The students have graduated—but the band is still here. And has been for 20 years. Frank Wemme, educational director at Steinmühle, is the man behind the StoneMill House Band. Naturally, the educator and passionate musician didn’t miss the chance to host the evening himself at the Steinmühle music group’s anniversary concert—featuring many musical guests.
“Whenever something went really well, they graduated from high school,” he announced to the audience in the packed hall. To outsiders, it all seemed like a smooth transition over the years. That alone is worth celebrating. And a concert, of course.
The program kicked off with a performance by the 5th and 6th-grade band. Their singers demonstrated just how powerful even young performers’ voices can be. The following performance by Katharina Filin, accompanied by Olaf Roth, inevitably brought to mind the British rock and pop singer Bonnie Tyler. It was an impressive performance.
Talea and Fynn Konnertz surprised the audience with “Talk”—not a conversation, but an original composition by the guitarist and the singer, whose voice really shone in this piece. The duo also performed “Slow dancing in a burning room” and “Apologize,” accompanied by host Frank Wemme on drums and keyboardist Dirk Konnertz. In his “day job,” Dirk is the executive director of the Steinmühle School Association. But he’s also a musician at heart.
A little high, a little low: The Marburg Music School’s saxophone ensemble, conducted by Jörg Eichberger, provided one of the evening’s highlights with their performance of Queen’s ballad “Bohemian Rhapsody,” delivering a detailed rendition of the three parts of this legendary piece.
Following the *Rent* project—the distinctive follow-up to Talea Funk’s widely staged *Hamilton* project—the audience was left with goosebumps: Music teacher and concert tenor Daniel Sans, accompanied by his wife Marie on piano, Fynn and Dirk Konnertz on guitar and keyboard, Bodam Lee on violin, and Frank Wemme on drums, sang “You Raise Me Up” to the audience.
Following this impressive performance by the sextet and a rhythmic set by the jazz ensemble, the curtain rose on the birthday celebrants. Although the StoneMill House Band—currently consisting of 15 members—hasn’t actually been around for the entire two decades, the members were happy to be celebrated and performed their latest songs. Being part of this school band is truly not a matter of age, as their drummer, a seventh grader, impressively demonstrated.
Dressed in white, the upper-level choir, directed by Daniel Sans, bid the audience farewell after a varied evening of music. But not without first performing Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” In true style—at a school. Because that’s exactly where the lyrics belong.
