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Music at the College in the 2nd term

30 May 2023

A recap of a wonderful term, with many concerts, performances and celebrations

The time between our Christmas Concert and the grand Graduation Ceremony on May 20 in the beautiful Teatro Rossetti in Trieste seems to have flown by. It is only when I look at the calendar that I realise how much students have actually done, how regularly they rehearsed and performed and the dedication shown by so many of them in the pursuit of Performing Arts.

Realising that calling our performances Concerti Musicale is a good example of a tautological expression, we decided to rename our monthly performances Serate al Collegio. By doing so, we also wanted to encourage other performances, not only Music, such as Poetry, Dance and Visual Arts.

So, we went into the new Serate al Collegio series with renewed enthusiasm. The first concert in January ranged from Vivald’s Winter (appropriate to the time of year with a howling Bora wind outside), via students’ own compositions to The Godfather, from Handel’s Lascia ch’io pianga to Liszt’s Liebestraum and to a dance created to a live performance of Saint-Saens’ famous Swan.

Students then decided to link the next two concerts to a certain theme and the February concert focused on the topic of Love and Friendship. We also decided that this concert would be a collaboration between Music and Visual Arts. The artists prepared and displayed artwork around our auditorium that was developed on that theme. I was particularly proud because this concert fell in the middle of the mock exam period and I was worried that not many students would have wanted to perform. Needless to say that I was completely wrong: more students than ever wanted to add to the performances. One highlight was the beautiful poem A Wonderful Day written and performed by Chungu from Zambia. Since there is no shortage of pieces based on Love and Friendship, we had a rich and varied program ranging from Mozart, Handel, Sibelius and Faure to Elton John, Adele and a great performance of the song Can’t take my eyes off of You by our ever-growing UWC Choir.

On March 18, students organised a Jazz Night – a real highlight of the year. They prepared a number of pieces and the auditorium was packed with students dancing and singing along. What a wonderful night that was.

The final concert in March came immediately after, on March 23, and it was focussed on Film Music, in honour of the National Film Score Day celebrated each year on April 3. We could hear familiar tunes from The Mission, Toy Story, Godfather, Inception, Amelie, The Greatest Showman and many more.

If you think that this was everything in March, you are wrong. If New York is the city that never sleeps, UWC Adriatic might well be the place that never stops playing and singing!

On March 19, students of our piano and voice teacher Stefano Sacher performed a short song recital. And on March 31 and April 1, students presented their production of the Musical Into The Woods – a clever and highly original interpretation of a complex piece.
This was a massive effort by the Musical Group under the direction of Jona Lotte Hoek and Lenny Stern Gil-Har, who had started to work on the Musical at the beginning of the year. In March they rehearsed on most days (and sometimes even nights, but please don’t tell anyone!). Three players accompanied the singers on the stage: Mia Luise Reichwein (flute), Zoe Keller (drums) and Stefano Sacher (piano). The performances earned enthusiastic applause from the audience on both nights. This was a real highlight not only because of the quality of production and performance but also because it showed what our students are able and willing to do when they commit to something with passion and energy.

On April 18, students from Lebanon, Palestine and Mexico, together with our Chemistry teacher Elizabeth Sepetdjian, performed the well known Egyptian song Helwa Ya Baladi at a fundraising concert for people affected by the devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey at Teatro Rossetti in Trieste.

The final concert of the year was the One World Concert on April 18. One World Concert is an event celebrated by many of the United World Colleges across the world, an event that celebrates the diversity of our community and its ongoing quest for peace and a sustainable future.
For anyone who had not been aware of how diverse our community is – this surely was the wake-up call: we had songs from Japan, Mexico, Egypt, Italy and Ireland, dances from Eastern Europe, Latin America, Afrobeat and HipHop, poems written by students and an impressive performance of the famous poem In Jerusalem by Tamim Barghouti by Wafaa from Palestine, as well as Sarabande by Handel performed by the orchestra, Viva La Vida performed by the choir and a brilliant performance of the Marche Galop by Albert Lavignac – a piano piece for 8 (EIGHT!) hands.

The concert ended with a great rendition of an ABBA medley performed by our very own a-cappella group, organised and led by Lena. This group, like the Musical Group, is another excellent example of student-driven activities where regular and persistent hard work leads to outstanding results and captivating performances. Another highlight for me of our One World Concert was singing together with a group of students in a performance of two Klapa’s from Croatia led by Iva, a student from Croatia. I had never heard of this style of singing before and I loved taking part in that performance. This was also a nice moment of being able to learn from our community, where people bring so much from all the different countries and cultures.

And then exams started – and the Music building became strangely deserted and quiet. However, on Sunday May 7, we provided some musical support to the Trieste run, a half-marathon that starts in Duino and finishes in Trieste. UWC Choir and the band got the runners and spectator excited by singing Viva La Vida and two appropriate songs by Queen: We are the Champions and Don’t Stop Me Now. How lucky we were to have our own Freddie Mercury: Anthony from Nigeria.

And then we found ourselves once again at the beautiful Teatro Rossetti celebrating the graduating class of 2023 and sending them off with some lovely words and musical performances. What an incredible year this has been, with so many concerts, performances and celebrations. I am happy to see how music happens everywhere at UWC Adriatic. I have now written mainly about the major events, but there is much more: our regular assemblies are started with music, and students organise regular open mics where everyone performs simply for the fun of it.

Time and time again I am impressed by what students bring here, their diversity and their willingness to share music makes this an extremely enriching place to live and work. As sad as we are to say goodbye to so many of our Secondi, we also look forward to welcoming a new and exciting cohort of young people from around the world who will no doubt have songs and poems in their suitcases that we will share with each other and that will enrich our hearts and minds and build bridges between us.

Christoph Genz
Director of Performing Arts
UWC Adriatic

Pictures of Musical Performances in the 2nd Term of the 2022/23 academic year