Looking back on the past six months, certain events stand out in particular.

“Bringing joy to the stage—that’s the goal of this event,” announced organizer Frank Wemme before the start of “Bands On Stage.” The performers more than lived up to this self-imposed standard that evening. The Steinmühle hosted what was arguably one of the highest-quality music events in recent memory. The photos speak for themselves.

It was a mix of participants of various ages, including performers who presented different musical genres, as well as bands whose performances had more differences than similarities. And yet, acoustically, the evening felt like a cohesive whole. Everything fell into place; nothing was left to chance. Perhaps this is exactly what joy looks like when rehearsal isn’t perceived as a burden or a source of stress. When students have been musically active for quite some time—in some cases, in the same band lineup—it suggests that personal passion is at play here. Performing were Anna Steinfeldt & Svea Turba, Larry & the Loud Tree Frogs, the 5th and 6th-grade club band, the Jazz Ensemble, and the StoneMill House Band. Students from grades 5 through 13 brought a diverse program of pop, rock, and jazz to the stage.

They could have made it easier on themselves, since the participants didn’t exactly choose easy songs. For example, they performed “Shine Bright Like a Diamond,” followed by “Smoke on the Water” for a change of pace, as well as Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect,” which gave the audience goosebumps, much like “Stay,” also by Rihanna. It was the instrumental and vocal skills, but it was also the selection of songs that made this evening such a success. “Besame mucho,” “Feeling Good,” “Killing Me Softly,” “Rocket Man”—all these pieces simply sound top-notch when the music and vocals are truly on point. It was a major challenge that the performers took on—and they rose to it! The audience rewarded every performance with well-deserved applause throughout, and Tobias Karlein from the school administration team was also thrilled. Guys and girls, you could even perform this program for an outside audience!

The musical performances that evening were visually enhanced by our reliable “Sound & Light” team, consisting of Christian and Jonathan.

The second edition of the revue—featuring music, singing, storytelling, and drama—was a huge success: With over 180 participants, the team led by musical director and cultural affairs officer Daniel Sans had already anticipated a large turnout and had spread the performances across three dates, distributing reserved seating tickets. Despite all the preparations, there was a huge turnout—so many people wanted to experience the performances by the Steinmühlen high school students!

Each event began with three audio samples that had been produced by the students the previous year. These were excerpts from stories written by high school students and read by middle school students. This gave the audience a glimpse into the content of a story collection that will soon be available for purchase. In 19 contributions, the students gave free rein to their creativity in writing. The title of the book, produced under the direction of Melisande Lauginiger and Kristina Sokoli, is *Monsters, Carrots, and Metamorphoses*. — Well, doesn’t that pique your curiosity!

Next, Melisande Lauginiger’s DS Group 11 presented an acoustically and visually impressive piece inspired by Kafka’s “Little Fable,” titled “…The World That Is Growing Ever Smaller.” As an interlude, the audience then enjoyed a performance by Music Classes 11 and 12, led by Ulrike Wilmsmeyer and Kerstin Itzenhäuser, featuring large samba drums. The seven-member ensemble performed with both focus and enthusiasm! This was followed by DS Class 12, led by Ines Vielhaben, which presented an excerpt from Büchner’s *Woyzeck*. The full production of this play will take place in June—we can’t wait!

Stay Active with Body Percussion

During an intermission, this year’s graduating class treated the audience to snacks and refreshments. At the start of the second half, they performed the famous “Cup Song,” which was demonstrated on stage using cups and accompanied by a solo vocal performance by Sabrina Ben Amour.

This was followed by a series of scenes in the style of Bertolt Brecht that highlighted social injustices—performed by Dagmar Müller’s DS Course 13. This performance received a particularly warm round of applause!

As an interlude, Ulrike Wilmsmeyer’s music class then got the audience involved, encouraging the entire hall to join in a body percussion session.

The finale featured Olaf Roth’s high school band together with Daniel Sans’s high school choir; Sans was also responsible for the evening’s successful concept. The audience was treated to rock, pop, musical theater, and film music by Leonard Cohen, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Journey, and ABBA.

The hit show “Revue,” now in its second year, once again brought the Steinmühlen motto—“A Community That Supports”—to life. Everyone in the audience surely noticed just how much music brings people together.

In front of a packed house, the musicians of the Steinmühle came together for their winter concert. For the 5th-grade wind instrument class—which has only had its instruments since October—it was their first concert in front of a large audience. The group was accompanied by Andreas Jamin on the piano. And with the songs “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann” and “Jingle Bells,” a festive Christmas atmosphere quickly took hold.

The Christmas tree sparkled in the auditorium, and the students shone just as brightly as they played their instruments. Following an introduction by music teacher Anna Prokop, who co-hosted the event with Ulrike Wilmsmeyer, Sophie Menzler and Salome Kuppe captivated the audience with their performances on the violin and grand piano. Next up was Jakob Bieber on the cello, also accompanied on the piano by Salome Kuppe. Konstantin Franz also gave a brilliant performance on the piano, followed by Nina Marko, who treated the audience to an encore.

The song “Snowman”—originally by Sia—was a delight to hear, performed at the Steinmühle by the trio of Anna Steinfeldt, Chiara Sheye, and Svea Turba. The performers had to make up for a few absences due to illness that evening; this was the case, for example, with the Stonemill Brass, who, under the direction of Andreas Jamin, nevertheless brought their performance to a successful conclusion with just three brass players. This was followed by a performance by Wind Class 6, who played a piece together with the concert band, and then a performance by the concert band on its own. All three program items were conducted by Stephan Reissig.

For the grand finale, all the performers sang Jose Feliciano’s famous Christmas song, “Feliz Navidad,” with its catchy chorus, “I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas”—accompanied on instruments by Frank Wemme, Anna Prokop, and Stephan Reissig, and joined in by the entire audience with singing and clapping.

As Principal Björn Gemmer noted in his closing remarks, the audience experienced a truly impressive performance and an atmospheric event that was also technically well-executed thanks to the Sound & Light team led by Matthäus Otte. As a token of appreciation, Dirk Lange, a member of the school administration, presented roses to all the soloists and a small bouquet to Ulrike Wilmsmeyer in recognition of her work in putting together the program and organizing the event, which she handled with her usual expertise.