RASPO is an award winning steel band providing entertainment for events, parties, carnivals and festivals at home and abroad. RASPO has performed at The Royal Albert Hall, WOMAD festival, Glastonbury, for the London 2012 Olympics, live on BBC and ITV, and annually at London’s Notting Hill Carnival Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra was founded by Mary Genis in 1997 supported by Pax Nindi with Arts Council England funding, and Matthew Phillip from Mangrove Steel Band who provided instruments and workshop tutors. RASPO is now well established as Reading’s premier steel orchestra and welcomes all age groups. The name – Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra – commemorates the very first steel band to play in the UK at the 1951 Festival of Britain: TASPO Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra.