Leipzig, Germany

From Leipsig, with love.

After two and a half months of classes, we had our spring break at AAU! For our choir, this meant it was time for our Chamber Singers World Tour! (Cue choir kids singing show tunes in a bus for a week straight)

A few other parents came along for the tour, since it lined up with a few Spring Breaks in America! My mom was able to come on the tour bus with us, and joined in on the adventures!

For the next 10 days we would be going to

Leipzig, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Jünsdorf, Germany

Nuremburg, Germany

Salzburg, Austria

Budapest, Hungary

Vienna, Austria

Leipzig was a Wroclaw to me. That is, I would have probably never gone there if it wasn't for choir, and discovered a gem of a city!

The homeland of Bach, Leipzig is alive with music and art!

Leaping for Leipzig

Our city tour began with a tour of Bach's apartment, now a museum! In choir we are singing his composition, "Komm, süsser Tod," so it was amazing getting to see his original scores and the place he composed.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is the most famous choral and church composer of all time. In Leipzig, he instructed the St. Thomas boys choir, and would write a new composition every week for St. Thomas Church.

One of the most famous Bach portraits. Hidden during the World Wars, the museum got this portrait back less than 10 years ago! Apparently the family that was keeping it once had a son who accidentally threw a dart through it. Talk about being grounded for life...

We loved playing around with an interactive software that played our makeshift compositions!

Close by the museum was The Café Zimmermann, or Zimmermannsche Kaffeehaus where Bach used to come to compose! He composed his famous "Coffee Cantata" in the coffee house. Obviously, we stopped for some coffee and cake in Bach's honor.

Headed over to St. Nicholas Church, a Gothic church from the 16th century! In 1989, the famous "Monday Demonstations" were held here. This peaceful protest ended up being the first step to overthrowing communism in Germany!

The columns reminded me of Palm Trees! Loved the pastel interior of the church

Since we were in Germany, we had to have some authentic Bratwurst! Thankfully, the Easter markets were going on, so we headed over to grab some lunch and check out the vendors!

Well, there's no wondering if the pork is fresh!

Live traditional German music! Imagine taking one of those instruments home on the bus to practice..

Kyla's mom, Kysa, was gracious enough to drive us to the Battle of Nations memorial to catch sunset. The memorial is one of the largest in the world! In 1813, the Battle of the Nations was fought by the combined armies of Russia, Austria, and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army was defeated in Leipzig and returned to France where the Allies invaded the next year.

Nothing like a great sunset over an amazing city!

Me and my girl Kyla!

Ended our evening at the Panorama Tower for dessert! Got to see the city lights from above, and enjoyed some apple strudel! Here is a picture of the tower in the daylight, to the left of the University of Leipzig!

How's that for a perfect first day in Leipzig, and a happy Easter Eve!

The next morning was Easter Sunday! Felt beyond lucky to experience Easter in Germany, and woke up early for a church service in Bach's St. Thomas Church!

The St. Thomas Boys Choir was performing, whose history dates back to the year 1212! The choir is the oldest actively performing choir in the entire world, and they gave us chills. Ages 5-18, there were five year olds who could sing soprano notes like opera stars. I have never seen anything like it! If only Luke joined a choir..

After the service, we had our concert! Who gets to say they sang in Bachs church in Germany on Easter Sunday!? It was definitely one of the most incredible moments of my life. Beyond blessed to perform somewhere so influential as a musician. JS Bach worked as music director for the last 23 years of his life at St. Thomas and is buried there. This was the 500th year anniversary of the reformation, which made singing in this Lutheran church even more significant.

Bach's grave, near the front of the church. What a legend, hope he enjoyed us singing his songs from heaven!

Leipzig, you will be missed