A year ago, the jazz festival in Gronau opened with an exclusive concert for primary school children. This year, the Bürgerhalle was once again filled with music when around 800 children from various elementary school attended the opening concert by David Helbock's Random/Control feat. Fola Dada as part of the city of Gronau's "Kulturstrolche" project.
The musicians themselves are among the top names in European jazz. Austrian jazz pianist David Helbock, known for his innovative approach to jazz and his love of experimentation, is accompanied by Andreas Broger (clarinet, saxophone, etc.) and Johannes Bär (tuba, trumpet, didgeridoo, etc.). The trio was supported by the award-winning singer Fola Dada, a fixture on the German jazz and soul scene. The group presented an impressive spectrum of sounds and instruments. They also used rather unusual instruments such as the alphorn and the agogo. Fola Dada provided rhythmic hands-on activities, encouraging the children not only to clap along, but also to dance and sing along. The appropriate background lighting added to the atmosphere of the concert.
A special highlight of the morning was the Q&A session with the artists. The pupils from the third and fourth years had already collected questions together in advance. Rachel (4c), Gabriel A. (4a) and Gabriel H. (4b) were allowed to step on stage as representatives and ask these questions to the musicians. Among other things, the children wanted to know which instrument is the artists' favorite, which famous musicians inspire them and what they like to do in their free time. The musicians took a lot of time to answer the questions and approached the young audience with humor and great openness. This not only allowed them to make music, but also to have a real conversation after the first half of the concert.
Special thanks go to the cultural office of the city of Gronau, which once again made this extraordinary musical experience possible for the children.