Eliz­a­beth Gon­za­les

As soon as Katzen­jam­mers Steel Or­ches­tra won the Medi­um Band Panora­ma Fi­nals 2025, Pan Trin­ba­go pres­i­dent Bev­er­ly Ram­sey-Moore ad­dressed the crit­i­cism she knew was com­ing.

Stand­ing firm­ly be­hind her band’s vic­to­ry, Ram­sey-Moore dis­missed any al­le­ga­tions of bias, stat­ing that Katzen­jam­mers’ suc­cess was based on tal­ent, abil­i­ty, and skill—as de­cid­ed by the judges—not per­son­al con­nec­tions.

Katzen­jam­mers, man­aged by Ram­sey-Moore, se­cured an­oth­er win with an arrange­ment by Kersh Ram­sey—her nephew. How­ev­er, just as in 2023 and 2024, she quick­ly re­ject­ed any claims that fam­i­ly ties in­flu­enced the re­sults.

Asked by Guardian Me­dia if she was con­cerned about crit­i­cism, es­pe­cial­ly giv­en past scruti­ny over the band, its skills, and her ties to the arranger, she said, “I’m not afraid to an­swer that ques­tion.

“I am not run­ning from that at all…. I own it (Katzen­jam­mers). Kersh is my nephew, but he is an ex­cel­lent mu­si­cian.”