Youth orchestras have a rough run

The fact that the erlangen-hochstadt district sings and sings is nothing new, because music and singing are part of life. More than 70 representatives of the nearly 37 choruses and 25 music clubs in the district, which have around 3,400 active members, attended the annual meeting of the erlangen-hochstadt music council at the reif inn in kalchreuth. The meeting was dominated by the new elections and the reports of the district association of the north bavarian music association (NBMB) and the erlangen-forchheim singing circle, as well as the distribution of subsidies.

Bernhard schwab from herzogenaurach was unanimously re-elected as chairman, johanna wagenknecht as secretary, hans wormser as managing director, and clemens vykydal (district chairman of the NBMB) and norbert mischke (district chairman of the sangerkreis) are automatically members of the board according to the articles of association. There were some changes in the advisory boards of the two associations, and the chairman and district administrator alexander tritthart (CSU) thanked emilie meier (sangerkreis), who had been a member of the music council for 27 years, and heinz imhof, who had represented the interests of the chorus for nine years, for their many years of cooperation. After more than 30 years, richard sanger, the former long-serving chairman of the NBMB, also decided not to run for the music council’s advisory board.

Schwab was pleased with the commitment of the music and singing clubs. "When I open the newspaper early, I’m proud of everything cultural that comes out of our clubs", he explained and added: "we don’t need to hide behind professionals. We can all be proud of what our clubs offer in the way of music and singing. Because you can feel that what is being presented really comes from the heart", schwab said to applause.

In his speech, the chairman thanked district administrator tritthart and the district council in particular for the good cooperation and financial support of the music and singing clubs in the district, which mainly benefits youth work. Due to the increasing number of members among children and young people, he has applied to the district administrator for an increase in the grant, which currently amounts to 20,000 euros, the chairman reported. 1909 musicians are currently playing in the 25 music clubs, 891 of them under the age of 17.

Norbert mischke emphasized that singing is a cultural asset, with nearly 1300 singers active in 37 choruses in the district. With "who sings, who feels better for sure" the district chairman of the sangerkreis promoted the song.

The importance of singing and music in the district is very high, something that is not often found in bavaria, and there are also not always grants, explained tritthart. Therefore he will support the subsidy application of the music council and will promote it in the district council. "I see many faces here who also volunteer in other groups, which is not a matter of course these days.", emphasized the landrat and thanked for the commitment.