Dr. Martin and Dr. Halloin perform together as Kwabena Duo. The recital, which is free and open to the public, will feature a cavalcade of contemporary works for percussion and tuba.
The event takes place Monday, November 3, 2025, at 7 p.m. in the Blackbox Theatre in the Fine Arts building on the Inver Hills campus in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.
Music professor conducts research on steelbands in Antigua
Andrew Martin, PhD, Music faculty at Inver Hills Community College, recently traveled to Antigua, one of two Caribbean islands that constitute the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Recognized in the music world as an authority on steelband, a musical ensemble that plays tuned percussion instruments called steelpans, Andrew visited Antigua to conduct research on the influence of steelband music on virtually every aspect of island life and culture, including churches, schools, politics, tourism and civic organizations.
The national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean island republic Andrew has visited numerous times, the steelpan is traditionally made from a used 55-gallon industrial drum. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. With links to Afro-Caribbean stick fighting and calypso music, early steelpan orchestras featured instruments made of frying pans, dustbin lids and used oil barrels. Following the preferences and technical specifications of master pan builders, many modern instruments are manufactured using sheet metal that is stretched, hammered and tuned.
“I’ve entered into a new phase of my research and am focusing on Caribbean music styles in the Caribbean diaspora, including steelpan, calypso and soca,” said Andrew, who has also traveled to London, New York City and Toronto as well as several Caribbean countries to advance his studies. “Caribbean music is played all over the world. I’m particularly interested in the connections steelbands have with government, religion, communities, culture and educational systems.”
An alumnus of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Andrew Martin has a Ph.D. in Musicology/Ethnomusicology, an M.A. in Musicology, and an M.M. in Percussion Performance. Dr. Martin completed his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. In 2011, he served as an academic fellow at the Arbeitskreis Studium Populärer Musik held at the Institute for Musicology and Music Pedagogy in Osnabruck, Germany.
At Inver Hills, Dr. Martin teaches courses in music history, music analysis, and percussion. He also directs the Inver Hills African Drum and Dance Ensemble and the Inver Hills Steelband Ensemble.
Dr. Martin’s extensive research is centered on the theory and analysis of American popular music as well as various aspects of Afro-Caribbean music and its phenomenal dissemination throughout North America and around the globe. His chief focus investigates the development of Trinidadian steelbands and pannists outside of Trinidad and Tobago.
Dr. Martin has lectured and presented all over the world, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, China and the Caribbean. His research has appeared in journals such as American Music, Pan Podium: The Journal of the British Steel Band Society and The Journal of New York Folklore as well as The Grove Dictionary of American Music. His book, Steelpan Ambassadors: The US Navy Steel Band, 1957–1999, was copyrighted in 2017.
In addition to scholarship and teaching, Dr. Martin is an accomplished live performer of non-Western and Western music. He has shared the stage with many amateur and professional performing ensembles, including:
Petrotrin Hatters Steelband (Trinidad and Tobago)
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
Renegade New Music Ensemble
PanMN Steelband
Sinatra Review Big Band
Prague Chamber Symphony
Slovak Radio Chorus
Dr. Martin has performed at a number of prestigious events, including:
Percussive Arts International Convention
Minnesota and Wisconsin Music Educators Conventions
SEAMUS (Society of Electro-Acoustic Music) Festival
SPARK Festival of Electronic Music and Arts
Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting
Learn more about steelpan by reading the following articles by Andrew Martin, PhD:
Inver Hills Community College is presenting a faculty recital featuring Andrew Martin, PhD, Inver Hills music faculty, on percussion and Tony Halloin, DMA, Gustavus Adolphus music faculty, on tuba.
