For the first time since 2018, we were pleased to once again spend our autumn ESME Weekend Away at the beautiful and historic Musikakademie Alteglofsheim, near Regensburg. Instead of a chartered bus (which we use for our Spring EWAs to Bad Schüssenried in Baden Württemberg), we all arrived via trains or carpooling.
After a light meal in the dining hall, rehearsals for both the Orchestra and the Singers got off to a start on Friday evening. Afterwards we met up in the ‘party room’ to for the usual mingling, sing-alongs, and board games to unwind. A special treat was singing “Happy Birthday” at midnight to our long-time alto Annie Janssen, who has rung in three birthdays during the autumn EWA.
Saturday is always the most rehearsal-intense day of the weekend, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m., with small various breaks throughout, including lunch, Kaffee und Kuchen, and dinner. The Singers covered their full repertoire, including an unusual song from “Frozen” (the orchestra is also doing a medley from that beloved animated movie), festive arrangements of a couple of well known carols (“Fum Fum Fantasy” and “Pat-a-Pan”), a rousing Carly Simon reprise from our 2016 concert, “Let The River Run”, and much more. A true highlight was an a cappella run-through of Rachmaninoff’s “Bogoroditse Devo” in the picturesque small chapel on the grounds, which provided perfect acoustics for this somber and gorgeous piece. The Orchestra worked on their jolly Strauss polkas and the “Farandole” movement from Bizet’s L’Arlesiénne suite, among others. The usual Saturday night revelry was then kicked off, with some staying up later than others!
Sunday mornings are usually fairly subdued, for obvious reasons, but after separate rehearsals for the Orchestra and the Singers, we were able to finally end the weekend with our joint rehearsal of Vivaldi’s “Gloria” – our mutual hard work paid off, as it sounded terrific! ESME’s viola player, John Fitzgerald, did a great job taking the maestro’s baton all weekend, as our new conductor, Orhan Ahiskal, was occupied with other professional duties at the time. Sebastian Salvaterra also filled in as the Singers’ pianist, as our double-duty Léa Vernisse had to rehearse with the Orchestra as a violinist. To cap off of the weekend, we were treated to the ESME Orchestra accompanying our Singers conductor Julia Chalfin’s whimsical and hilarious Strauss number, the Annen-Polka, which brought down the house! There is no shortage of talent amongst our ESME members.
Some of us also managed to visit the landmark one thousand year old oak tree nearby on our way out. This is often a destination for some of us hikers during the weekend breaks. Many photos were snapped for posterity.
A very special thanks go out to Rodrigo Queiro from the Singers and Ponno Jonatan from the Orchestra, for organizing this entire weekend, not an easy task by any means! We are so grateful to have industrious and sharp volunteers like this who put so much effort into ESME, while also juggling a busy and productive life outside of our sphere.
We are looking forward to putting all of this effort into our upcoming winter concert, “Underneath the Stars”, at the Munich Künstlerhaus am Lenbachplatz at 6 pm on Saturday, 7 December. Watch this space and all of our social media outlets for ticket links next month!