Braunschweig Accordion Orchestra
The Braunschweiger Akkordeon-Orchester eV (BAO) is a symphonic orchestra made up of around 25 musicians. The orchestra is divided into 7 voices.
activity
With their work, the musicians counteract the popular notion of the accordion as an instrument (“Schifferklavier”, “squeeze table”) by preferring literature outside of folk music. The repertoire mainly includes works by composers such as Bach , Mozart , Rossini , Strauss , Lloyd Webber , Bernstein or Piazzolla as well as contemporary original music for the accordion.
The BAO is a member of the German Harmonica Association and is run as a non-profit association. The orchestra maintains contact with other orchestras and regards itself as a figurehead in the northern German accordion scene.
The highlight of the concert season is the annual performance in the Braunschweig city hall. The musical engagement of the BAO includes Christmas concerts in the St. Andreas Church, participation in the "AkkorDayOn" in Papenburg (2012 and 2014) and the "Lower Saxony Day" in Goslar (2013). In 2012 the orchestra held one tango concert each in Peine, Braunschweig and Wolfenbüttel.
The BAO also works with soloists. In March 2012 the orchestra gave the final concert at the Braunschweig piano festival "Tastentaumel" together with the pianists Wolfgang Zill and Hans-Jürgen Niemann. Katharina Meier (clarinet), Hans-Martin Zill (flute), and the singers Birgit Disenko and Martina Geisler also took part in BAO concerts.
In May 2015, the players and singers from the OnStage Musical School Braunschweig (vocals: Nadine Jahn, Katarina Krüper, Martina Geisler and Clemens Bahn) gave two concerts with musical highlights in the Braunschweiger Stadthalle and the Lessingtheater Wolfenbüttel. The live recording of this concert was released on a double CD in 2016.
The non-profit orchestra is also involved in the form of benefit concerts for people in need. In autumn 2017 there was a benefit concert for the benefit of homeless people in Braunschweig through the support of the Braunschweig Diakonie "IGLU - day meeting for the homeless". Benefit concerts were given several times for the “MS-Aktivhaus Braunschweig” and for the bereaved children of a deceased fellow player.
history
The beginnings of the BAO go back to 1947, when the association "Musikfreunde Braunschweig" was founded. Back then they played guitars, mandolins and accordions. Twenty years later the association was transformed into an accordion orchestra under the name "Braunschweiger Akkordeon-Orchester", which is still valid today. The orchestra expanded within a short period of time, and after intensive efforts Wilhelm Tschersig was won over as conductor for the orchestra. As an active chamber musician and first oboist of the Braunschweig State Orchestra, he initially had concerns about leading amateur musicians. In addition, he only knew the accordion as a “boatman's piano”. But the full sound and different timbres of the entire orchestra convinced him. Through its intensive work with the musicians, the orchestra reached a remarkable level. When Wilhelm Tschersig relinquished the direction of the orchestra for reasons of age in 1987, the music teacher Udo Menkenhagen, who was trained at the Hohner Conservatory in Trossingen, took over the orchestra. Under his musical direction, the BAO developed into an accordion orchestra, which also held its own in international competitions at the highest level several times.
After Udo Menkenhagen, Miroslav Grahovac took over the musical direction at the beginning of 2013. He studied accordion at the Hanover University of Music, won several first prizes at international competitions and was an active member of the "North German Philharmonic Accordion Orchestra". With his musical work he gave the orchestra new possibilities of expression and led it to several successes, most recently with the rating "Excellent" at the World Music Festival Innsbruck in May 2016.
During the annual concert 2017, Igor Krizman, a friend of Grahovac, took over the direction of the orchestra. Krizman is also studying accordion at the Hanover University of Music and is an active planning member of the international accordion competitions in Pula (Croatia).
Success at the World Music Festival in Innsbruck
- 1998: “Upper Level” category, “Excellent” (50 points) 1st place, “Travel pictures from the Balkans” by Hans Boll
- 2001: “Highest level” category, “excellent” (42.4 points) 5th place, “Symphonic Suite” by Wolfgang Jacobi
- 2004: “Highest Level” category “Excellent” (38.5 points) 12th place, “Krakatao” by Stefan Hippe + “Variations for accordion orchestra” by Rudolf Würthner
- 2007: “Highest level” category, “excellent” (42.8 points) 5th place, “Suite for accordion orchestra” by Rudolf Bruci
- 2010: “Highest Level” category, “Excellent” (41 points) 15th place, “Spanish Impressions” by W. Jacobi
- 2016: “ Highest Level ” category, “Excellent” (42 points) 9th place, “Enigma Variations” by Edward Elgar (arr. Stefan Hippe) + “Scherzino” by Damir Buzleta
Publications (CD)
- Da Capo (1997)
- Travel Pictures (1999)
- <www.bao-ev.de> live (2001)
- Annual concert 2001 (2004)
- Annual concert 2002 (2004)
- Annual concert 2003 (2004)
- Annual concert 2004/2005 (2007)
- Annual concert 2006/2007 (2007)
- Annual concert 2008 (2009)
- Annual concert 2009/2010 (2011)
- THE musical concert (2016)