“Touching people through music” – Offenburg

At the prizewinners’ concert on Monday evening in the orchestra hall of the music school in Offenburg, the successful participants in the regional competition Jugend musiziert from Offenburg and the surrounding area were honored. 52 students from the music school in Offenburg/Ortenau were extremely successful, winning first and second prize. Six of them were even forwarded to the state competition and can compete there with the best talents from all over Baden-Württemberg.

According to the music school, some of the young talents were able to present themselves again in the prizewinners’ concert. Silja Haghir, Hannah Kempf, Isabel Kroker and Emily Müller opened the concert energetically with a prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach. The saxophone quartet from Markus Raus’ class won first prize in the “Woodwind Ensemble” category. Anouk Guénégo from Elena Wagner’s class played the first movement from the Sonatina in F major by Lv Beethoven with sensitivity. Paul Mufan Yang from Marjana Plotkina’s class also impressed with “Spanish Gypsies” on the piano. Both young pianists won first prize. “Shortly improvised, but with written notes” – these instructions from the composer Bruno Maderna were followed by the guitar trio from Jean-Marie Angster’s class in the piece Serenata per uns satelitte. The trio consisting of Mathilde Fröhlich, Chant Muny Dith and Emanuel Kramer won second prize in the new music category. “Already on the way to the goal, the participants met the high demands of the competition and prepared intensively with talent, diligence and perseverance. This way they came a little closer to their music and their instruments – and that’s her First prize and her greatest enrichment,” says Racheli Rotstein, head of the keyboard and singing department at the music school in Offenburg/Ortenau.

That the competition can be a goal on the way to development – Frank Schilli, head of the string section, gave an example of this. He reported on his own competition experience and, looking back, found that the most important thing on this path is to touch people through music.

The two department heads led through the program of the concert and presented the certificates to the award winners. The audience in the concert was particularly pleased with the contributions of the talents who have already successfully decided on both the path and the goal at a young age: the cello duo Leni Raus and Elsa von Heimburg from the class of Anne Schmidt-Heinrich; the recorder duo with Jana Pauline Becker and Lea Sophie Gau from Claudine Soucaille’s class and the pianist Eva Gracev from Elena Becker’s class. They were all awarded first prize. The enthusiasm for the music and for playing the instrument was clearly felt in them and in all the talents that evening in the orchestra hall of the music school in Offenburg/Ortenau.

Info: Another prizewinner concert, in which the participants in the state competition will present themselves, will take place on Sunday, March 19 at 5 p.m. in the Schiller Hall of the Schiller Gymnasium