Dr. Mia Gormandy-Benjamin

Chief Executive Officer

Mia Gormandy-Benjamin is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Gormandy-Benjamin received a Bachelor of Music degree (2009) and a Master of Music degree (2011) in steelpan performance from Northern Illinois University (NIU). She then received a second Master of Music degree (2013) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (2017) in ethnomusicology from Florida State University (FSU). Her doctoral research focused on the history and performance practices of steelpan musicians in Japan.

Dr. Gormandy-Benjamin has performed in several different countries around the world including Austria, Australia, England, Japan, the United States, Canada, and countries of the Caribbean. Several committees awarded her over the years including the Laventille Steelband Festival Foundation and the Port-of-Spain City Corporation. Dr. Gormandy-Benjamin has been the recipient of several grants including the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship presented by the American Musicological Society and the Carol Krebs Research Fellow Award granted by Florida State University.

She is the co-founder of the global steelpan project called the Virtual Steelband where 22 countries with over 300 pannists are registered with the organization. She later worked on the “Pan in Unity” project as a response to the 2020 pandemic, which featured 691 musicians from 23 countries. Dr. Gormandy-Benjamin is a long-time member of the renowned Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra, where she serves as a performer, transcriber, conductor, and educator. She also serves as a television commentator for Panorama, the largest steelband competition in the world.