The WYO Tour to the Black Forest

(NB: to see more photos, or full size images of the pictures in this article, see this album in the gallery).

It all began in August 2008 when Susanna made a simple telephone call to Rayburn Tours, an orchestral concert tour company… “Where would you like to go?” they said and she replied “somewhere in Germany”… and that was the start of nearly 12 months planning that turned into an action packed, not a minute to spare summer concert tour to Germany’s Black Forest!
From organising the concert programme to ensuring a viable number of players (not all the members would be available to join us), choosing between one double-decker coach and a 6 ton instrument lorry or two single deck coaches and transporting instruments on board with the musicians, fixing rehearsal schedules and agreeing on concert programmes and venues, or liaising with the hotel regarding dietary requirements, sorting out room mates, and choosing tour excursions this was just a small selection of the details that demanded attention!

Once we had decided on one 70 seat double-decker coach and the large lorry, we then faced the issue of keeping the instruments safe during transport and that is where our friends at the London Philharmonic Orchestra came up trumps. They would be staying put during August whilst performing at their summer home - Glyndebourne Festival Opera House near Lewes in Sussex and so would not be using their instrument touring boxes and generously offered to lend us 9 large flight cases for the duration of our tour. So four days before the WYO set off on their travels, some of the members and their parents headed over to Glyndebourne to collect them.

Following the final rehearsal, the instruments were carefully loaded, violins, violas, cellos, electric guitar, flutes, oboes, cor anglais, clarinets and bass clarinet, saxophones, horns trumpets, trombones and tubas all fitted beautifully into the LPO touring boxes, and along with a full compliment of percussion instruments, double basses, keyboard and all the other paraphernalia that we musicians need on our travels, the lorry was finally ready to go! The orchestra left later that night and headed for the ferry at Dover.

Following an early rehearsal at the hotel on the first sweltering morning, during which neighbours popped in to ask where we would be playing because they would like to come along to the concerts (better that way than a complaint for the noise!) we were extremely pleased to have planned a trip to the stunning Terrassenbad open air swimming pool complex in Lahr. As our concert that day in the nearby town of Wolfach was not until 6pm, the WYO spent a couple of hours cooling off on the diving boards, chutes and in the huge main pool.

Wolfach, a beautiful town – typical of the Black Forest style, had closed its main street and set up a temporary stage area for our performance - right in front of the town hall. The cobbled streets and cafés with their brightly coloured umbrellas made a perfect setting for the concert.



As we began to play, residents opened their windows to listen and the café tables began to empty as more people came along to swell the audience. The local newspaper sent a reporter along to cover the concert and it was attended by Wolfach’s deputy Mayor – Herr Schafheutle who later came to thank us for a wonderful concert! One local resident asked where our other performances would be taking place so he could tell friends who had missed this concert to go along! The WYO members were particularly delighted after the show to find that their musical efforts had earned them free ice-cream for all!


        
That night we were treated to a spectacular Black Forest thunderstorm, though not all the WYO noticed it – some were far too exhausted to have been woken by anything!



The next morning we headed for Triberg to climb up the side of Germany’s highest waterfall. “The waters of the Gutach plunge over 160m in seven cascades into the valley below. The dense ravine forest with its varied moss and fern flora are canopied by silver firs and spruces reaching up to 50m in height! Granite rock formations, crags and rambling streams contribute to the spectacular scenery.”

Accompanied by the constant rumble of the waterfall, we even caught glimpses of the forest’s famous black squirrels, making our climb through this fairy-tale land well worth the effort!

The beautiful town of Titisee was next on our list! With our concert planned for 4pm, we still had time to squeeze in a bit more sight-seeing and so climbed aboard one of Lake Titisee’s cruise boats for a leisurely trip on the lake.

As we sailed, we caught sight of our concert platform. Perfectly situated overlooking the water, Titisee’s purpose built open-air stage complete with covered seating for the audience, beckoned!

After a spot of shopping we walked to the stage to set up for the concert. Our van and coach had already arrived and the process of unloading instruments and equipment began again! It all seemed to be going so well – a large audience was gathering and the players had plenty of room to spread out across the stage, until our lovely courier Roy, stepped up to the rostrum and pointed out that “the sky over there has changed colour and the locals say it is heading this way! You might like to move the outer string players in under cover or they are likely to get wet!” The locals were of course – spot on! The heavens opened! The rain fell straight down, no wind and it was still beautifully warm – not at all like the rain we get here in good old Blighty and so the concert continued. We even tempted fate with an electric performance of Johann Strauss’ Thunder & Lightening Polka, but all it did was rain!  
    

One unexpected effect of such a downpour was a visit from a resident spider who having made his home on the stage ceiling decided it was time to change location and descended elegantly but swiftly during the performance right into the middle of the percussion section! Of course this had no effect on the lads but the ladies were definitely of a different opinion!

Following the concert, a member of the audience suggested that we might like to consider the possibility of performing in Berlin! We’ve exchanged email addresses and look forward to finding out more!

This was not to be the only surprise of the day…. We discovered that Ian, one of our coach drivers had managed to sprain his ankle whilst enthusiastically dancing the Can-Can a little too close to a protruding tree root and then after the concert having over-heard a young lady from the 1st violins protest to two of the lads that they would never carry out their threat to throw her in the lake, of course…. once they’d removed her flip-flops….         …they did!!

This is not where that particular story ended however, because once this photographer had headed back to the stage to finish packing up, the now rather wet lady tried to pay-back her “throwers” by pushing them into the lake as well, but sadly during the struggle that followed, she was over balanced and fell in a second time!  The lads remained perfectly dry!

The picturesque spa town of Baden Baden is a prestigious concert venue. Professional orchestras from all over the world go to play in the Festspielhaus and the Kurpark and beautiful 19th century Casino and Trinkhalle buildings add an air of grandeur to the place. Baden Baden was a summer home to Johannes Brahms for nine years (1865-74) and as the WYO would be performing some Brahms later that day, it seemed appropriate to visit his house.

Our Baden Baden concert took place in the Trinkhalle – apparently the first performance there for nearly 100 years! Possibly one of the most beautiful buildings the WYO has ever played in, the columned gallery, open to the front of the building, with its high ceilings and stunning wall murals made for perfect acoustics and as the concert began and the sound  floated out over the Kurpark gardens it enticed our largest audience of the tour.

As in our previous two concerts, the Baden-Baden audience were treated to a lively and varied programme including music from Bernstein’s West Side Story, Bizet’s Carmen, Brahms’ Hungarian Dance, Rodeo by Copland, music from the show “Chicago” and Strauss Polkas and Marches as well as a touch of daftness in the form of The Muppet Show Medley, 007 Theme and the Can-Can!

The Baden Baden audience seems to have been  delighted with our performance, immediately afterwards we were invited to give a concert in Essen - next year’s European City of Culture – as part of their celebrations - something that we are very keen to be involved with and a professional musician and member of the Baden Baden Philharmonic Orchestra who organises the extra performances in around the town told us that “there will always be a stage for the WYO here in Baden Baden.” With the final concert of the tour – another success, it was time for the members of the orchestra to let their hair down, and that’s exactly what they did!

Europapark!

Our last full day in Germany was a tough one! We spent it at Europe’s largest theme park – Europapark! Six hours of fun and terror and scorching temperatures left the WYO happily worn out.

Two of our younger members even managed to find themselves in front of the ITV’s television cameras when they bumped into Stephen Mulhern whilst he was presenting “People Do The Funniest Things Abroad!” He happened to be looking for two young helpers at the time and they ended up with speaking parts! The programme went out in September so now we have television stars in the WYO!

So…. we travelled 1000 miles in total, performed three concerts, visited a waterfall, a museum and cruised on a lake, consumed countless ice-creams and black-forest gateaux, we found two new TV stars, discovered new talents like being able to play the recorder with your nose… (?!) created new travel songs (do all orchestras do this or just the ones Susanna is associated with!?), gathered up no fewer than four invitations to return to Germany next year (Wolfach, Berlin, Essen and Baden Baden) and gained repeated  compliments from the hotel staff and other hotel guests on our discipline and good nature, will we do it again? Of course!


Thank you to all our helpers – couldn’t have done it without you! And of course a massive “thank you” to the London Philharmonic Orchestra for lending us your boxes! What a lucky youth orchestra we are!