Click on images to go to gallery pages for each event
We left after school on Wednesday 20th July travelling through the night, eventually arriving at lunchtime on Thursday 21st in Karlsruhe for our first taste of the amazing hospitality we would receive all week from our hosts in Karlsruhe as they laid on lunch for us at Ann Frank House Community Hall.
A quick freshen up and we were off to perform at one of the biggest festivals in Gemany: Das Fest where each orchestra performed a set to a large crowd. This was particularly impressive considering how tired our musicians were after the 18 hour journey from Nottingham! Then the groups Came Together for the first time to play some joint items directed by Thomas Paha (Conductor of the Jugendorchester Karlsruhe and one of the key organisers of Come Together) to a great response from the audience.
It was immediately clear during these pieces that we were part of something very special.
After the performance there was dinner and reception with the other groups and various people involved in the event. This was the first chance to meet the other musicians and for many new friendships to start forming.
We were then lead on a walk back to our youth hostel by Roland (former conductor of the Jugendorchester), which was punctuated throughout by calls of “Bike” as we learnt that Karlsruhe really is a cycling city.
Friday22nd was a fairly relaxed day, starting with a tour of the City of Karlsruhe, which gave us a great insight to the city's history and beautiful scenery. After some time to explore Karlsruhe's shops and markets we had lunch at the Council House before taking a tram ride to Karlsruhe's famous ZKM museum and Gallery.
On Friday evening we were treated to a Barbeque before we had our first joint rehearsal with the other groups where began working on Rule the World. We then learnt two songs together: Der Mond ist aufgegangen and Babethandaza, which was lead by some of our students.
After the rehearsal we went on our traditional Night Walk joined by some of our new German and French friends, despite the poor weather and somewhat to our host's amusement. We were led through the state forest by two wardens who gave us lots of interesting information about the wildlife in the area. The evening finished with a atmospheric rendition of Babethandaza around an open fire.
Saturday23rd started with another joint rehearsal before we headed to K-Punkt for a 'solo' gig. This was a great setting and we quickly drew a crowd. (Check out the pictures taken by our daring photographer Priya from the rooftop!)
We then went onto perform at a joint concert with the other groups at Friedrichplatz, in front of the Natural History Museum and again there was a large and appreciative audience.
On Saturday evening we went to Das Fest, one of the biggest music festivals in Germany and a highlight of the Karlsruhe calendar. We were not disappointed, the atmosphere was fantastic and we saw great performances by Razorlight and Skunk Anansie.
Not to be out done, we sang Babethandaza between sets so we really can say, "We performed at Das Fest!"
On Sunday 24th we travelled to Speyer where we were due to perform outside the Cathedral, however when we arrive it was raining and so the performance was moved inside the entrance to the Cathedral. This was greatly to our advantage as the acoustic was near perfect and enabled us to really shine. Indeed Ian Burton said "This was our best performance ever!" Again the four orchestras joined forces again at the end of the concert to perform Grosser Gott Wir Loben Dich, conducted by Thomas Paha. We then had a guided tour of the beautiful and fascinating Speyer Cathedral.
When we got back to Karlsruhe we had a chance to relax before heading off to dinner at the Jugendherberge... except that this was when we had our first aid emergency, as Shannon fell down the stairs and fractured her toes! We were all reassured that she was ok when she returned later that evening with a PINK cast: "I had to have one that would match my outfit!"
After dinner a huge jam session began with musicians from Come Together taking over every free space in the Youth hostel to create music of their own.
Monday 25th was our day to visit Strasbourg and the European Parliament. We had the chance to meet an official and ask questions about how the Parliament works before being taken on a tour, including having our picture taken on the red carpet.We finished the visit by singing in front of the parliament.
Then it was lunch in the Old City where some of us had crepes and a lot of us had Ice Cream! Some found Petite France whilst others explored the narrow streets and gifts shops around the Cathedral, enjoying the lively atmosphere of this beautiful city.
In the evening dinner was a veritable banquet of local specialties prepared and served by the parents and friends of the Karlsruhe Orchestra; again we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of our hosts! After dinner it was time for our last joint rehearsal and a chance to tidy up loose ends before the final concert. The rehearsal finished and the Halle Jugendorchester taught us their exciting theme tune, 'Tequila' including dance moves. The evening ended calmly with everyone singing Hallelulia and Imagine.
Tuesday 26th, our last full day and we went up into the Black Forest where we saw some stunning scenery and once again were shown around by volunteers from the Karlsruhe orchestra. We stopped by a lake to have lunch and some of us sampled the local specialty: 'Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte' (Black Forest Gateau)
Among the many souvenirs available were a large variety of unusual hats, which members of the Orchestra snapped up; these would later feature in our performance of 'Get Smart' at the final concert.
Tuesday evening saw the final concert at the Badnerlandhalle where each orchestra gave excellent performances including our rendition of Get Smart with 'Hats'.
And then our final joint performances as massed orchestras: Rule the World and Thank You For The Music. These were emotional and overwhelming for all involved and the audience was clearly moved; rising for a standing ovation and calls for an encore, which we gave in the form of the song 'Der Mond ist aufgegangen'. The music wasn't quite over yet as the Halle orchestra lead an impromtue massed performance of Tequila.
On Wednesday 27th we gathered outside the Kettler Heim Youth Hostel to say goodbye to our friends and for a final rendition of Babethandaza before setting off on our journey home. We arrived back in Nottingham at 3am on Thursday 28th very tired but exhilarated by all we had experienced and immensely grateful to our friends from Nancy, Halle and Karlsruhe and especially all those in Karlsurhe who helped set up and organise Come Together, fed us, guided us around and generally made sure we were looked after in every way possible.
We are now looking forward to the next chance to COME TOGETHER!
News paper articles:
Karlsruhe Local Paper article about first performance at Das fest Speyer Local Paper article about performance at Cathedral Karlsruhe Local Paper article about final concert
