July 15 at St. Johns Concert in the Park
Area residents have a unique opportunity to participate in an international musical visit when students from Foerdegymnasium Flensburg in Germany appear in the July 15 Concert in the Park series at the St. Johns City Park Performance Shell. The free concert begins at 7 p.m., rain or shine.
The group of 31 students and three adults is on tour this summer at sites around Michigan as part of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp international exchange program. A total of 17 St. Johns area families are hosting members of the group during its visit from July 13-16.
“We’ve been hosting student groups from overseas for many years,” says Performance Shell Committee Chairperson Bill Tennant. “It’s been a wonderful cultural experience for our host families and our community. Getting to know these students and sharing experiences with them gives us and them a better understanding of the world we live in.”
This year’s touring group includes students aged 13-19 who attend Foerdegymnasium in Flensburg, a seaport town located on the Baltic Sea in northern Germany. The school has three choirs, a bigband, a “mini” bigband and a string ensemble. The choir’s repertoire ranges from current pop music to choral works from the classical tradition. The bigbands love to play rock-oriented tunes as well as classics from the soul and jazz repertoire.
Conductors for the touring group are Dr. Ekkenhard Luck and Dirk-Lorenz Matthiesen, both of whom teach music at Foerdegymnasium.
Concert in the Park is sponsored by the Clinton County Arts Council (CCAC) and the City of St. Johns. The St. Johns Lions and Lioness Club staff a concession stand each week offering light refreshments; all concerts are held rain or shine.
For information on Concert in the Park visit the CCAC web site, http://www.clintoncountyarts.org/ and check out the St. Johns City Park Performance Shell page on Facebook.
Flensburg, Germany