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 | | | All in all I was not very interested in music during the elementary school. That changed when I went to
the Walther-Rathenau-Gymnasium, 12 years old. During an open day with public lessions and other activities I had looked already at my new school. Thereby I have seen a steelband for the very first time of my life: The “Unknown Band” of the school. They couldn’t get me off, I was very fascinated by the sound. I wanted to play this as well. When I finally came to the school I had to learn that the music teachers let no young kids play with the sensitive steeldrums. So I started playing in workshops especially built for young children. We played xylophone and other instruments. That may have sounded terribly, but it was a lot of fun for us and it was new for me, because I had never played with others before. This was missing when I played the piano. You sit at home alone, practice and practice and you have no possibilities to play together with others ( at least if you are a beginner).
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| | | Playing together with other children was so much fun for me that I joined the school choir when I was
14. Furthermore I started playing the clarinet (It shoud be a saxophone but they told me I can change later on, what was done by me when I was 16). With the
clarinet I hoped to play together with other musicians in the school orchestra or during music trips, which was right. Furthermore I got a member of the preliminary steelband during my 8th class. Since I was approximately the only one who could read the bass key I had to play the Triple Cello. Until my secondary-school final exams in 1993 I had played other steel instruments, like the Tenor, finally with the “Unknown Band”, of course. The highlights were always the Berlin Marathon, it was a great atmosphere and we played for hours.
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| | | After school I indeed still sang and played the saxophone, but I had to wait playing the steeldrums
until 1996, when I joined the Tin Pan Alley Steelband. A friend of mine, unfortunately she isn’t in the band anymore, took me to a session. Today I sing in several projetcs, currently Mozart’s Requiem with the Berlin Kantorei, during summer time I make a trip to Israel with the Berlin Mozart choir. I am a member of “The Saxy Horror Show”, a saxophone ensemble at the music school in Zehlendorf. I have just founded the saxophone quartet “Four Steps Beyond”. And, of course, I play with the Tin Pan Alley Steelband.
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