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Announcing the Spring Showcase

You’re in for a treat at this year’s annual Spring Showcase, Sunday 19th May, 16:00 at Einstein-Kulturzentrum.   Let us melt your weekly worries away with an array of classical, pop and folk music performed by various small ensembles from our Singers, Orchestra and Resident Alien Big Band.  From choral pop classics and classical cello to folk and ukulele, there’s something for everyone–families welcome!

Tickets for our “Spring Showcase” are now on sale.
Add the event to your calendar, so you won’t forget.
 

Congratulations to our New Board

Back – Manuela Osinski (Treasurer), Annika Brockhaus (Secretary), Elaine Cole (Co-Chair),  Davy Kazan (Auditor), Alyssa Filardo (Concert Management – Artistic Director), Michael Von Glasow (IT); Front – Mette Holmark (Orchestra Manager), Sam Gelletly (Co-Chair) and Carina Little (Concert Management – Administrator); Not pictured – Sabine Gaumert (Auditor)

Greetings from the newly restructured board! Our goal with this new structure is to make the day to day running of our organization more sustainable and to better accommodate a group of our 160 plus member size. By bringing ensemble and concert teams to the board, and creating teams within each ensemble, we hope to spread the responsibilities and make contributing to our special musical club easier and more attractive.

We’re working on getting the changes,  which were voted in with a large majority at this year’s AGM, fully implemented, and very soon we will be putting workgroups together to help define processes both for the new board positions and for fair member treatment.

We look forward to making music with our members in the concerts and gigs to come in 2019 and especially to seeing our loyal newsletter readers and supporters in the audience!

Fresh Faces in the Lead

The ESME Orchestra and the ESME Singers both began the season with new conductors. Johanna Malangré has taken over the baton for the ESME orchestra, and Linda Oppermann is conducting the Singers for the Spring/Summer season 2019. Welcome to ESME!

ESME Spring Weekend Away May 9-11 2019

We are all looking forward to bringing the ensembles together for another music and fun-filled weekend at the Humboldt Institute in Bad Schussenried.  Along with our first joint rehearsals for the Summer Concert, the weekend is guaranteed to include impromptu jam sessions, laughter and llamas.

Resident Alien Big Band play Munich Unplugged

ESME’s Resident Alien Big Band are back at the Munich Unplugged Festival! Join them on May 24th from 8 to 10 PM at Platzl (near Hofbräuhaus). Bring your dancing shoes and smooth moves!

Open Positions in the Orchestra

At the moment the ESME orchestra are working on a broader orchestral sound. Therefore we are actively looking for some more string players. This season, the Orchestra rehearsals are at Einsteinkultur – the venue of the Spring Showcase. You’re interested in joining? Contact us via the introduction form.

Our Resident Aliens also need more support in the trumpet section. Can you jazz solo? Or perhaps you are not the jazz soloist/ jazz trained, but are a confident sight-reader with the ability to hit the high notes? Or do you have someone in mind who might fit one of those profiles? Then get in touch with the Band Leader, Davy Kazan via bigband@esme-ev.de

Entity is proud to host the FEATS 

Entity Theatre e.V. is proud to host the Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies (FEATS) on 30 May-2 June 2019 in Ottobrunn.  4 Days, 12 Plays. Find more information HERE.

2019 Concerts for your calendar

Newsletter

This post is our newsletter — subscribe to have a version with a ticket link for each concert sent to you as soon as we have it!  More regular news, posts and updates go out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. All our social media channels are linked at the bottom of each page. 

https://esme-ev.de/newsletter_subscribe

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New for Spring Summer 2019

The orchestra had their first rehearsal at a new location and with a new conductor on Monday, 4th Feburary. After a lot of searching, the Einstein Kulturzentrum in Haidhausen were able to offer us a fabulous rehearsal space for our Monday evening rehearsals. Johanna Malangré, our new conductor, put the musicians through their paces with the Hebrides Overture, Gli Aranci Olezzano from Cavallaria Rusticana, and Gershwin’s Summertime, which they will perform together with the Singers and some of the Big Band musicians.

The Singers met up a week earlier and were introduced to Linda Oppermann, their new conductor for the Spring Summer season. Having had to leave our former rehearsal venue, the Singers join the Big Band at the KreativGarage, Ackermannbogen, where they are slightly squished in – but at least they have a space to rehearse (and get to know each other better!). The local pizza parlour proved a popular after-rehearsal location and we are sure will be well frequented this season!

The Big Band already started rehearsing in January, the only ensemble this year with no change in rehearsal location and still with their former-member conductor, Davy Kazan. With further jazz vocal ensemble pieces being added to their repertoire, the Big Band are preparing for performances at many venues throughout the Summer – we will keep you posted!

ESME Spring Weekend Away 10th-12th May 2019

Once again, the Singers and Orchestra will be headed off to Bad Schüssenried to have a weekend of rehearsing and socializing.

2019 Concerts for your calendar

Sunday, May 19, Einstein Kultur – our annual Showcase highlighting smaller ensembles

Saturday, June 29, Kulturzentrum Trudering – our annual Summer Concert, our first time in this venue

 

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The English-Speaking Music Ensembles’ Winter Concert is coming to town…

Take time out from the pre-Christmas bustle on Sunday 9th Dec, 16:00 at Carl-Orff-Saal, Gasteig. Unwind and groove with Verdi, Vince Guaraldi, and Dvorak performed by our three ESME ensembles: The Resident Alien Big Band, the Orchestra, and the Singers. We’ll have at least one waltzing flower, one Tannenbaum, a bit of Charlie Brown and English Christmas carols.

Tickets for our “Tales of Christmas” Concert are now on sale on München Ticket.
Add the event to your calendar, so you won’t forget.

Farewell

This concert is going to be a farewell and welcome at the same time: sadly the orchestra is saying goodbye to their conductor Benedikt Holnaicher. He’s leaving ESME to start a Meister-course in Nuremberg. We are very sorry to see him leave us after so many years, but wish him all the best and hope to see him in the audience of one or two of our future concerts.

And welcome

The Singers, on the other hand, are introducing their new conductor, Andrew Morris.  We asked him a few questions:

1. Full name?
Andrew Morris
2. Voice/ instruments?
Violin, Viola, Piano, Bass Voice
3. Favorite piece of music/composer – why?
Bach – D minor Chaconne for Solo Violin
Why:  Because I once upon a time worked really hard on this for an exam.
4. I like the ESME Singers, because….?
They seem to find my jokes amusing.
5. I’m looking forward to… with them.
Performing with them (of course!)
A little more bit about you:

I originally studied music, specialising in performance on the violin, but like quite a few musicians became a computer programmer instead.  Somehow writing Bach fugues and coding have a lot in common.  After some exciting adventures working with data and quite a few trips around the Far East I ended up in Munich in 2001 when my girlfriend (now my wife) was offered a job here.  When our two children came I knew we were going to stay and that’s when I started studying singing, it being easier to sing with a baby on your lap than to play the violin.  The singing led to running courses in English and singing in schools and kindergartens and a certificate in choir conducting.  I also became conductor of the Munich Ladies Choir who very generously let me develop my conducting technique over six years.  When not making music I enjoy being in the mountains; skiing or walking according to the season.

Welcome Andrew — we look forward to more laughing with you!

 

ESME Autumn Weekend Away Nov. 9-11 2018

We are looking forward to a weekend full of Christmas spirit at the beautiful and well-equipped Bayerische Musikakademie at Schloss Alteglofsheim. There will be plenty of rehearsing, but also lots of fun while preparing for our winter concert.  Pictured below are some folks enjoying the spring weather with a walk in the countryside during our Spring EWA — our Autumn EWA typically also involves country walks, but with heavier jackets!

The ESME Singers – Extra Performances

In addition to preparing for a festive concert, the Singers are also planning a few extras this winter: on Oct. 31 several passionate singers are going to Berlin to sing in a mass performance of the Armed Man: A Mass for Peace on Nov. 2, for the 100th anniversary of the end of WWII.  The composer Sir Karl Jenkins will himself be conducting the piece.  Livestream the event within Germany at 20:00 from the link below!
One Christmas-themed concert is not enough: the Singers have also been invited to sing carols and other wintery tunes from the City Hall balcony at Marienplatz as part of the city’s Advent celebrations, above the largest Christmas market in town.  The Singers applied for this privilege years ago and have finally been accepted – we have arrived in the Munich cultural scene!  Come along and listen with Glühwein or Feuerzangenbowle!

The Resident Alien Big Band Additional Gigs

In mid-October, The Resident Alien Big Band was booked into the Grüner Saal of Zum Augustiner for ESME founder Mark Davey’s round birthday (and celebration of his and Belinda Grützun’s wedding).  Congratulations again! The event was opened to the public once the band started up, and they played on until the wee hours of the morning.  The Aliens have been booked for other private functions as well, but of course we can’t show you pictures of those — Datenschutz!  We did get permission to post a very large video file of a very German ritual (thanks Peter Stiff!): the tapping of a wooden keg, just like at Oktoberfest!

Our friends at Entity Theatre e.V. present: “Lend Me A Tenor” by Ken Ludwig

A surefire screwball comedy with loads of laughs! “Lend Me A Tenor” by Ken Ludwig performed by our friends from the Entity Theatre e.V. will whisk you away to the wild and crazy world of opera.  Jump into the United States of the 1930s and experience an evening of glamor, entertainment and music. You will join the protagonist on his journey from zero to hero, careening all the way from one disaster to the next. “Lend Me A Tenor” is charming and full of quick, sharp dialog and jazzy music.

Opening night is November 1, 2018, at Pepper Theater Neuperlach. Members and friends of ESME are welcome to come along particularly on Nov. 3: meet ESME’s new Social Coordinator Irina Popescu (who has promised to wear a red sweater) at 19:30 at the bar downstairs to get seats together for showtime at 20:00. Other ESME members are also already going on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, so you’re sure to find someone you know if you go on any of those dates!  ESME and Entity have several members in common, too — see if you can spot them in action!

2019 Concerts for your calendar

Sunday, May 19, Einstein Kultur – our annual Showcase highlighting smaller ensembles

Saturday, June 29, Kulturzentrum Trudering – our annual Summer Concert, our first time in this venue

Newsletter

This post is actually our newsletter — subscribe to have a version with a ticket link for each concert sent to you as soon as we have it!  More regular news and posts go out over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., all of which accounts are linked at the bottom of each page – but the newsletter will get to you no matter how those algorithms get changed.

https://esme-ev.de/newsletter_subscribe

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Summer Secrets: ESME 2018 Summer Concert tickets are now on sale!

Saturday 7th July at 19:00 at the stupendous Münchner Künstlerhaus – it’s going to be quite an event! With performances from the ESME Singers, Orchestra, and Resident Alien Big Band, and featuring titles such as Don Giovanni, Nimrod (Enigma), West Side Story Choral Suite by Leonard Bernstein and arranged by Mac Huff, Mona Lisa, James Bond, Mission Impossible, Skyfall, and some mysterious magic. Don’t miss out!

And yes, it’s Leonard Bernstein’s Centenary.  He’d have been 100 this year, and our selections from West Side Story are part of a celebration of his oeuvre.

We’re on the worldwide party calendar: https://leonardbernstein.com/news/calendar/event/2018/07/7
Tickets available here: www.esme-ev.de/tickets

And just a few days later…

ESME Resident Alien Big Band presents: A Night on the Groove!

Spend an evening with ESME e.V’s Resident Alien Big Band and groove to a musical journey of Swing, Funk, Latin and Rock to get your feet tappin’ and hips swingin’!  There will be dancing…

This will be on Saturday 14th July at 21:00 at Prinzregenten Garten. Tickets are available to ESME members at €8, non-members €10, both prices only available as an online advance purchase — at the door, it’s €12! Members, remember, you have to log in with your VereinOnline account to get that discount… and it’s only available until the Summer Concert!

In other news…

Spring 2018 Concert: ESME Unplugged

This year’s Spring Concert proved once again to be a joyous occasion for performers and audience alike. The choir sang a number of stirring gospel songs, mixed in with items from their jazz, classical and pop repertoire. Several guests commented on the sense of awe and joy that the music evoked in its listeners. The choir were joined onstage by various small ensembles, put together especially for this event – what a versatile group of musicians!

It was great to enjoy the warm afternoon air with a relaxing and happy after-show gathering at the neighbouring Biergarten.


Photo credit: Tom Hafner

Spring 2018 Weekend Away

This was ESME’s 13th Weekend Away! And as always it was filled with a good balance of hard work and entertainment. Both the choir and the orchestra put in many hours of rehearsal and made considerable progress in this seasons’s pieces. During the day there were opportunities to explore the surrounding nature (including the now-familiar Llama farm!) and in the evenings there was time for plenty of fun and games, with the usual late-night jamming around the piano. It was with great excitement that the two ensembles came together on Sunday afternoon, ready to try out their show-stopping joint item for this season. All in all a fantastic weekend – special thanks to the conductors, accompanists, organisers and helpers who made it so successful!

 
Photo credit: Daniel Plappert and Sabine Gaumert

Welcome to our new board members

June 8 was the first Board Meeting with our two new members: Caroline Kelley is gradually taking on Artistic Director as Annie Janssen has stepped in to help with the July 7 concert, while Annika Brockhaus begins as Secretary!  We thank Marie Lechler and Marije Nieuwenhuis for their work both on the board and as Concert Coordinator, and hope to see them again soon!

GDPR bzw. DSVGO

You’ve seen these acronyms in your mailboxes recently — we delayed this newsletter to not get lost in the flood!  We at ESME have only ever written to folks who have filled out a form to join us, who have purchased our tickets online, or who have simply signed up for updates –and each issue of the newsletter has an unsubscribe link at the bottom.  After clicking on unsubscribe, you will receive one last are-you-sure email, and clicking the link there will remove you from our list.  Once you’ve been removed from the newsletter list, our IT department can delete you from our database entirely.  Rejoin anytime at https://esme-ev.de/newsletter_subscribe — we’ll send out news with a ticket link before each major concert, and with varying algorithms at Facebook and Twitter, it really is the only way to ensure you’ll never miss a concert announcement.

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Greetings 2018 ESME fans,

We are excited to start the new year off with an exhilarating repertoire of music!

All of ESME have been working hard to show you the best of what ESME can offer during our 2018 season.  We hope you are as excited as we are!

Starting off the new year, we want to invite you to our Annual Spring concert “ESME Unplugged” – join us on April 22, 2018 at Einstein-Kultur at 16:00! This is a special time for our singers to perform a wide range of musical genres from around the globe and to welcome to the stage a number of small ensembles that members have put together independently. It’s going to be an evening of musical delights!

 

Photo credits: Michael Mosch

Where can you get tickets? So glad you asked! You can find a link from our Facebook page and website, Twitter and Toytown or directly here: https://esme-ev.de/tickets.

Adult ticket: (15,00 Euros)

Reduced tickets for children up to 12: (5,00 Euros)

Reduced tickets for students: (10,00 Euros)

We can´t wait for you to hear the talented members of ESME, so save the date! We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Summer 2018 concert teaser…

The Summer Concert with the theme of “Mystery and Intrigue” will be on July 7, 2018 at the Münchner Künstlerhaus.

All three ensembles will perform their individually selected repertoires, and then come together for a few special pieces as an extra treat! The singers are rehearsing with the Orchestra our West Side Story Choral Suite, inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Be inspired and moved by the brilliance of Leonard Bernstein’s scores and the poetic assiduousness of Stephen Sondheim´s lyrics.  And the Big Band and Orchestra are collaborating on a special piece to do with our spy theme… come to find out!

Again, you can find a link from our Facebook page and website, Twitter and Toytown, and directly here:   https://esme-ev.de/tickets.

 

Save the Dates:

April 12, 2018 – Jazzbar Vogler

The Lions Club of Munich is sponsoring a benefit performance of our Resident Alien Big Band at Jazzbar Vogler (http://www.jazzbar-vogler.com/) — donations welcome, proceeds go to the Münchner Tafeln e.V.  Tickets available at https://www.lions.de/web/lc-muenchen-muenchner-kindl/

 

July 14, 2018 –  Prinzregent-Garten

Spend an evening with ESME e.V.’s Resident Alien Big Band and groove to a musical journey of Swing, Funk, Latin and Rock to get your feet tappin’ and hips swingin’!

December 9, 2018 – Gasteig Carl- Orff Saal

Join the Orchestra,Singers, and Resident Alien Big Band for our annual Winter Concert at Gasteig Carl- Orff Saal!
Save the date, more details will follow!

Fall of 2017 Update:

As we prepared for our Fall/Winter Christmas concert, the ESME choir and orchestra had the opportunity to take part in a charity event at Ludwigskirche on December 3, 2017. This event was organized by the Munich Irish Network and DIF Bayern to help raise funds for severely sick children in Munich. How exciting it was to perform the Hallelujah Chorus (amongst other items) in such a grand, (albeit cold!) venue! And to appear directly after the Paul Daly Band, featuring our Mayor OB Dieter Reiter!

Only a week later, all musicians took to the stage again, this time at the Künstlerhaus, for our ever-popular Winter Concert, entitled “A Christmas Festival”.

From Bach to Karl Jenkins, from Bruno Mars to Beethoven, this show offered the usual mix of traditional and modern. The Big Band thrilled the audience with their sensational tunes, whilst the choir brought a certain festive spirit to the occasion (headgear included!). The orchestra played many delightful pieces, including The Complete Harry Potter, featuring a cameo from the young wizard, Harry, himself!

Our thanks go to our three conductors, Davy Kazan, Benedikt Lorenz and Robert Gardner, and to the many members who contributed to make this season such a great success.

Photo credits: Tom Hafner and Jorge Benitez

Annual General Meeting March 3, 2018

The board was thrilled this year to have more than one candidate vying for more than one office!  The job of Artistic Manager was hotly pursued, as was Auditor, with two people running for each.  Highly gratifying to see such eager participants!  Marije Nieuwenhuis won the election to Artistic Manager, and Sabine Gaumert won for Auditor.  Elaine Cole and Genevieve Cory ran unopposed for Treasurer and Chair, respectively.  We did again run out of time to discuss everything we wanted to talk about, but we are arranging for a Forum sometime this Spring / Summer to talk about new projects (Maybe a Vereinsheim?  Maybe selling sausages at a summer session?).

Speaking of projects, we continue our drive to get more members involved in the running of the organization with a cloud-based Agile project management system (Meistertask).  As many projects as possible are listed as tasks that any member can take on — from deciding which glockenspiel case to buy, to writing this newsletter, to designing the program for the next concert, or planning get-to-know you games for the next Weekend Away (in May!).   We hope that this greater transparency will encourage more active participation – and give everyone a chance to experience Agile, which of course can only be good for anyone’s career… even if it’s only the business side of things, and not the musical side.  We do need both though…

And finally…

We are currently in need of more tenors, viola- and double-bass players!!! If you know anyone who might be interested please send them our way.  https://esme-ev.de/join-us/

By Michelle & Frances