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GERMAN-AMERICAN STUDENT ORCHESTRAS BUILD BRIDGES
Two high school orchestras, one from Detmold,
Germany and the other from McLean, VA USA have been conducting a
unique and significant relationship for over 10 years.
It is a relationship that has deeply enriched the lives of the more
than 100 students who have participated in at least one of five exchange trips
that have occurred over the past decades.
The German orchestra is the Detmolder Jungendorchester from the Christian-Dietrich-Grabbe-Gymnasium in Detmold.
The American orchestra is the Chamber Soloists from McLean High School in McLean, VA.
The exchange began in 1994 when the McLean High School Orchestra, then under the direction of
Bettina Skard, traveled to Germany to present concerts in Detmold and a nearby town. Each orchestra presented
separate concerts, but the response to the idea of an exchange was very positive.
Interest in establishing a longer-term relationship was pursued by the conductor of
the Detmolder Jungendorchester, Joachim Bergmann, with the new McLean High School orchestra conductor,
Gretta Sandberg, who succeeded Ms. Skard in 1995. These conversations culminated in a second trip to Detmold in 1998 by the McLean Chamber Soloists. This time the orchestras combined forces in a joint concert before an enthusiastic, standing-room crowd in the Neue Aula of the Grabbe-Gymansium in Detmold on January 29. The students from McLean stayed in the homes of the Detmold youth musicians,
rehearsed with them and established relationships that continued beyond the week-long visit.
Thus began a unique exchange of students, music and good will. The McLean group has traveled to Detmold two additional times since 1998 - in 2001 and in 2003. The last trip occurred just before the onset of the war with Iraq led the Fairfax County Public Schools to establish a prohibition on international travel for school sponsored trips. The trips to Detmold have been described by some of the McLean musicians as "life-changing". The American students have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Detmolders and the importance that music plays in the lives of the people of Detmold. Strong friendships have developed between the two groups of musicians, with many personal trips back and forth between the two cities. A blossoming love has developed between two cellists, one form McLean and one from Detmold, who met on the 2001 trip. As the orchestra directors from both sides of
the Atlantic have said, "You can't be an enemy of someone if you play music together!"
The German orchestra has visited the McLean group twice,
once in 1999, again in 2005 and will return this May. The
baton has been passed to a new director in Detmold, Udo
Mönks. He will share the baton with Ms. Sandberg on
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at the Craighill S. Burks Theater in
McLean High School at 7:30 p.m. featuring music of Bach,
Mendelssohn, Smetana, Johann Strauss, Jr. and Gershwin. The
McLean HS Choral Department will join the orchestra for two
numbers on the program.
McLean High School is located at 1633
Davidson Rd., McLean, VA 22101. For further information
call, McLean HS orchestra
office (703) 714-5817.
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