“I have never played so much before”

At the beginning dominik was quite excited. "This is my first time in this workshop, he explains. But he has quickly settled into the orchestra and has already made a few friends. "I've never played this much at home before", he reveals. He played all day long, even voluntarily into the evening hours. "Because I find such good training conditions here", the 13-year-old is pleased.
"The music academy is just great", says the young baritone player. There is enough space to practice, good accommodation, and he is also very satisfied with the kitchen. "Sure, we'll take a break in between", admits dominik. But after two hours at the most, he's back at the wheel again. The grades were not yet available before the blaser week. "We have to learn everything here and be able to do it by the time of the final concert", he says.
Conductor susanne kolb takes it easy: "until then, the twelve to eighteen year old musicians can handle the workload", she learns from experience. She is now in her third year of leading the brass week at the music academy.
District conductor jurgen weyer from bad neustadt takes care of the organization. At present, 51 young musicians play in the orchestra. On their music tables are compositions that differ from the pieces played by most village bands: from symphonies to film music titles, for example from the "blues brothers. Conductor kolb explains: "so that our participants learn something new in a given time here." The symphonic score "medusa" also is to be found among the sheet music.

Spab is in the foreground
For four years dominik plays the baritone horn, and he now has a permanent place in the schonderlingen orchestra, both in the youth and main orchestras. "The baritone horn has been a great instrument since i was a child, and i wanted to play it one day," admits dominik, he remembers.
The fact that he has now come to the brass week is thanks to the conductor karolin klug from schonderlingen. There are four baritone horn players in the lower franconia wind week orchestra. In addition, six tubas and five trombones support the bass part with heavy brass. "Musicians who leave the orchestra usually join when they pass the age limit of 18," she says, kolb explains. Young players follow suit.
Whether music will one day become a profession is something that no one can foresee at a young age. Not even dominik, for him the fun of making music is in the foreground. "For me it is a nice hobby", he says. But besides music, cycling is also important to him.
"Music can be played at any age", says district conductor weyer. It's different from playing fubball, for example. According to weyer, the main focus of the brass week is to work on concert pieces under expert guidance. In this way the participants are brought closer to the world of symphonic music. Both the rehearsals and playing in small groups under the guidance of instructors are part of it. "Above all, the young musicians should return to their home orchestras strengthened," he says, emphasizes weyer.