Day 13 – Hiking in Hochhausen and 5th Concert
We kicked off this morning with a 9am rehearsal at the Count’s Schloss! Bob started off the rehearsal by warming the singers up in the beautiful courtyard right outside of the castle. We then moved inside to be spoiled by the amazing acoustics in his entryway. Sue especially enjoyed playing the fancy Bechstein piano. After about an hour of rehearsal, Ensemble gave a mini performance for the Count, Dieter, and his wife, Monique. The short set included Hanget Soi, He’s Gone Away, The Bells of Rhymney, and ended with a moving rendition of Eternity, with all of the singers surrounding Dieter, Monique, and Sue Malick in a balcony above the entryway. Following the brief performance, Dieter gave the kids a mini history lesson about his castle, which he and Monique now run as a part-time bed and breakfast. Sue, Bob, and Suzie Rahl have been lucky enough to stay there for the past few days!
Following the rehearsal, we sang our three birthday songs for Helena, who turned 14 today – happy birthday Helena!! Dieter then took us all on a lovely hike through the forests behind the town of Hochhausen. It was a nice change of pace and provided beautiful scenery, and Dieter provided some interesting explanations about forestry and sustainability practices in Hochhausen and the other small surrounding towns. Towards the end of our hike, we stopped to enjoy a picnic lunch, again generously packed by our host families. There is such delicious, fresh fruit here in Hochhausen – much of which is grown in our own host families backyards!
After our afternoon hike, we had a bit of free time before our 5th concert of tour. Many singers (and chaperones) enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation time, while others checked out the local freibad (pool) for a brief dip on this warm day.
Our concert this evening was at the Notberga Kirke, a quaint little church right at the entrance of Hochhausen. Notberga Church is named after the princess Notberga, from the Grimm’s Fairytale Sue Malick had previously told us about on our bus ride a couple days ago! The church also has a thoughtful WWII Memorial Bell just outside the church, commemorating those lost during the devastating war. The concert was completely packed, it seemed like the whole town was in attendance! Tonight’s concert felt extra special because the audience was made up mostly of Ensemble’s homestays. It was a musical gift to them for being such enthusiastic and thoughtful hosts! Mark Winges’s piece Last Ditch Fight of the Wish was well-received and was performed with minimal movement (it was a small church!), which gave the piece a new feeling for chaperones and audience members. The audience particularly loved the American folk music heard this evening, such as Total Praise and Johnson Boys. We were very excited to see some old friends from Meiningen, conductor Matthias and his wife Barbara, along with their guests Peter and Christine. It was a pleasure to have them attend the concert and join us afterward for dinner!
After the concert, host Sue Malick had a special dinner planned out for us. We headed out by bus to a neighboring town and to a farm. In the past, when farmers had too much of some type of crop or food, they would place a broom, or in German, a Besen, outside their farm to let people know that they could stop there to get something to eat. The restaurant that Sue took us to tonight follows this tradition, largely using their own locally-sourced materials, and is also called Besen. We all dined on salad, pickled vegetables, schnitzel, spätzle, and pommes (fries!). It was delicious and we serenaded the kitchen/waiting staff of this pop-up restaurant with Hebe deine Augen auf, Johnson Boys, and finally, our guest Matthias lead Guten Abend, Gut’ Nacht to end the evening.
It’s been another fun-filled and musical day. While there is some sorrow in leaving in just a couple of days, the singers are getting very excited to see all of you again! Gute Nacht!
Click though the slideshow below for highlights:
