Duvone Stewart
With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, Duvone Stewart has won international acclaim, performing on stages across the globe. His refreshingly honest musicality, combined with an ability to engage with musicians and audiences alike, has won him many admirers as a cultural ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago. An avid supporter of the steelpan movement, he is also the founder and creative director of the Steelpan Chronicles Talk Show.
Stewart has accomplished historic and unprecedented feats, achieving a triple win at the Trinidad and Tobago National Panorama competition in three categories (Small Band, Medium Band and Large Band). He is the only arranger to have led bands to victory in every category of panorama competition – Single-pan, Small, Medium and Large band categories. Under his musical directorship, he has amassed a record-breaking number of twenty-eight (28) Panorama Competition wins locally, regionally and internationally combined.
His discography comprises some 30 recordings spanning repertoire from the time of Bach to the present day spanning all musical genres; and includes his debut album “Stroke of Genius”, recorded fully using the Electronic Pan. Stewart is the recipient of Tobago’s distinguished award, the Tobago Medal of Honour Gold for Distinguished and Outstanding Service to Tobago in the sphere of Culture.
Throughout his memorable career, he has worked with many bands in Trinidad and Tobago including Merrytones, Solo Pan Knights, Our Boys Steel Orchestra, San Juan East Side Symphony, Pan Elders Steel Orchestra and BP Renegades Steel Orchestra. In the international arena, he has worked with Harmony Steel Orchestra in New York, Calypso Atlantic and Steel Pan de Montangac in France, ‘Big Pan’ Pan Groove in Germany, Piton Diamond Steel Orchestra in St. Lucia, Brampton Golden Harps in Canada, Starlift Steel Orchestra in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ebony Steel Band in the United Kingdom. He has worked all over the world including the Caribbean, Maldives, France, Canada, Europe and the United States.
Duvone Stewart was born in Tobago in 1976, and studied at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad. He has also received invaluable advice from the composer and musician Dr. Jit Samaroo who has greatly influenced his style and philosophy of playing. He is currently the musical director and arranger for the BP Renegades Steel Orchestra in Trinidad where he resides.