| |
GERMAN-AMERICAN STUDENT ORCHESTRAS BUILD BRIDGES
Two high school orchestras, one from Detmold,
Germany and the other from McLean, VA USA have been conducting a
unique and significant relationship for over 10 years.
It is a relationship that has deeply enriched the lives of the more
than 100 students who have participated in at least one of five exchange trips
that have occurred over the past decades.
The German orchestra is the Detmolder Jugendorchester from the Christian-Dietrich-Grabbe-Gymnasium in Detmold.
The American orchestra is the Chamber Soloists from McLean High School in McLean, VA.
The exchange began in 1994 when the McLean High School Orchestra, then under the direction of
Bettina Skaard, traveled to Germany to present concerts in Detmold and a nearby town. Each orchestra presented
separate concerts, but the response to the idea of an exchange was very positive.
Interest in establishing a longer-term relationship was pursued by the conductor of
the Detmolder Jugendorchester, Joachim Bergmann, with the new McLean High School orchestra conductor,
Gretta Sandberg, who succeeded Ms. Skaard in 1995. These conversations culminated in a second trip to Detmold in 1998 by the McLean Chamber Soloists. This time the orchestras combined forces in a joint concert before an enthusiastic, standing-room crowd in the Neue Aula of the Grabbe-Gymansium in Detmold on January 29. The students from McLean stayed in the homes of the Detmold youth musicians,
rehearsed with them and established relationships that continued beyond the week-long visit.
Thus began a unique exchange of students, music and good will. The McLean group has traveled to Detmold
four additional times since 1998 - in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008
and are planning a fifth in January 2010. The 2001 trip occurred just before the onset of the war with Iraq led the Fairfax County Public Schools to establish a prohibition on international travel for school sponsored trips. The trips to Detmold have been described by some of the McLean musicians as "life-changing". The American students have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Detmolders and the importance that music plays in the lives of the people of Detmold. Strong friendships have developed between the two groups of musicians, with many personal trips back and forth between the two cities. A blossoming love has developed between two cellists, one form McLean and one from Detmold, who met on the 2001 trip. As the orchestra directors from both sides of
the Atlantic have said, "You can't be an enemy of someone if you play music together!"
The German orchestra has visited the McLean in 1999,
2005, 2007 and again in 2009. During this time, the baton was passed to a new director in Detmold, Udo Mönks. He shared the baton with Ms. Sandberg during the May 2007 concert at the Craighill S. Burks Theater in
McLean High School. The concert, featured music of Bach,
Mendelssohn, Smetana, Johann Strauss, Jr. and Gershwin and included two
pieces where the McLean HS Choral Department joined the orchestras.
Following the retirement of Ms. Sandberg from Mclean HS in 2009,
the baton was passed to Ms. Katie O'Hara, who will be making her
first exchange visit to Detmold in January, 2010.
|
Combined concert, grabbe gymnasium, Detmold, Germany - 25th January, 2008
|
McLean High School is located at 1633
Davidson Rd., McLean, VA 22101. For further information
call, McLean HS orchestra
office (703) 714-5817.
Link to the Photo gallery of our:
2008 Exchange
in Detmold
2006 Exchange
in Detmold
2005 Exchange
in McLean
May 12, 2005
Arrival (pictures)
May 14, 2005
Car Wash (pictures)
May 15, 2005
Northern Virginia (pictures)
May 16, 2005
Washington DC (pictures)
May 17, 2005 Rehearsal & Metrobus to Tysons (pictures)
May 18, 2005
DJO-MHS Chamber Soloists Concert (pictures)
May 19, 2005
Farewell Party (pictures)
| |
