From African melodies to a Broadway show: Eslon Hindundu and Fame – the musical in Immling
From African melodies to a Broadway show: Eslon Hindundu and Fame – the musical in Immling
“When I watch the news, I realize that the world is ruled by those who never listen to music.”
Bob Dylan
All those brave enough to come to the Gala of the Opera Choirs on Saturday at over 30 degrees – I bet you didn’t regret it! What an experience!
I would therefore like to tell you a little about choral music and its significance in Namibia. What does this have to do with Immling? Quite a lot! The young conductor who conducted the wonderful “Dry Your Tears, Africa” is called Eslon Hindundu and comes from Namibia. I got to know him when I was still organizing the Swakopmund Music Week, through which I also got to know Maestra von Kerssenbrock. She was the musical director from 2017 – 2019, and she also directed the large music week choir.
Namibians often only have access to music and singing through their churches. Instruments are expensive and so are lessons – moreover, they only take place in a few cities and are inaccessible for many. The Swakopmund Music Week had set itself the task of not only inviting amateur musicians every year, but above all to give the many, often underprivileged and disillusioned singers the opportunity to work with professional choir conductors for ten days and, above all, to sing with a large orchestra!
Photo – Festival Choir © Verena von Kerssenbrock
During her first year at the music week, Maestra von Kerssenbrock immediately heard that there were many very good voices singing here, and so there was an audition for the festival choir.
Eslon Hindundu had registered with his choir, which he had successfully built up at the time, and Cornelia von Kerssenbrock quickly became aware of the young man, who was studying composition in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and was very interested in conducting in order to be able to help his choir even better. Apart from that, he had a beautiful voice, and so he came to Immling for the first time in 2019 with selected Namibian singers. Some may remember, they performed regularly in the Sternenzelt and the African songs were universally popular. Eslon Hindundu met Kim Mira Meyer in Immling.
He wanted to compose the first Namibian opera, and despite Corona and other adversities, Ms. Meyer and her Momentbühne actually managed to help him complete his opera financially and with the right advisors. On September 22, 2022, the first Namibian opera premiered in the capital Windhoek, and in September 2023 the piece was then performed in Berlin. (You can find out more here: https://www.momentbuehne.com/pages/opera-namibia)
I was particularly pleased to see Eslon Hindundu again this year in Immling, he has lost none of his passion for music and choral singing!
Photo – Eslon Hindundu © Pasinger Fabrik
Artistic Director Ludwig Baumann sometimes talks about how many singers who began their careers in Immling now sing on all the world’s great stages. Here is an example of how supporting young singers in the festival choir can lead to great things. Thank you, Immling!
But I actually wanted to recommend the premiere of “FAME!” to you this week. This is also about young people who can’t imagine life without music, dance and acting and their thorny path to graduating from the famous New York School of Performing Arts.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1988 and is regarded in Germany as the initial spark for the musical wave, which continues unabated to this day and also enjoys great popularity in Immling every year. Even if it is now a little outdated, the themes that concern many young people remain: Prejudice, finding identity, education, sexuality and drug abuse, remain of universal relevance. So if you are older, go and find out what still concerns the “young” and tell the younger ones who may only associate Immling with opera.
But Immling is so versatile that you can hardly keep up! And so you can also experience an excursion into fiery flamenco and its diversity. Just come to our “Cafè del mundo” on August 1st in the Sternenzelt. (Please get your tickets beforehand, there are still a few left!)
As you can see, there is never a dull moment and Immling always has something new to offer.
With this in mind – see you on the hill!
As always, sincerely
Yours, Christiane Berker
Photo – Youth Academy © Verena von Kerssenbrock