At the start of the summer concert at the Forum, only standing room was left—and even those spots were quickly filled. The event, with its many guests, was yet another example in the series of Steinmühle events of just how popular school events are—and how much the Steinmühle community had longed for them during the pandemic restrictions. As a precaution, many were still happy to wear a face mask!

The 6th-grade choir performed songs by Adel Tawil & Co., with Daniel Sans accompanying them on the piano. Jeannine Walter’s upcoming retirement was also mentioned, even though the official ceremony wasn’t scheduled to take place until three days later at the faculty’s summer party. The students had already performed a serenade with the fitting title “Happy Ending.”

The summer concert was hosted, as always, by Ulrike Wilmsmeyer. The 5th-grade wind ensemble, led by Andreas Jamin, showcased their skills. The upper-level choir, directed by Daniel Sans, impressed the audience with their fabulous vocal performances. Wind Ensemble Class 6 and the concert band, led by Stephan Reissig, demonstrated how one can improve even further by continuing to play a (wind) instrument beyond Class 5.

The many enthusiastic attendees were able to continue enjoying the evening on the Steinmühle grounds after the event had ended. As has been the custom in recent years, the school administration invited everyone to the boathouse to meet the Steinmühle rowing team over grilled food and cold drinks, learn about their latest activities, and marvel at the investments made by the rowing club and the school in the newly renovated boathouse.

During their musical performance at the Steinmühle Forum, the 5th-grade class took the entire audience on a trip around the world. As a “family,” the students won this grand prize in a contest by finding the correct combination of numbers on the cap of a soda bottle. And as everyone knows, those who travel have stories to tell!

The first stop took the vacationers to Paris, before they later boarded a ship heading north. They marveled at the Northern Lights and celebrated Midsummer—all set against stunning backdrops. The group also traveled to Israel, then to Liberia, and on to Rio. Each stop was marked by appropriate musical performances, accompanied on the keyboard by Frank Wemme and conducted by Daniel Sans.

In every respect, this event—led by Ulrike Wilmsmeyer—was a delight for the audience. The youngest students at Steinmühle High School had memorized their lines very well, presented their performances with obvious joy, and looked great on stage as well. The Steinmühle Friends Association, led by Jasmine Weidenbach, had sponsored a total of 72 colorful T-shirts featuring a world map—designed and painted by Ms. Niedziella and Ms. Gräser from the costume team. The Sound & Light team led by Matthäus Otte ensured that the sound ran smoothly throughout the event.

The tightly choreographed and flawlessly executed program was extremely well received by the large audience. Enthusiasm spread throughout the packed forum. The thunderous applause after the event showed just how much the extensive preparations by everyone involved were appreciated. Many of them probably thought on their way home: Please, more events like this!

The German-language press hails the book as “the funniest work about the German provinces…,” praises its style with its “lively cascades of sentences,” and describes the author himself as a “magician and wanderer of worlds”: Reason enough for the Steinmühle to invite the young author Sven Pfizenmaier to a reading at the Forum. The bottom line: The book *Draußen feiern die Leute* was also well received at the Forum.

Before the event, Principal Bernd Holly (pictured with the author) raved about the novel, which he had devoured with enthusiasm. After the event, audience members lined up for an autograph. In between, the audience got to see a young man who read a sample from his successful book and came across as reserved.

His novel is different. Using a magnifying glass with an enormous focal length, Sven Pfizenmaier focuses on village life in the Lower Saxony countryside—not in the sense of an absence of big cities, but as something that can also make one feel lonely. The author describes three characters with exuberant precision, with an imagination that seems to run wild but reveals what it means to be different. The book revolves around these relatable characters—the drug lord Rasputin from the nearby city of Hanover, immigrants from Kazakhstan, and the ever-growing number of people who disappear from the town while the locals are partying. The Onion Festival, for example.

As one can see, the novel certainly has autobiographical elements. Everyday social problems are woven into anecdotes and placed within a broader context. The unflinching nature of the descriptions—without, however, exposing the characters to ridicule—is likely one of the secrets to Pfizenmaier’s success.

Charity concert featuring the Kassel Army Band and an inter-school “workshop band”

Planning had been underway for three years, but due to the pandemic, there were repeated setbacks for the benefit concert featuring the Kassel Army Band at the Steinmühle. The performance on a beautiful summer evening in the school’s forum finally rewarded the musicians of Hesse’s only military orchestra for their patience—and not just them, but also the Steinmühle concert band, which performed alongside them. In a one-day workshop leading up to the event, both groups rehearsed together and showcased the results of their collaboration. The audience was amazed and applauded the outstanding performance of the pieces they had rehearsed together on such short notice.

Music connoisseurs know that crystal-clear tones are the hallmark of a concert by the 50-member Army Band. Professional musicians perform here at a high level. For a school to establish a collaboration—even if only brief—can be a tremendous source of motivation for its own students! That’s why the “workshop band” wasn’t made up solely of students from Steinmühlen. About half of the participants were young musicians from other schools in Marburg who took advantage of this opportunity for musical exchange—specifically, students from the Elisabethschule, the Freie Waldorfschule, the Gymnasium Philippinum, the Martin Luther Schule, and the Edertalschule in Frankenberg. Music school teacher Stephan Reissig and Lieutenant Colonel Tobias Terhardt took the lead for the combined group. The audience honored the harmonious collaboration between the two bands with enthusiastic applause.

Afterward, the conductor’s instructions were directed solely at the Army Music Corps, whose chamber ensembles performed that evening. The Steinmühlenforum drew about 100 attendees—who applauded with such enthusiasm that one might have thought the audience was twice as large. There were standing ovations for the pieces performed on the euphonium and trumpet, the clarinet, piano, and other instruments. And encores, of course. The repertoire ranged from pop to classical, from Michael Jackson to Frank Sinatra, and from gospel to jazz.

In addition to the joint musical performance by several Marburg schools and the musical inspiration provided by professional musicians, the evening’s third purpose—which had already been highlighted in the event’s title—came to the fore: a benefit concert. This initiative also yielded a positive result. Over 2,000 euros were raised through ticket sales. Half of the money will go to the surviving family members and relatives of fallen and wounded soldiers through a support association in Stadtallendorf, while the other half will go to the youth department of the Marburg Music School. This funding will support young brass players.

“We are delighted that our benefit concert was a success on several levels,” said Gisela Falk, current president of the organizing Rotary Club of Marburg. Björn Gemmer, the school principal and also a Rotary member, can already envision repeating the concert in the same format.