Big band from Germany: Schorndorf students perform at Paul W. Bryant High School

Ken Roberts, Tuscaloosa News
·2 min read

Students at Paul W. Bryant High School in Cottondale experienced a jazzy musical treat Monday all the way from Schorndorf, Germany.

About 35 members of the Max Planck Gymnasium Big Band performed a 40-minute show at Bryant High.

The band, which consists of students between the ages of 13 and 18, is visiting Tuscaloosa as part of the Sister Cities International program.

Finn-Luca Palmer plays baritone sax with the Max Planck Gymnasium Big Band, a group of high school aged students from Schorndorf, Germany, as they perform for students at Paul Bryant High in Cottondale Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The visit is part of the Sister Cities program.
Finn-Luca Palmer plays baritone sax with the Max Planck Gymnasium Big Band, a group of high school aged students from Schorndorf, Germany, as they perform for students at Paul Bryant High in Cottondale Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The visit is part of the Sister Cities program.

The MPG Big Band also performed Sunday for about an hour during the second day of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Northport. The band performed “Birdland,” “At Last,” “Skyfall,” “Saturday Night Blues” and more.

Members of the band took in the sights of Tuscaloosa after they arrived Friday afternoon, with some attending the University of Alabama’s homecoming festivities. Host families also treated the band members to such Southern delicacies as barbecue, sweet tea and grits.

The MPG Big Band is part of a 53-student delegation from Schorndorf, a German city near Stuttgart. Eighteen of the students will stay with Tuscaloosa host families through Oct. 27.

Members of the band were scheduled to depart Tuscaloosa on Tuesday, headed for a performing tour that includes stops in Buffalo, New York, and West Hartford, Connecticut.

Luisa Schwarz sings while Frank Kroll directs the Max Planck Gymnasium Big Band, a group of high school aged students from Schorndorf, Germany, as they perform for students at Paul Bryant High in Cottondale Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The visit is part of the Sister Cities program.
Luisa Schwarz sings while Frank Kroll directs the Max Planck Gymnasium Big Band, a group of high school aged students from Schorndorf, Germany, as they perform for students at Paul Bryant High in Cottondale Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The visit is part of the Sister Cities program.

The Max Planck Gymnasium Big Band consists of:

  • Alto saxophones: Theo Eckstein, Yves Fried, Johannes Gross, Louis Poschek and Johannes Schabel;

  • Tenor saxophones: Ronja Guancialino, Lea Mayer and Amelie Pfeifer;

  • Baritone saxophone: Finn-Luca Palmer

  • Clarinet: Hanna Herb

  • French horns: Johanna Eschenbeck and Tobias Schnitzer

  • Trumpets: Jonathan Bieler, Konstantin Dietrich, Sebastian Goltz, Jakob Lutz and Matthias Mandle, Mattheo Shuler

  • Pianos: Leonardo Gherardini, Martin Nguyen, Duc Loc Pham and Malena Schorg

  • Bass: Joachim Gross and Jakob Harer

  • Drums: Oliver Vath

  • Singers: Annika Blessing, Carla Hess, Luisa Schwarz and Joachim Gross.

  • The band is directed by Frank Kroll, with co-director/chaperones Martin Drechsler and Heidi Lutz.

Tuscaloosa has been a sister city to Schorndorf since 1996. Tuscaloosa’s other sister cities are Narashino, Japan, and Sunyani-Techiman in Ghana.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Max Planck Gymansium Big Band plays at Paul W. Bryant High School