1974) |
| The Honey Bee, a three sticks piece composed in the early 2000’s, attempts to highlight a sense of beauty within the context of simplicity. It demonstrates the steelpan’s lyricism, creating imagery of a Honey Bee at rest, which then gradually starts to spread its wings and fly. The upward shift to various tonal centers lends to the idea of the bee’s ascension to the sky; eventually, the Honey Bee returns to a place of tranquility and goes back to rest. | |
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My Help |
Jackie Gouche (1963-2024) |
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Kayla Lockhart, voice My Help ( Cometh from the Lord) famously performed by Brooklyn Tabernacle choir in their 1999 High and Lifted up album is a gospel hymn that references Psalm 121. It is arranged by Tiajuana Hernandez for Tenor Steelpan, Voice and Jazz ensemble. |
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The Whistler |
George Hamilton Green (1893-1970) |
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Emma Cho, marimba The Whistler was originally published in 1962 as a xylophone solo with piano accompaniment. It is one in a series of six fox-trots grouped under the title “George Hamilton Green’s Jazz Classics for the Xylophone”. Bob Becker’s arrangement includes five players: 1 xylophone, 4 marimba parts. The solo xylophone part was adapted on Tenor / Lead steelpan. |
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O Mere Sona Re |
Rahul Dev Burman (1939-1994) |
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NIU Steelpan Studio A Bollywood song released in 2000 from the movie Teesri Manzil, sang by Asha Bhosle about a female who affectionately teases and declares her love to a male. Awarded International Viewer’s Choice by MTV India. .Famously arranged for the Samaroo Jets Steelband by Jit Samaroo. This piece was chosen as a tribute to the late manager of Supernovas Steel Orchestra, Anthony ‘Pampas” Samaroo, and my late Uncle Ramlakhan Oudit. It also reflects a part of East Indian culture, as aa mixed Trinidadian. |
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Cantando Gloria |
Alicia Jaggasar (b. 1974) |
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NIU Steelband Studio Originally composed and performed by Alicia Jaggarsar and Los Alumnos de San Juan Parang Band of Trinidad and Tobago. Cantando Gloria translates to “Singing Glory” which is a story about the nativity, glorifying the birth of Jesus Christ. It is an Aguinaldo that has blends of the traditional Venezuelan parranda style and polyrhythms. A reflection of my Spanish Trinidadian culture and my mission as an ambassador for Parang music of Trinidad and Tobago, being parandero myself. |
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Take Me Home |
Freetown Collective Band (2010) |
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NIU Steelpan Studio A song by Trinidad and Tobago’s Freetown Collective band released in 2024. it is an emotional and unifying fusion of calypso and soca that initiates cultural identity and belonging, that was named Calypso of the Year 2025 by the National Action Cultural Committee (NACC). Adapted and arranged for steelband by Tiajuana Hernandez. The arrangement reflects a sense of patriotism, love for ones country, and the journey home at the end of a master’s degree in music at NIU.
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This performance is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music degree.
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