Nearly a decade after his passing in 2016, Dr. Jit Samaroo, nine-time National Panorama champion arranger and steelpan icon, was honoured with a festival celebrating his life, music, and enduring legacy on what would have been his 75th birthday
Held from October 31st to November 2nd, the Jit Samaroo Festival featured a documentary screening, a panel discussion, and concluded with a grand musical concert, showcasing three steel orchestras alongside the National Steel Symphony Orchestra of Trinidad and Tobago.
Throughout his career, Dr. Samaroo composed eleven national test pieces, written for steelpan and adapted for various other instruments.
According to his son, leader and arranger of the First Citizens Supernovas Steel Orchestra, Amrit Samaroo, the festival was the result of two years of careful planning. He noted it was all made possible through the support of friends, family, fellow musicians, and other key stakeholders.
Samaroo is the only steelpan arranger to date to achieve an unmatched hat-trick of wins in the National Panorama Conventional Large Band category.
The concert featured 13-time Panorama champions bp Renegades Steel Orchestra, which won nine times under the arranging stewardship of Dr. Samaroo. This included their 1995 to 1997 hat-trick feat.
Dr. Samaroo’s career with Renegades spanned approximately 35 years before his retirement in 2007.
Over his lifetime, he received two National Awards: in 1987, he was awarded the Hummingbird Medal, and in 1995, the Chaconia Medal. In 2003, he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies.