Free concert will feature young German musicians

7/7/2011
BLADE STAFF
The Albert Einstein Youth Orchestra of Germany will perform Tuesday in Westgate Chapel.
The Albert Einstein Youth Orchestra of Germany will perform Tuesday in Westgate Chapel.

The Albert Einstein Youth Orchestra of Bobingen, Germany, will perform a free concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Westgate Chapel, 2500 Wilford Drive. The 63 musicians are students at the Albert Einstein Gymnasium (high school) who are in the United States for three weeks through the Blue Lake Music Camp's international exchange program.

Since 1969, Blue Lake, a summer music camp in Twin Lake, Mich., has sent 10,000 young musicians to 650 communities in England, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Hungary, and Liechtenstein, according to Gretchen Stansell, who directs the exchange program.

In return, nearly 10,000 players in some 500 bands, orchestras, choirs, and dance groups have come to the United States to perform throughout the Midwest. This year, the 45th anniversary of the program's launch, some 1,000 musicians from the United States and Europe will participate. Musicians are lodged with families in the communities they visit, thus enhancing the ongoing cultural exchange.

The Glassmen, northwest Ohio's internationally renowned drum and bugle corps, will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Doyt Perry Stadium at Bowling Green State University. The program, an all-star revue that is described as Broadway Meets Opera Meets Symphony Orchestra, will feature the Glassmen's fine musicianship and fast-paced marching in intricate formations.

According to Sandra Clark, principal hornist in the Toledo Symphony and a member of the Glassmen's board of directors, "drum corps is arguably the very best youth activity available. . . the true transformation wrought upon these young people happens because of the enormous personal responsibility placed upon each of them."

For the last two decades, the Glassmen have consistently ranked among the top 10 drum and bugle corps in the country. They are perennial favorites at local festivals and parades and have performed with the Toledo Symphony.

Tickets range from $19-$54 at http://dcitickets.showare.com/default.asp and at the door.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has scheduled 8:30 p.m. outdoor concerts Friday and Saturday at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House at 1100 Lake Shore Rd., Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.

Tito Munoz will conduct both concerts. Friday's show will feature trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and his band; the Saturday show theme is "Midsummer Night's Dream." Tickets start at $25 at the door and fireworks will conclude both performances.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of performance date.