Germany Tour Highlights
Life on the road is part of the job for New Century musicians, considering we regularly perform in four different counties during our normal Bay Area season. However, we recently returned from a fantastic 10-concert tour through Germany in June 2023 with Music Director Daniel Hope, and let’s just say that the experience exceeded all of our expectations. Here are some of the highlights from the trip.
At our performance in Wismar’s 13th-century Heiligen Geist Kirche as part of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. Photo Credit: Oliver Borchert.
Sold-Out Crowds
We love our Bay Area audiences, but there’s no comparison to German summer music festival culture. Every concert played to hundreds of enthusiastic people and often resulted in 3 or 4 encores! It was an honor to be so warmly received everywhere.
A packed house at our first concert in Bremen. Photo Credit: Sören L Schirmer
A standing ovation from four tiers of enthusiastic fans at our concert in Braunschweig. Photo Credit: Sören L Schirmer
Our Schloss Fleesensee performance with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival included a sea of people ready to be entertained… we needed a bigger lens! Photo Credit: Angelika Heim
Exciting and Unusual Venues
We played some unbelievable venues, from major philharmonic halls to a horse-training arena (really!). One of the highlights was Dresden’s beautiful Frauenkirche, where Daniel Hope is Artistic Director. This centuries-old church has hosted performances by German luminaries like J.S. Bach, but it was completely destroyed during World War II before being painstakingly restored to full service in 2005.
The orchestra poses after rehearsal in the Frauenkirche’s immaculately restored interior.
Violinist Deb Price and violist Lynne Richburg visit a recreation of the pipe organ J.S. Bach played at Dresden’s Frauenkirche.
An exciting performance in Elmshorn’s Riding Hall with guest guitarist Joscho Stephan…
…while Executive Director Richard Lonsdorf gathers feedback from the “audience” outside.
Beethoven’s Birthplace
It was a huge treat to visit so many important sites in classical music history, including the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, where Daniel Hope is President. Our musicians were treated to a special tour of the museum collection housed in the place where Beethoven was born.
Inspecting some of Beethoven’s original manuscripts.
A collection of Beethoven’s ear trumpets (listening devices).
Beer Culture
When it’s summer in Germany, the beer garden is the place you want to be! We imbibed plenty of local brews in our free time, but one of our favorite traditions happens backstage at the Cologne Philharmonie: performers are greeted by rounds of the local kölsch beer the moment they walk off stage.
The group knocks back a few kölsch brews in one of Cologne’s most storied beer halls.
Violinists Nicole Sauder and Stephanie Bibbo enjoy a backstage kölsch after performing at the Cologne Philharmonie.
Fun and Games on the Road
One of the benefits of being a chamber orchestra is that we all fit on one tour bus! We spent hours (and hours) driving around the idyllic German countryside—card games and fussball allowed us to work up some healthy rivalries to pass the time. We feel refreshed in our sense of camaraderie and hope you’ll feel the extra love at your next New Century concert.
