...and they're flexible, too: Bands On Stage offered carefree musical enjoyment - Steinmühle

The Steinmühle is known, among other things, for its successful and well-organized music events. Students and teachers also know how to respond flexibly when things don’t go as planned—as was recently the case with “Bands On Stage.” Despite some performers having to drop out at the last minute, the audience enjoyed 90 minutes of a highly entertaining mix of music and didn’t let the performers leave the stage without a big round of applause and an encore.

As of February, the band club for grades 5 and 6 still had 11 students; after that, much to the delight of director Frank Wemme, the number grew to 18! The new members quickly found their place behind their own instruments or at the microphone. They kicked off the evening for the audience in the hall with Rihanna’s “Umbrella”—a fitting start for the day, as umbrellas had indeed had to be opened quite a few times outside that Monday. The group performed “Sorry” by ClockClock as their second song—another track that was familiar to the audience and clearly well-received.

Filling in for music teacher and choir director Daniel Sans is a challenge. Our colleague Anna Prokop handled this task exceptionally well when it came to directing the performance of the elective musical class for grades 8 and 9. Due to the absence of some participants, the program had to be scaled back from four performances to three. The songs, performed with great emotion—namely “Lovely” by Billie Eilish, “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo, and “Control” by Zoe Wees—were met with tremendous enthusiasm from the audience, received loud applause, and were captured on many a cell phone camera.

The rejuvenated JazzEnsemble, led by Frank Wemme, showcased plenty of rhythm. They performed Herbie Hancock’s “Chans’ Song” and Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’.” Afterward, they wowed the audience with the classic “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

Frank Wemme not only hosted the evening but also led another musical highlight with the newly formed StoneMill House Band. Well-known songs such as “I Ain’t Worried” by One Republic, “House of Memories” by Panic! at the Disco, “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb, and “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars led up to the evening’s finale, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the variety of the performance.

The following artists performed at Bands On Stage on March 27:

Band Club, Grades 5 & 6: Carla Isenberg, Matteo Dörbecker, Maya Böttcher, Helena Taschner (vocals), Lotta Funk (violin), Tim Henseling, Damir Vaslylenko, Justus Pöschl, Joshua Triml-Chifflard (glockenspiel), Vincent Pfaar, Anna-Lena Griesler, Justus Pöschl (guitar), Philian Merle, Helena Taschner, Emilia Ritter (piano), Lika Schnabel (bass), Leni Ochs, Noel Hopf (djembe), Antonia Mahnken, Lino Nordwald (drums).

WU Musical, Grades 8 & 9: Evelyn Hildermann, Annica Bartsch, Antonia Kurlinsky, Carlotta Meyer (vocals).

Jazz Ensemble: Juliane Spies (flute), Justus Mahnken (alto saxophone), Constantin Franz (guitar), Juliana Stry (euphonium), Janne Schweitzer (bass), Frank Wemme (piano).

Title: I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll: Juliana Stry (vocals), Constantin Franz (guitar), Jaron Häußermann (drums).

StoneMill House Band: Sophie Gurschi, Juliana Stry (vocals), Juliane Spies, Sascha Trofimov, Sonia Weber (flute), Justus Mahnken, Louisa Röder (alto saxophone), Lars Mitschke (trombone), Juliana Stry, Marit Winterstein (euphonium), Constantin Franz, Stella Gorr (guitar), Svea Turba (piano), Janne Schweitzer, Lika Schnabel (bass), Jaron Häußermann (drums).

WU Sound&Light, led by Matthäus Otte, was responsible for the technical aspects.