Rising Stars members performing during their Annual Christmas Concert Reichhold Center for the Performing Arts in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands




Rising Stars members performing on their patented double-decked Mobile Stage Rack (Trolley) during the Carnival Parade on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands




Rising Stars recruits performs during their end of summer concert at the Long Bay Panyard on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra in concert at Reichhold Center for the Performing Arts in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands




Rising Stars members perform on their double-decked Trolley during the Carnival Parade on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands









Some of the 150 members of the Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra pose during a photo session on Magen’s Bay Beach on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands




Chief Instructor John Hodge conducts the Orchestra during the 2003 Christmas Concert at UVI’s Sports and Fitness Center




Rising Stars Members await dinner at Victor’s Hideout during their 2003 Christmas Party




Rising Stars Chief Instructor John Hodge (background) along with member Camille Smith (foreground) performs in the 2004 St. John’s Festival Parade along with other members of the Rising Stars Pan-in-Motion in Cruz Bay, St. John




Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra is introduced to the audience during the Annual Christmas Concert in the UVI Sports and Fitness Center





Rising Stars Assistant Chief Instructor, and Manager of the Rising Stars Pan-in-Motion, Ralph “Rabbi” Felix and Instructor Wayne Donadelle, and Ms. Questel perform during the Fourth of July Festival in Cruz Bay St. John, U. S. Virgin Islands




Rising Mobile Stage Rack a/k/a Trolley




Patented by the Rising Stars in September 2003, the “Moveable Double Deck Steel Orchestra Stage” aka Trolley, prepare for a “Journey thru a Cultural Door for Carnival 2004”

We took a long hard look at our trolley operations and after fifteen years of experience and noting all problems, we redesigned and replaced all of our trolleys, outfitting each with an electrical outlet system. Changes were made in the pan configuration of the trolley and improvements to the sound system to maximize the overall tonal balance of the band thereby enhancing the band’s impact during parades and tramps.

On September 9, 2003, the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent No. 6,615,549 B1 for the Movable Double Decked Steel Orchestra Stage a/k/a Trolley.


Carnival 2004- The Rising Stars performs on their Trolley in the Post Office Square



THE “PANYARD”

The “panyard”is a name given to any area that houses a steelband. This originated during the days whenthe instrument was being developed. Practice would usually take place in someone's backyard. The Rising Stars' operations are split between two sites,the Barbel Plaza Panyard, which is the center of operations, and the Long Bay Panyard, where the Summer Recruitment Program takes place. The Barbel Plaza site features classrooms, offices, bathrooms, equipment storage areas, a kitchen, a tuning room, a small recording studio, and covered storage for the band's trolleys. The Long Bay site is an enclosed yard,close to the water's edge, that provides an open-air venue for practice, maintenance of the pans and trolleys.


BARBEL PLAZA PANYARD




LONG BAY PANYARD