Trinity College Celebrates 16th Annual SambaFest with Hartford Community

By Bella Chirkis ’27

Staff Writer

Trinity College held the 16th annual SambaFest this past Saturday, April 20, featuring a variety of performers and events. Starting from 11 a.m., students were able to view and participate in AfroVibe Live Jazz, A Big Bang Open rehearsal, Friendz World Music, Bomba With Nelson Bello and Friends, Efraim Silva Capoeira Workshop, Kainga Music, Trinity Steel, Efraim Silva Maculele Workshop, Trinity Samba Ensemble, Efraim Samba Dance Workshop and Teka and Henrique Esenmann performances. 

These all-day shows were open for Trinity students along with Hartford residents. This exciting event was celebrated all across campus as well as in different areas of Connecticut. Tents were set up all along the Gates Quad that had a variety of activities for everyone, including face painting, rock painting and food trucks. 

Many of the shows during SambaFest were done by professionals, playing music and hosting exciting workshops for all to enjoy. One of the performances was done by Trinity’s own students. In the Trinity Steel Pan event, students that took the Steel Pan Ensemble course performed the songs that they learned and practiced all semester. 

The Tripod had the opportunity to listen to Trinity students perform at the steel pan concert and interview one of the members of the course, Andreia Soares ’27, about her experience and recommendations. Soares’ favorite part of the class was her experience with Professor Curtis Greenidge, the professor who teaches the course. Soares said, “He provides just enough structure, history, culture and foundation to be able to see the instrument and know how to play it properly.” She believes how any professor teaches a class and interacts with their students changes the trajectory of the class as a whole, no matter what the subject is. She thought that at some points she enjoyed interacting with the professor more than the instrument itself, adding that any class that he taught at this school she would willingly take. 

 The culture surrounding steel pan resonated with Soares the most as she was able to connect with her own culture, and she believes that each student was able to interact with it in a different way. She described it as ambiguous, as each student was able to connect with the instrument differently and independently. With no prior experience with steel pan, Soares said that the class consisted of a series of memorization due to repetition. The steel pan becomes something of muscle memory after learning and consistently playing it for so long. 

The performance that the students participated in ended up a major success, with a variety of Trinity students and staff on the Gates Quad to show their support.