Hiya fans,

Our biggest news, of course, is that our Summer Concert tickets have just gone on sale at http://bit.ly/sing_swing_strings_tickets !  The concert itself is called Sing, Swing, Strings!, on July 8 at the Gasteig, and we’re excited to try a couple of experiments — we’re trying out one single ticket price of 15 euros for everyone, and no reserved seats.  That’s right — come early to grab your preferred place!  Reduced admissions for children and students are 8 euros.

Of course the show will be packed with our traditional variety, including Mozart, Glenn Miller, some Andrews Sisters, a bit of Bizet, a couple gospel numbers, the Monty Python theme tune (did you know it was written by John Philip Sousa?)… you know how it goes!

If you missed our sold-out Spring Concert on April 22 in the Einstein Kulturzentrum, we have made a few videos available — including this one of some spontaneous musicking at the after party!  The staff at the Unionsbräu was very accommodating, but it’s a good thing we had the entire room to ourselves.

We had our Annual General Meeting on Sunday, May 21, and we congratulate Michael von Glasow on his election to the position of Vice-Chair after Sarah Mulloy has stepped down after two successful terms!  Annie Janssen was reelected as Artistic Manager, while Elaine Cole and Genevieve Cory continue in their terms as Treasurer and Chair.  We are currently without a Secretary, but the Board is working on how to fill that spot soon (and start the notarizing!) – and perhaps founding an entire Concert Coordination Committee.  As our organization expands, the tasks somehow do not become fewer!

ESME e.V. is playing more gigs than ever before! Tomorrow, June 11, at 15:00 in the Stadtteilkultur 2411 at Hasenbergl, the Singers will be performing together with the Munich Korean Women’s Choir.  Stadtteilkultur 2411 was our rehearsal venue for the Singers and Orchestra in 2016, and it’s a lovely space in the north of town. There will be coffee and cake in the interval, and the show is free (but donations are accepted).  Location details are in the gig post.

The Resident Alien Big Band (RABB) is excited to perform in front of thousands of people at the City of Munich’s Stadtgründungsfest on Saturday, June 17!  They will perform at Marienplatz, right in the center of town, at 14:45.  This is a very prestigious opportunity for us, and they’ve been working and networking for years to get this chance to perform at one of the city’s biggest summer weekend festivals.  The whole program is here, and it’s an entire weekend of fun: http://www.muenchen.de/veranstaltungen/event/8060/programm.html

The Aliens will be moving faster than the speed of camera shutters as they groove onstage:

Look for members of other ensembles in the audience wearing their blue ESME t-shirts and carrying the ESME banner, as demonstrated at the Expat in the City Fair in March:

We hope to see you on June 11, June 17, and / or July 8!

The Munich Summer Ball, which was hosted in July by ESME e.V. and organised by members of our Resident Alien Big Band, raised over EUR 700 for for “Musik schafft Heimat”, a project instigated by the Bayerische Philharmonie within the major initiative “Integration und Toleranz“ of the Wertebündnis Bayern to help integrate refugees into their new home in Munich through the universal language of music.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of watching some of these groups perform at the Bayerische Philharmonie’s open day in Munich Pasing.

The male singers were all wearing T-shirts with names of cities – Aleppo, Homs, Damaskus – followed by “Munich”; cities we have all heard far too much about in the news. They sang together about “Heimat” and ended with their own version of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. Their wives and children stood proudly in the audience and cheered with everybody else at the end of each song. A further group played on traditional Syrian instruments.

It is impossible for us to imagine what these people have been through, both at home and on the 47-day trek to a better life in Germany. It is wonderful to see them smiling and making music together here in Munich. Please take time to have a look at their website: http://www.bayerische-philharmonie.de/Navigation/Soziales-Engagement/Musik-schafft-Heimat

ESME at the “Expat in the City” Fair

Following the success of last year’s “Expat in the City”, our musicians once again signed up to help set up and run the ESME booth at this year’s event, which was held in the BMW World at Olympiazentrum, on Sunday 6 March. Many members of  the public expressed an interest in our organisation and signed up to either join an ensemble  or attend one of our concerts. A small section of the choir gave the audience a taster of the upcoming Spring Concert with a section of the song “Nelly Bly” – which was very well received!

ESME Spring Weekend Away

On Friday 11 March, around 70 ESME members gathered at the Alexander von Humboldt Institut in Bad Schüssenried for another weekend of music-making. All three ensembles were well represented and enjoyed the many hours of rehearsal, thanks to the continued dedication and enthusiasm of their directors. By Saturday night each ensemble was ready to perform something from this season’s repertoire to the rest of the group.  The Big Band’s pieces were particularly spectacular!

Thankfully there was also time for the usual banter and late-night fun, which always make these events so memorable.  All in all an excellent weekend, and members can look forward to the next one in early October!

Spring Concert

An additional date for your Diary: Saturday 23 April at 19:00 

The ESME Choir presents a wide selection of tunes, ranging from gospel and folk to classical and pop, plus a variety of performances from smaller instrumental and vocal groups. 

It promises to be an evening of great musical entertainment.  Hope to see you there!

More details here:       Spirit of Spring  –  2016 Spring Concert

Rehearsals for the 2016 Summer Season got underway on 20 January with the first Singers’ rehearsal in our new rehearsal room at Stadtteil Kultur 2411, Munich under the direction of Eric Weddle, our Summer Season conductor.

Since Monday 1 February, the orchestra has also been testing the acoustics of the rehearsal space with their conductor, Benedikt Holnaicher.

The first Big Band rehearsal took place on 4 February in their usual rehearsal space, KreativGarage, with Armin Holnaicher leading them through the season.

There is a full programme of ESME events this season including:

The Expat in The City Fair on Sunday 6 March – this year it will be at BMW Welt.

The Spring Concert at Einstein Kultur on Saturday 23 April, featuring the ESME Singers as well as some small ensembles and soloists.

The Summer Concert, featuring all three ESME ensembles, at the Carl-Orff-Saal in Gasteig on Saturday 18 June.

As well as appearing at the Summer Concert, the Big Band will be involved in a number of events in and around Munich. More details to follow soon.

Details of the concerts and other events can be found on the ESME website and on Facebook