Congratulations on a great first performance!

A BIG congratulations to the Orchestra, Chamber Winds and Jazz Ensemble on a very successful and enjoyable evening of music making. Because of the very unstable weather around here lately the concert was held in the meeting hall of Freudental (10-15 minutes outside of our home base of Beitigheim-Bissingen.

As with our last performance there with the Honors Band and Jazz Band in 2008, the audience was a good size, very warm and friendly, and boisterous in their applause and support. For the musicians (directors included) there certainly were a few moments where it was obvious that instruments and scores have been packed away for several days, but that didn't stop the audience from insisting on two encores and stuffing the students' pockets full of pretzels on their ways back home!!

The staff of the Musikschule has remarked that our group is very friendly, very polite, very prompt to meeting times, and is all in all a joy to work with. I agree! Our touring groups always do a nice job with sorts of things, but I will admit that this group may be setting a new standard for others to follow (nothing wrong with a little pressure for the tours to come)!

We had another great day of sight seeing yesterday, visitng Stuttgart, the major city near B-B. The Porsche Museum was great, the musical instrument museum tour was fun and we all enjoyed a bit of shopping and lunch in a modern, major European city.

I have pictures I'll post from my phone in a few minutes.