While it still feels very much like winter outside, the 2015 ESME Spring/Summer season is well underway. Eric Weddle is back with the Singers, conducting a range of pieces in different languages (Russian, French and Spanish, for starters) and genres (classical, pop, jazz and gospel). Quite a few new singers have shown up, but we still have space (especially for tenors and basses!) The Spring Concert, “Rhythms of Spring”, featuring the Singers and some vocal and instrumental ensembles, is on Saturday 25 April at 7 pm.

Andreas Partilla is conducting the Orchestra, with another eclectic mix of music ranging from “The Lion King” to “Danzas Cubanas“. The Singers and the Orchestra will perform together in the summer concert in Welsh composer Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace”. The Summer Concert is on Saturday 13 June in the Carl-Orff-Saal, Gasteig.

Big Band rehearsals are also well underway. This season’s repertoire ranges from swing (It Don’t Mean a Thing) and samba (Brazil) to rock (It’s a Beautiful Day) and vocal jazz (On the Sunny Side of the Street). The Big Band will be performing in the Summer Concert and just four weeks later, on 11 July, will once again be playing at the 2015 Lions Sommerball, in the Münchner Künstlerhaus.

The Singers will also be busy after the Summer Concert with an appearance with AMA’s (American Music Abroad) Oneida Area Civic Chorale from New York. This joint concert, on 11 July, takes place in Ebersberg.

As well as rehearsals and performances, there are a number of other opportunities to see ESME members in action this season:

We will be taking part in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Munich on Sunday 15 March.
Look out for us – we are group Number 36 – and will be carrying the ESME banner. The Parade leaves Münchner Freiheit at 12 noon and makes its way to Odeonsplatz for the After Parade Party.

Also in March, on Sunday 22 from 10:00 to 17:00, ESME will be represented in the ‘Expat in the City Fair’ at the Alte Kongresshalle. ESME members will be on hand to answer questions and perform some short pieces.

 

 

 

After the summer break, the ESME 2014 Winter Season got under way in early September.

All three ensembles — the ESME Orchestra, Singers and Big Band — were delighted to welcome a number of new people who came along to a rehearsal for the first time.

The ESME Orchestra with Andreas Partilla

 

The ESME Singers with Andreas Scyzgiol

 

The ESME Big Band with Wolfgang Roth

You can take a closer look behind the scenes at all of these rehearsals in two short videos

Orchestra and Singers               https://esme-ev.de/the-winter-season-kicks-off/

Big Band                                   https://esme-ev.de/esme-news-eye-on-big-band/

 

The Autumn Weekend Away will take place from 17-19 October in the Bayerische Musikakademie, Schloss Alteglofsheim

This is a brand new venue for us and one that is perfect for music groups.

You’ll be able to see and hear the results of all this hard work at the 2014 Winter Concert
Sunday 30 November at 4pm
Festsaal, Münchner Künstlerhaus

The programme includes The Skaters’ Waltz, A Tribute to Henri Mancini, White Christmas, Sure on This Shining Night and much more.

Hope to see you there!

Many thanks to Daniel Plappert for the rehearsal photos and videos.

 

In the previous edition of the ESME News, we visited the Orchestra and Singers rehearsals — the Big Band got a mention here and there, but we didn’t see them rehearsing. In episode 2, we redress the balance. You will also see a bit of footage from the gig in Wasserburg from May 2014, and then you will get an exclusive look at one of the pieces the band will be performing at the Christmas concert.

ESME, the English-Speaking Music Ensembles of Munich, Germany, have started rehearsals for the winter season. After a brief review of the summer concert, we join the orchestra and the singers for their first rehearsals. The artistic manager of ESME tells us about the pieces that will be performed this season.

A musical weekend and ‘A Summer Night’s Delight’

Once again, ESME orchestra, big band and choir members came together for a magnificently memorable rehearsal weekend. From May 16-18, fifty members travelled to a new venue – Haus Sudetenland in Waldkraiburg – which provided a great setting for a weekend of music.

During the weekend, the singers picked up their repertoire for the summer concert, having appeared just one week before on stage performing their collection of 15 songs for spring. Orchestra and big band members concentrated on their chosen pieces for the upcoming summer concert.

In the orchestra, there was a chance for the string section to do some particularly intensive study with the help of a sax player on loan from the big band – namely, Sarah Ready, who also happens to be an accomplished violinist. The singers also benefited from a workshop on breathing and voice production led by professional opera singer Regina Schörg.

The success of the weekend was due in no small measure to our conductors, Eric Weddle (singers), Andi Partilla (orchestra) and Joe Noelliste (big band). We will be very sorry to lose Joe, who is going back to the US soon for his doctoral studies in church music.

As usual, there was also a chance for games and socializing during the weekend, with the aim of helping members of the various ensembles get to know each other a bit better. One innovation this time around was a game that lasted the entire weekend, the winner being the one with the most clothes pegs at the end, which created a certain amount of competitiveness.

A highlight of the weekend was a spontaneous singalong around the grand piano on Saturday evening. Pianist Tar Viturawong kept the hits coming into the wee hours of the morning.

We left on Sunday afternoon, tired but cheerful, and already looking forward to the next ESME Weekend Away in October 2014.

 

As a result of the hard work put in by conductors and performers during weekly rehearsals and at the ESME Weekend Away, preparations for the 2014 Summer Concert are going well.

‘A Summer Night’s Delight’
Saturday 12 July 2014
19:00
Carl-Orff-Saal, Gasteig

with the ESME Orchestra, Singers and Big Band and their respective conductors: Andreas Partilla, Eric Weddle and Joseph Noelliste

Tickets are available from München Ticket
and there are concessions for children and students

The programme will feature a selection of music from three continents and spanning four centuries including:

Eric Whitacre – Cloudburst
Leonard Bernstein- Make our Garden Grow
Moses Hogan – Elijah Rock

Hans Zimmer – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Astor Piazzolla – Libertango
Jean Sibelius – Karelia Suite

Jerry Jeff Walker – Mr Bojangles
Charles Trenet  – Beyond the Sea
Burton Lane – On A Clear Day (You can See Forever)

Photos by Daniel Plappert
Graphics by Jeannine Meier