We shape our school together
“Without music, life would be a misunderstanding”, said Friedrich Nietzsche, and former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt also knew about the special magic that inhibits music: “Let us ensure that we are singing and producing music in our homes and in our schools, so that our children learn to enjoy music. It is time for the kind language that speaks straight to our souls.”
We want to give our students the opportunity to experience this special language and therefore music plays a very important role in our every day school lives. Music accompanies us throughout the school year, the music club offers a variety of activities. Those who enjoy singing can apply for vocal class when signing up for Grade 5. Students of this class receive extra voice training in small groups on top of their regular music classes. Additionally, we offer individual musical instrument training, orchestra, school- and Big Band complemented by our choirs for all age groups.
Holistic learning also includes theater. Students create their own texts and play them out. Acrobatics, dance and juggling exercise coordination, stagecraft and stage design represent special challenges for students. There are three theater clubs to choose from, including one in cooperation with schools for students with special needs.
Furthermore, beginning with Grade 5, our students can use the rhetoric club to practice the tools required for a good presentation. An actress teaches students about the conscious use of gestures, facial expressions, and body language, whereas students perform classic as well as self-made poems on stage at our “Gauklorium”. This training’s climax is the performance of a mini-drama.
Why all of this? Because music and theater provide children with the opportunity to explore, develop, and live their skills and talents. Hearing, singing, dancing, feeling rhythm – aesthetic education influences juvenile personality development and nurtures creativity as well as emotional, social, and cognitive competence. And: music and theater create bonds because nothing trumps the feeling of blowing the audience away with a performance that required hours of practice.
