Every school year, the Steinmühle Summer Festival marks the start of the final week of classes before summer break with a musical celebration. Singers and musicians from various grade levels once again chose a beautiful summer day this year for their joint performance. Audience members from across the school community filled the entire auditorium and showed their appreciation for the performances with enthusiastic applause. Performers included the 5th-grade wind ensemble under the direction of Stephan Reissig, the 6th-grade wind ensemble under the direction of Andreas Jamin, Nina Marko on piano, the 6th-grade choir conducted by Anna Prokop and Daniel Sans, the 8th- and 9th-grade elective course (WU) “Musical” directed by Daniel Sans, and the Concert Band & Life conducted by Stephan Reissig. The Sound & Light elective class, led by Matthäus Otte and his team, ensured that everything ran smoothly from a technical standpoint.

Every school year, the Steinmühle Summer Festival marks the start of the final week of classes before summer break with a musical celebration. Singers and musicians from various grade levels once again chose a beautiful summer day this year for their joint performance. Audience members from across the school community filled the entire auditorium and showed their appreciation for the performances with enthusiastic applause. Performers included the 5th-grade wind ensemble under the direction of Stephan Reissig, the 6th-grade wind ensemble under the direction of Andreas Jamin, Nina Marko on piano, the 6th-grade choir conducted by Anna Prokop and Daniel Sans, the 8th- and 9th-grade elective course (WU) “Musical” directed by Daniel Sans, and the Concert Band & Life conducted by Stephan Reissig. The Sound & Light elective class, led by Matthäus Otte and his team, ensured that everything ran smoothly from a technical standpoint.

Everything will be fine… anyway—who would doubt that? And who in the Steinmühle community would be surprised that the 5th-grade classes chose this motto for their joint musical? The event has its established place on the calendar every year, just as the school year is entering its final stretch. And by this time, there are usually no more big surprises in store. For the things that may not have gone quite as well, there’s a prospect of a solution for the next school year at this time. — Everything will be fine, after all. Anyway.

“Sowieso,” the song of the same name by Mark Forster from 2016, served as a common thread throughout the entire evening, accompanying the performance by the 86 students. And since good cheer is known to be contagious, the girls and boys in their Steinmühen T-shirts managed to spread that wave of enthusiasm to the packed auditorium. Their renditions of songs that were popular long before their time—but very familiar to the family members in the audience—helped make this happen. The program included “Let’s Twist Again,” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and classics like “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Another Brick in the Wall.” But newer hits were also part of the program, such as “Sunroof” and Christina Stürmer’s 2015 song “Millionen Lichter,” which lent itself wonderfully to their interpretation.

The journey through the musical repertoire of past decades was halted once again by the passing “Mozart” and, in the rearview mirror, pushed even further back. The great composer arrived with the appropriate hairstyle, of course. And with a hearty quip or two. Perhaps as a reminder that music can indeed endure for centuries.

The entertaining evening, which featured even more songs, didn’t end until after an encore and in just as positive a mood as it had begun—true to the event’s motto. At the end, school principals Björn Gemmer and Bernd Holly thanked the many hardworking volunteers who, though not in the spotlight, played an essential role in making the evening run smoothly: Matthäus Otte and his team from Sound & Light, Heike Rado for decorations and posters, and the team of parents who were responsible for makeup and costumes. A huge thank you, of course, went first and foremost to the music department, including “Mrs. Musical” Ulrike Wilmsmeyer, Daniel Sans, the musical band led by and featuring Frank Wemme, and Anna Prokop for their organizational efforts and musical support.

“You’d think Klaus Kinski had risen from the dead.” Principal Bernd Holly was deeply impressed by the performances of the 7th-grade classes as part of their theater workshop. It’s no coincidence, then, that one of the “patients” in Class 7b’s skit is named Klaus Kanski—with an “a”—and this character, alias Konstantin Jostaufderstroth, was indeed strongly reminiscent of the famous actor in his younger years. The young actors and actresses in the 7th grade received hearty applause for their performances, whether they were portraying psychopaths, a soccer player, or a construction robot.

Guidance and instruction from professional actors has become a tradition in the 7th-grade theater workshop. For the second year in a row, following the painful hiatus caused by the pandemic, the students have been able to return to the stage and benefit from this valuable support. The goal is to use their own bodies, voices, and expressions to create their own characters on stage and develop a play around them. Driven by a passion for performance, inspired by imagination, and spiced with playful wit, the young actors and actresses served up a thoroughly entertaining cocktail to the audience in the packed Forum.

 

Risks and Side Effects of Intelligent Machines

In the future, no one will have to clean or tidy up their own apartment anymore. Class 7a, under the guidance of subject teacher Ines Vielhaben and theater director Daniel Sempf, brought this promising vision—titled “Future?”—to the stage. Since technology is only helpful as long as it works well, there are two sides to this issue as well. In a humorous way, Class 7a highlighted the risks and side effects of using intelligent machines for the audience, and it remained highly questionable whether artificial intelligence will be able to solve the world’s problems in any way.

 

Don’t Be Afraid of a Night at the Museum

Just imagining spending a night in a museum requires a good dose of fearlessness, a lack of fear of the dark, and the ability to handle silence with ease. But what if you’re spending the night there as a burglar and hear another burglar approaching? “Night@theMuseum” is the title of the play by Class 7c, directed by Steinmühlen teacher Frank Wemme—who is also the head of the lower secondary school—and Michael Pietsch. As an actor, puppet maker, and puppeteer, Pietsch naturally possesses the necessary know-how to captivate an audience. And he succeeded brilliantly.

 

16th Birthday with Complications

Class 7b was hoping for a wonderful birthday—and that was also the title of their play. It was “Johanna’s” 16th birthday, and her friends had expected more from her and her party. And so they found themselves unexpectedly dealing with some difficult parents, the police, and the entire medical staff of a therapeutic facility. Yes, even at a party, things can often turn out differently than planned! The directing team—consisting of Steinmühlen teacher Steffen Ullwer and Michael Köckritz from the Marburg Hörtheatrale team—did an outstanding job on this production as well.

All in all, it was a spectacular stage performance that evening, with an audience that was perfectly suited to the show and well-organized technical support under the proven leadership of the Sound & Light team. It’s a shame that it will be almost another year before the next performances by the 7th-grade theater workshop.