Abingdonian 2017

26 The Abingdonian First Orchestra Tour to Bielefeld A warm invitation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the exchange programme and association between Abingdon School and the Ratsgymnasium in Bielefeld had been keenly accepted by Abingdon’s orchestral musicians. On a bleak, dark, February morning, 45 bleary-eyed pupils and four staff set off at an unearthly hour to make the journey across three countries to Bielefeld. Despite being delayed by an unexpected closure of the Autobahn highway, we were pleased to arrive eventually at our modern and comfortable youth hostel. The following morning, we enjoyed a guided tour of Bielefeld, recently decorated with a light powdering of snow. So we savoured two of the town’s contrasting attractions. Firstly, Sparrenburg Castle, originally built in the 13th century, which has a spectacular view of the town centre beneath the hill where it stood. Next we visited the Dr Oetker’s Museum, an interactive museum that demonstrated the development of the company’s products and machines over the preceding 125 years. We watched some of its production in action and sampled a traditional German vanilla pudding; an intense vanilla custard which was very thick and delicious. Up on the first floor, we were awestruck by an amazing display of outlandish real estate, constructed entirely from gingerbread. Unfortunately, these were for display purposes only! After lunch, we knuckled down to some intensive rehearsal, ready for the Jubilee Celebration concert the following day. Pupils, parents and staff gathered eagerly in the majestic hall of the Ratsgymnasium in anticipation of the morning’s celebrations. Abingdon’s First Orchestra played some highlights of its tour repertoire to rapturous applause and a standing ovation. There were speeches in German and in English with gifts exchanged between current exchange students, symbolic of the continued ongoing friendship between the two schools. Our visit to the school was rounded off by a chance to let off steam in the gym. Mixed teams from across the years enjoyed a light-hearted yet competitive football tournament; the outcome was amicably resolved without having to resort to a penalty shoot-out! Our final two performances took place in St. Nicholas Kirche in Lemgo and Martin- Luther-Kirche in Detmold. Our concert programme included iconic English works such as the spellbinding Nimrod from Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Vaughan Williams’ English Folksong Suite . The show was stolen, however, by Didier Delgorge’s accomplished performance of the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No 1 . Our avid German audiences were effusive with their compliments. We even featured in an article in the Lippisches Kultur-Journal! This music tour to Germany offered us many opportunities; to sample some of the local cuisine, to admire the architecture of some of the buildings in the historic cities we visited, to stretch the musicality of our individual performances and of the combined ensemble and to forge new friendships. I would like to thank Mr Stinton and his team for an enjoyable and successful tour. Oliver Glover, 1SJC