Keep Music on the Streets

DSC_0044-EditA reminder to all live music lovers that, in conjunction with the Folk Club Bonn, 3SongsBonn is currently collecting signatures for a petition to abolish the charge for playing live music on Bonn’s streets (currently 10 Euros per person for two days in Bonn.  In Cologne free!)
A few people have pointed out that the charge has been in place for a few years now. It seems though that it’s recently been more heavily enforced than ever before. Have you noticed how much emptier the streets are of music these days? We have.  Sad news for a City that makes a lot of tourist money through it’s famous musical son.

The petition will be closed on 6 June, when all signatures will be collected together from various paper lists including that from the Folk Club itself and the online one, for delivery to the Lord Mayor’s Office.
Please take a few minutes to sign, even if you don’t live in Bonn, to show you value live music and that it should be available to all – not just those who can afford concert tickets.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE

Stage Free for Beethoven…

Ute Eden

This week saw the beginning of Bonn’s annual Beethoven Festival, a sometimes lavish affair presenting the best of Classical Music and also, alongside, the best side of Bonn for tourists.

Besides the international stars there are also a great many concerts and stages made available during the Festival and Saturday was the busiest of them all, with numerous mini and not so mini stages spread out around Bonn City Centre it was possible to go from a talented pianist playing gentle melodies, to a full scale youth orchestra playing Beethoven, to a Jazz Band playing Smoke on the Water – and all within ten minutes walking distance.  3songsbonn.com did the walk and HERE ARE THE PICTURES to prove what a busy and sunny day Bühne Frei Für Beethoven 2012 was.  Lots of excellent music, much of it from young musicians from the Bonn area such as The HBG Pop Singers from Hardtberg Gymnasium, Ute Eden with the Bonn Beuel IGS BigBand, and The Nonnenwerther Inselsinfoniker from Nonnenwerth.  Not to mention many more that I didn’t get to see, hear and photograph.  Too much good music for one day in fact.