Sterling Betancourt MBE, FRSA (30 March 1930 – 3 June 2026)

A Trinidadian-born pioneer, arranger and musician on the steelpan, and a major figure in pioneering the steelpan in Europe and the UK.

Betancourt was chosen with 11 steelpan players to form the Trinidad All-Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) and play in London at the 1951 Festival of Britain, in the same year he toured England and Europe with the band and was the only member of TASPO to remain in England when the others returned to Trinidad on 12 November 1951.

In a career spanning more than five decades, he received numerous awards including his involvement in the origins of the Notting Hill Carnival in the 1960s. Betancourt lived in London, England.