Dr Mia Gormandy-Benjamin started playing the steelpan at age five, joined the Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra by age nine, and by age 15, had toured the world and won numerous competitions playing pan.

Therefore, it was to no one’s surprise that she chose a career in music and, at age 34, is the assistant professor of music (pan) at the Academy for the Performing Arts, UTT, the artistic director of Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra, CEO of PanNotation, and discipline leader for UTT’s APA Pan Fellowship.

She explained that PanNotation was established to allow the uploading and downloading of steelpan music scores, is a library for educational materials, and an interactive platform that connects musicians, educators and steelpan enthusiasts.

She is also the wife of Kygel Benjamin, a pan educator and former percussionist with the National Steel Symphony Orchestra, and the musical director and arranger for All Stars Youth Steel Orchestra, and the mother of two-year-old Milan Benjamin.

Born and raised in Belmont, Gormandy-Benjamin started playing the steelpan when her parents bought one for her older brother. He was not interested but she kept trying to play, even though she could barely reach the instrument.

They realised she was interested and sent her to lessons. At age six, she also started playing the piano but eventually dropped it to focus on the steelpan. That was also the year she entered and won her first competition.

“I think that’s when my parents were like, ‘I think we’re on to something.’”

[caption id="attachment_991564" align="alignnone" width="768"] Dr Mia Gormandy-Benjamin, artistic director of Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra. - AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]

In addition to performing with All Stars, she also had a solo pan career and sang calypso in Newtown Girls’ Primary School. She went to South East Port of Spain Secondary for one year, then transferred to St Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain.

At age 15, she received a scholarship to attend Northern Illinois University (NIU) to pursue a bachelor of music degree in steelpan performance, which she attained in 2009 with full honours. There, she studied under Prof Liam Teague and national award winner, the late Dr Clifford Alexis.

She told WMN the scholarship was a surprise because she did not apply for it. She recalled being a guest performer at an awards ceremony that was attended by Teague and Dr Larry Snider, professor of music and director of percussion studies at The University of Akron in Ohio.

After the ceremony, she was invited to perform as a guest at NIU and Akron, and Teague basically told her she needed to go to NIU so he would get her a scholarship.

To add to the serendipity of it all, a few weeks before the performance, she had represented TT in an international teen talent competition where the winner had to tour Europe. She came second and so returned to TT.

“When the winner was touring Europe, the awards ceremony took place in Trinidad. So if I had won that competition, I would have complete