Houston Saengerbund Newsletter Fall/Winter 2014

Houston Saengerbund Newsletter Fall/Winter 2014
Dear Saengerbunders,
The Houston Saengerbund and the University of Houston Special Collections at the M.D. Anderson
Library have a long standing association to preserve and maintain the Saengerbund's historic
records. The recently made endowment gift in the name of the Houston Saengerbund will provide
future perpetual support for the processing and distribution of Houston Saengerbund documents
as well as create an endowed legacy for our organization at the University of Houston. Dana Rooks,
the Dean of the University of Houston Libraries extended an invitation to the Saengerbund Board
for a celebratory lunch and endowment presentation that was held at the M.D. Anderson Library on
July 25, 2014.
After a well-deserved summer break the singers began the new singing season with a potluck on
September 2. The men however had their summer break cut short to get a few rehearsals in
before they embarked on their first pub crawl in Houston organized by Mary Kay Buehler. A bus
was hired and we were welcomed by audiences at The Stag’s Head, Griffs and the 3rd Floor.
How much is 2014 minus 1883? Right. 131. The Houston Saengerbund Maennerchor celebrated its
131st Anniversary on October 4 at the Houston Yacht Club. Our newly appointed entertainment
chair, Dayton Smith, hit the ground running, organized a wonderful celebration and was the Master
of Ceremony. The entertainers of the evening were the Sarah Perkins Brass Quintet and the Guitar
Trio Binh Nguyen.
After Ted Hirtz made the official welcome, everyone enjoyed dinner. Not only did we have a keg of
German beer, but most enjoyed it in Saengerbund Steins that were given away as a surprise gift.
After dinner we were treated to an entertaining history speech by Rodney Koenig. The Houston
Saengerbund Damenchor under director Vicky Hemme contributed with a performance to the
celebration.
This year’s membership certificates and singer’s pins were awarded by Elmy Biermanns. Mary
Krippner, who could not make it to the anniversary party, was awarded the 40 year membership
certificate. She has fond memories of the club and her favorite music were the old German hymns
and the song ‘So ein Tag so wunderschoen wie heute’. For 25 years of being a member and singer at
the Houston Saengerbund, Dolores Taylor proudly received her membership certificate and singer’s
pin. She was raised in a German community and was familiar with the German Christmas music. She
really enjoyed participating in the Saengerfests and is thankful for the preservation of our German
heritage through singing.
Elmy Biermanns held a raffle with eight tickets to the Gewandhausorchester performance at Jones
Hall. The Houston Saengerbund received free tickets to the concert due to being a major sponsor
of the event.
Yet another surprise was a special audio treat: The recording of ‘Musical Trott with Liselotte’. Eric
Babin’s mother was the host of this show for 23 years and it was the longest running show on KPFT.
Dancing and more music concluded the evening.
Oktoberfest celebrations
At the Houston Saeangerbund, it is not only eins zwei G’suffa, it is eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf
g’suffa ….. that’s how many Oktoberfests we participated in.
Just like they have done it in Germany for many years, the Liederkranz and Saengerbund
Oktoberfest was held on the 3rd weekend of September. The Munich Evergreens made a comeback
and entertained the crowds. We had a full house on Saturday and everyone had a good time.
For the fifth time, the Houston Brass Band held its Oktoberfest at Christ The King Lutheran
Church at the beginning of October. And for as many times the Houston Saengerbund was the
underwriter of the Fest. The Brassband, conducted by Robert Walp, performed in the nave and was
accompanied during 'Der Jaeger Abschied' by the Houston Saengerbund Maennerchor. The almost
100% German concert included pieces by Mendelsohn, Strauss, Wagner, Weber and Bach. After
the formal part of the concert, everyone gathered in the courtyard to not only enjoy more music
by the Brass Band and 'Vive L'Amour' by the Houston Saengerbund Maennerchor, but also to have
Brats, Sauerkraut and Beer compliments of the Houston Saengerbund. Both groups had an
outstanding performance which was enjoyed by many visitors.
Diana Billings and her friends at the Dachshund rescue and adoption mission came up with a great
PR event, the Dachtoberfest. They are dedicated to rescue abandoned Dachshunds and finding
them new homes. What better way to increase awareness for this quintessential German dog then
by making an Oktoberfest for Dachshunds. The Houston Saengerbund and Liederkranz provided
the entertainment.
At the end of October, the Maennerchor was invited to perform at the First Evangelical Lutheran
Church Oktoberfest. The audience, bigger than last time, appreciated the German entertainment
very much.
As the Oktoberfest of the Texas German Dialect Project was held on the same afternoon at Rudi
Lechner’s, some of the singers headed straight from First Evangelical Lutheran Church to the
celebration at Rudi’s, where they joined other Saengerbund members. They learned about the
efforts, the Texas German Dialect Project and Hans Boas are making to record the language and
stories of Texas German Dialect speakers.
On November 3, the highly anticipated Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester Concert commemorating the
25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall took place at Jones Hall. Several board members and
the winners of the raffled tickets enjoyed an outstanding, magnificent performance. The program
showcased the music of Mendelssohn conducted by Riccardo Chailly, the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s
Music Director. One of the highlights was the breathtaking violin solo performance by Nikolaj
Znaider. In attendance were former President George H. W. Bush, who with former Secretary of
State James A. Baker III served as honorary chairs of the concert. They had served in critical
roles leading up to the events in 1989 when the wall fell which ultimately paved the way for
Germany’s reunification in 1990. Also in attendance were Barbara Bush, Mayor of Houston Annise
Parker, the Mayor of Leipzig and the German Consul General Ricarda Redeker. Long time Symphony
patrons told me later that they have never heard anything like it in Houston.
As we see and hear the signs and sounds of Christmas in stores and malls, it is time to prepare for
the upcoming Christmas season. The Houston Saengerbund Damenchor and the Liederkranz started
in November in Old Town Spring for their Home for the Holidays. What a nice way to get into the
Christmas spirit.
The Deutsche Samstagsschule invited us to join them for their Weihnachtsfeier at the beginning
of December. As an introduction to the Feier, the Saengerbund Damenchor and Maennerchor sang
in the narthex. In the nave the Damenchor and the Klangfarben were part of the program. What a
wonderful event with Christmas music and Christmas tales.
While visitors were browsing through the wares for sale at the Weihnachtsmarkt in the courtyard,
they could listen to the Saengerbund Maennerchor and Damenchor sing.
After singing at the Weihnachtsmarkt in the morning, we headed to the Merz’s Christmas Party in
the evening. This singer’s party has become a wonderful tradition and the audience in this gated
community grows from year to year. They are already looking forward to having us again next year
and to increase our repertoire. Charlotte and Helmut Merz opened their beautifully decorated
home after the performance. The singers brought desserts, snacks, beer, wine and egg nog. We
very much enjoyed Charlotte’s and Helmut’s hospitality.
On the same weekend, the German pastor of the Johanniskirche in Rosenberg invited the singers to
be part of their bi-lingual Christmas Service. A small group of the Damenchor and a selected mixed
group of both Saengerbund and Liederkranz sang at the service.
We had so much fun at our first Pub Crawl that Mary Kay Buehler and the Maennerchor decided to
have another one with Christmas carols. On December 9 we started again at the Stag’s Head,
headed to the Hobbit Hole from there, then to Cliff’s and finished at the 3rd Floor. Audiences on a
Tuesday were very small, but the ones that heard the Maennerchor sing, enjoyed the unexpected
entertainment.
One of my favorite Christmas events is the Candle Light Tour of the Heritage Society at the Sam
Houston Park. The Houston Liederkranz and Saengerbund were standing on the porch of the
German House singing Christmas carols. Many singers participated and we filled the entire porch.
Elmy Biermanns and Elli Thornton spotted a woman in the audience singing along, so Elmy decided to
bring her up on the porch and have her sing with us. Irmi had such a good time singing with us the
Christmas songs she remembered from Germany. John Scarcella did a great job in directing and
Stan Thornton announced and explained every song to the audience and informed them about our
choirs. During the break cookies and Glühwein were passed around and everyone had a jolly good
time.
The grand finale to the year was the Saengerbund Christmas party on December 16. The main
course was catered by Rudi Lechner’s and members brought a huge variety of appetizers, salads
and desserts. The bar was open for beverages and coffee as well as Burl’s famous egg nog rounded
out this fabulous feast.
The entertainer of the evening was Taeko playing seasonal music on the piano. She was a pleasure to
listen to. Elmy Biermanns was the Master of Ceremony of the evening. Reflecting on this year she
thanked the singers for attending many rehearsals and performances. They are the face of our
organization. As our ambassadors they bring German song and culture to the public. She
acknowledged the enthusiasm, new ideas and dedication of our directors Vicky Hemme and Mary
Kay Buehler. She thanked the board for running the business side of the club and Rosemarie Davis
for keeping those members, who do not have email, informed. Stan Thornton and Ted Hirtz have
emerged as the announcers at public events and they are doing a great job informing the audience
about who we are and what we do. She thanked Eva and Burl Holloway who both tirelessly work on
behalf of the Houston Saengerbund all year round. The list goes on with Mary Kay McMurrough
taking care of sending cards or arrangements to our sick members and Frank Neukomm and Bill
Stewart for their efforts on finding us a club house. She complimented Dayton Smith who just a
few months ago became the new entertainment chair for organizing the Anniversary Party as well
as the Christmas Party. Christine Womack, our Charitable Giving Chair does a fabulous job in
managing the requests for donations.
The program included a surprise performance by Mary Kay Buehler singing ‘Santa Baby’ and opera
singer Christian Sanders singing ‘Oh Holy Night’. We were all stunned by their performances. Eva
Holloway and Dayton Smith played a skit ‘The Night after Christmas’ with the help of Anna and
Willi Boehm. Elmy Biermanns raffled off ten tickets to the Wagner opera ‘Die Walküre’ as part of
‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ at the Houston Grand Opera with the help of Nicolas Gibson. Yet another
skit by Dayton Smith called ‘Didn’t I get the same thing last year?’ was funny and entertaining.
Erika Teske had prepared a sing-a-long and we all sang Christmas music together. Vicky Hemme
came up to the microphone and complimented Elmy Biermanns for everything she had done for the
club.
This was the nicest Saengerbund Christmas party in a long time and not because of anything I did
but because of how everything fell into place and so many members contributing and attending the
party.
Birthday wishes
Happy birthday to Gabi Keibl, who turned 70 in December.
Wishing well
Several of our members had various health issues and I want to wish all of them well and that they
regain their health. They are Horst Britsche, Flo Hoff, Nina Burckhardt, Ron Franklin, Ewald
Burckhardt and Helga Braun. Numerous members had the flu or colds.
New members
I would like to welcome the following new members to the club and let them know how excited we
are that they have joined the Houston Saengerbund. They are Mairin Griffith, Christa Molloy, Elora
Molloy, Gisela Partlow and Frank Stanford.
Upcoming events and schedule
January 6
beginning season potluck 7 pm at Liederkranz Hall
February 21
German School Showcase
April 10
Pub Crawl Houston Saengerbund Maennerchor
April 26
Bellville
May 2 and 3
Texas State Saengerfest
May
Potluck and elections
June 7
Anniversary Party Houston Saengerbund Damenchor
September 11
Pub Crawl Houston Saengerbund Maennerchor
October 10
Anniversary Party Houston Saengerbund Maennerchor
Enjoy Christmas and New Year and we see you all back at the potluck and start of rehearsals on
January 6, 2015.
Elmy Biermanns, Secretary Houston Saengerbund