Southampton Concert Wind Band

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Diary of a Teenage Trumpet Freak

	As you may or may not know, Southampton Concert Wind Band travelled to Welden in Germany in the fourth exchange programme with a German wind band called Harmoniemusik Welden. Over the last five years, our two bands have been in contact with each other and through this we have been able to organise trips like this one in 2005. This was SCWB’s second trip to Germany, HMW having been to England to meet us twice before. It seems a long time since we last enjoyed the people of Welden’s company but it was good to see that none of the friendships made over time between the two bands had died; everyone was in a welcoming mood ready to show us a really enjoyable holiday with some fresh German air. Here is my diary of the 2005 SCWB and HMW exchange.
Wednesday 26th October 2005 10pm: Realise how little practice I’ve done. Try to compensate in about twenty minutes. Fail.
Thursday 27th October 2005 Very early: Arrived at the Cowherds pub to catch the bus to London Heathrow. The bus got going at about 6am, happily with everyone on board and after a second pick-up at Winchester we made good time on the way to the airport. As always, once we were there, everyone pretty much just followed Honor around, so I’d like to say thanks to her for keeping us all in order and getting us there and back! The flight was good and we were greeted by a few of the HMW ambassadors on the other side who wasted no time in cracking open the beer - this was to be a definite theme to the weekend. After lunch on the coach we were taken to Augsburg for a guided tour around the city. I was amazed at the city; it was so unique, not like anything we have in England. We learned about the architecture of the many buildings there and also tried to take in as much of the history as we could. Once we had finished, the bus took us on to Welden where we would be staying.
6:30pm: A section of the German band played us in as we arrived into Welden. We met up with our host families and enjoyed eating (and drinking) a traditional German meal with music provided by HMW. The atmosphere was relaxed and I think everyone was looking forward to a great trip.
Friday 28th October 2005 Early: Got confused about the time difference and ended up setting my alarm two hours late, so was in a mega rush when Christine (one of my hosts) banged on the door to wake me up! Quickly ran about trying to get ready and then sat down for the biggest breakfast I have EVER seen! I stayed with the Fuchs family, with Jon Bridger, so at least I wasn’t alone in trying to work out what I was going to choose from the huge selection of cereal, fruit, yoghurt, meat, sausages, cheese, bread, pretzels, tea, coffee, fruit juice, milk, water and of course, beer!
	9am: On the bus again, this time to King Ludwig II’s castle in Neuschwanstein where the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed. The trip up was pretty good; we stopped off every now and then to get photos and everyone seemd pretty amped about the first full day trip into the mountains. A few of the Welden locals came with us on the trip, most noticeably HMW's conductor Markus who gave us a commentary on the coach and provided some good laughs while we were there. It was a long steep walk up to the castle but everyone made it in time for the tour. Once we were at the top I think everyone was in awe of the scenery as it was simply beautiful. We had a short time to wait before the tour began which was plenty of time for me to buy a German hat from one of the stalls before going into the castle.
12:45pm: The castle was crazy, all the walls were decorated with gold and silver and everything in there was over the top - like something from Disney! Noticeable moments of the tour were Lloyd and me not being able to stop laughing, the secret door that had a handle, Simon not noticing the Perspex around the sink and Markus worrying that people would think all Bavarians were like our tour guide! When the tour had finished we walked up to a small bridge to check out the amazing views before returning to the coach for lunch. After leaving Neuschwanstein we headed into Austria (cue jokes from Markus about the poor state of their roads!) stopping for coffee and cake before heading back to Welden.
7:30pm: Arrived back at Welden an hour and a half later than expected thanks to four road closures and a couple of low bridges. Big thanks to our driver who did a sterling job along with some illegal manoeuvres (including reversing into a field) to get us home at a half decent hour! Those of us staying with host families went home for a traditional German meal before a somewhat rushed rehearsal back at the concert hall.
Saturday 29th October 2005 Early (again): Today we took a trip into Munich. We did go there on our trip to Bavaria in 2002 but everyone seemed keen to go again as it was a great day last time. The city is filled with historic and religious architecture, including the largest church in Germany and also the oldest just down the street. We split into two groups for a guided tour around the city before meeting at the Hofbrauhaus (large restaurant) for lunch. The meal was good and we were given beer as soon as we sat down - brewed on site in Munich.
2pm: After the meal we had some free time to look around the city and shop before TRYING to find our way back to the bus. We were under strict instructions from Karin to be back at 3.15pm but guess who was one of the last back at 3.30pm just as the bus was pulling away?? Things that stood out in Munich were the numerous churches everywhere, Gus and everyone being up the tower when the bells started to ring, people trying to work out what the food was on the German menu and Rich buying a German hat because mine looked so cool! Haha!
	5pm: Arrived back in Welden and had a few hours to get ready for the concert - plenty of time to eat some more food. Made our way down to the Harmoniemusik Welden hall where the event was taking place. 7.10pm: Lined up for a pre-concert pep talk by Rich to make us all even more nervous and only just stopped short of ending in a group hug!
Later that evening…: The concert was a real success; everyone played well and the people of Welden even seemed to understand Rich’s German speech. Harmoniemusik also played an amazing set (with help from the SCWB singers during Land of Hope and Glory) and generally put on a superb event for us all. It was great to hear such a contrast in musical styles and for each band to recognise their strengths and weaknesses in comparison with the other. After the concert itself another HUGE meal was put on so we could all go and eat, drink and be generally merry! Markus told me that it was the most people he’d ever seen stay that late in the Hall - there must have been over 100 people! Some of the Harmoniemusik players performed some Um-pah stuff for us to dance to which resulted in me falling over a lot! It was also a really good chance to chat to people from both bands and of course, drink lots of beer! A late night was had by all but it was a really positive event with a lot of appreciation from everyone there.
Sunday 30th October 2005 Time to go home: Jon and I had a final meal with our host family and then everyone met up at the Harmoniemusik hall where the coach was waiting. Final photos were taken, goodbyes were said and we set off back to Munich airport.
All in all, we had a great trip. I think everyone will join me in thanking Honor and Karin for sorting everything out on our side of the water and Rich for helping us manage to play the music (and getting us worried he was going to introduce Graham to play Lakme). I’d also like to thank, on behalf of the band, everyone from Harmoniemusik Welden for all their hard work and preparation. They put on a great gig for us over there, decorating everything in sight and generally being welcoming to us all. Thank you to all the host families, especially to the Fuchs, who were so hospitable and kind and who never let us leave the house without food! I only hope we can match what the town of Welden did for us on their next visit to England.
	Long may these musical exchanges continue! Mark Ranger SCWB
Pictures from this event can be found here.
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