December | Florian Libold, Teacher
Visitors to the Steiner Advent Market will remember that the Steiner choir was once again supported by Austrian pupils this year. This welcome reinforcement is thanks to a cooperation with the “Stiftsgymnasium Wilhering”, which Robert Rathwallner initiated. Last Wednesday, it was time for the return visit and so nine Steiner students from the sixth to eighth grades and two of their teachers made their way to Austria. After a drive of several hours through fog and the onset of darkness, a friendly welcome awaited us at the private grammar school, which dates back to a Cistercian foundation. During the one-hour dress rehearsal, the rehearsed material was fine-tuned and then it was time for the Christmas concert to begin.
Around 150 parents experienced a varied performance in the stucco-decorated music hall, introduced in proper style by a Christmas yodel. The program consisted of contemplative classics such as “Wir sagen euch an den lieben Advent”, to which an “Advent wreath was also lit” (choir director’s quote) or “Stille Nacht”. But more modern, lively interludes such as “Jingle Bells” or “Rudolph, the rednosed reindeer” were also performed. It was all performed professionally by around 20 singers and instrumentalists from the 6th to 8th grade from Wilhering, supported by the Steiners and, on the piano, Robert Rathwallner and Lisa Fuchs.
Highlights included the song “Lichterkinder”, sung and rapped (!) in the solo parts by a nine-year-old Stiftsschule pupil, and “Last Christmas”, with the now established Natalija Grajlich (Schule Schloss Stein) as the soloist. There was even the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from the “Nutcracker”. Several dance interludes, for example to “All I want for Christmas is You”, rounded off the evening. After rapturous applause, we said goodbye to our hosts and made our way back to Stein, where we arrived rather late, but satisfied.
