Update: May 2010
— KlezPO (Klezmer-Projekt-Orchester), a 25-piece group playing Klezmer and related music. This is my most important activity, and the most time consuming, too. The orchestra is a registered non-profit society.
One "Sub-group" is the Kitchen Band (our chamber folk dept.), another one are the "Evas", the feminist avantgarde :-) of the Klezmer movement... Among KlezPO are two Americans, a Dutch, and a French. Conducting, arranging... We have a repertoire of now more than four hours, and this year a regular CD should be due.
Coming in July: An American-German CD Klezmer Musicians Against the Wall — which means the Israeli wall around the Palestinians —, and KlezPO is on it!
— Laien-Orchester Die Späteinsteiger (Amateurs' Orchestra The Late-Jumpers-On / Joiners-In, did I get the pun in English?): 15 people playing more or less classical music from Bach to Gershwin. I gave this up end of September 2009 because of too many compromises — musical ones — and organisational catastrophies: "I am retired now and cannot guarantee any fixed dates" etc. They found a new conductor in January 2010, and I sort of feel sorry for him...
— The "Offenes Singen" (open singing) with the "All Stars Band" (which is whoever comes: my wife, flute, for the melodic part, more guitars, maybe Axel with his double-bass etc., almost no rehearsals! — mostly KlezPO musicians). About 6 musicians and some 40 singers are the average. Each Offenes Singen is dedicated to another topic. Sometimes it is about political themes, of about seasonal traditions or whatever. In February 2010 no 87 had songs about pubs, fights in pubs and other catastrophies...
— The "Offenes Musizieren" (open play-along) attracts usually just a handful of instrumentalists, but some of them are taking part mor than three years now. (Actually this event is also some sort of recruiting dept. for my orchestra; six or seven play-alongers joined it.) Every month I arrange pieces, mostly Baroque or Renaissance stuff, for this event. They can get their parts as PDF files a week or so before the actual evening, and after the playing they are being asked for donations.
— The "Internationales Singen" (international singing) is a thing that started end of 2009 in a non-profit socio-cultural centre. The idea: People of different nations teach each other their songs. So far we have German, Turkish, Greek, Portuguese, and Kazakh participants. Two musicians for the accompaniment, usually of KlezPO.
— Yes, I am still active with it, and it is money, too. Mostly I am writing reviews for the German magazine "AKUSTIK Gitarre", usually in the ghetto of the classical guitar but, thank God, I am always getting the sort-of exotic stuff. Some lectorate work, too...
— I am editing, producing and publishing a political magazine twice a year, interesting things, but above all it is a job with nice money.
From time to time, there are extra projects like some special exhibition in the municipal museum where they want a musical happening for children, some workshop etc.
Believe it or not: I am very fond of cooking. On my page Corn Bread you'll find even an American recipe in English!
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