Reprinted courtesy of The Clinton Courier.
The Hamilton College Choir and College Hill Singers, directed by G. Roberts Kolb, returned to Clinton on March 25 from a 12-day tour of middle and eastern Europe.
In Halle, Germany (the birthplace of Handel), in the Thomaskirche Cathedral in Leipzig, Germany (the workplace and burial site of J.S. Bach), and in Vienna, Austria (home of the Haydn Museum, the "musician's corner" in the city cemetery, and the world-famous Vienna Opera House), the choir encountered a musical world rich with history and appreciation.
A tour highlight was Wettin, Germany, a 900-year-old village of 2,000 people (approximately the size of Clinton). Despite the beauty of its narrow cobblestone streets, old stone buildings, and ancient city wall, a 20% unemployment rate makes it difficult for the population to refurbish and maintain the antiquity that surrounds them. Happily, Wettin used our hour and a half performance as a benefit concert for the restoration of its crumbling historic church. Fueled by the large and appreciative audience, our choir enjoyed a most rewarding concert experience.
As our German exchange student translated for us, we could see the joy on the faces of the Wettin villagers, especially as we sang our German selections by Meyerbeer and Brahms.
At the reception following our concert, the Wettin high school choir performed for us, proudly singing German folk songs as well as American favorites by Simon and Garfunkel.
In the Czech Republic and Austria, we experienced two of the most beautiful and well-preserved cities in eastern Europe. On a walking tour through Prague, we marveled at the combinations of Renaissance, Romantic, and Baroque architecture in the castle district. We gathered with hundreds of others to marvel at the elaborate cuckoo clock in the town center. And, after strolling across the pedestrian bridge bustling with artists, musicians, and vendors, we journeyed underneath it on a dinner cruise along the Vltava River.
In Vienna we had the joy of singing in St. Stephen's Cathedral at the very center of the city. With plenty of free time, many of us purchased student tickets for the Vienna Opera Company's productions of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes and/or Umberto Giordano's Fedora.
Our visits to Berlin, Krakow, and Warsaw made apparent the lasting effects of World War II. With bullet-marked buildings, Soviet-style architecture, and numerous war memorials, these cities provided powerful reminders of war's long-lasting impact on the land on which it was fought.
A day trip to Auschwitz solidified the horror for many choir members, providing a backdrop of sorrowful contemplation and remembrance for that evening's concert.
Throughout our visit to Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Poland, we met international choir members' families and friends, ran into Hamilton students currently studying abroad, and even randomly bumped into some high school classmates.
From our experiences in Wettin and during the entire tour, one
message became abundantly clear: we live in a world of togetherness and
inter-connectedness, a world in which music is truly an international
medium.
We returned to Hamilton College forever touched by the music, beauty, antiquity and humanity of our European tour.
-- by Sarah Ziegler '05
Ziegler is a 2001 graduate of Clinton Central High School, where she had leading roles in several spring musical productions.
