A group of 19 members of the choir, accompanied by a number of partners and led by guest conductor David Leigh, made a very enjoyable and sociable visit to northern Germany from July 9-18, 2022. The focus of the trip was a visit to Loccum Abbey in Lower Saxony, where Corinna and Joachim Diestelkamp, former members of the choir and previously joint pastors in St. Finian’s Lutheran Church, Dublin, are now pastors. They have instigated an annual performance in the abbey church each summer of a Bach cantata as part of the morning service and we were delighted to be invited by them to take part in the performance this year, which took place on Sunday morning July 17th.
After flying to Hamburg, we stayed in Zarpen, near Lübeck, in Stade, an historic Hanseatic town near Hamburg and finally in Loccum. In addition to singing the Bach cantata in Loccum, we also gave concerts of our own to welcoming and appreciative audiences in the churches at Hamberge (near Lübeck), Gnarrenburg (near Bremen), Groß Berkel (near Hamelin) and ending with a concert in Loccum Abbey church on Sunday evening July 17. We also sang during the morning service in Zarpen church on July 10 and after the midday prayer service in St.Michael’s church (the Michel) in Hamburg on July 12, as well as taking in some sightseeing and leisure time in Lübeck, Hamelin, Stade and Hamburg.
To see photos of our trip and videos of some of our performances there, go to goethechoir.ie/gallery.
Corinna and Joachim Diestelkamp are returning to Ireland for a visit later this month with a party of travellers from Germany and will be at St. Finian’s Lutheran church in Adelaide Road in Dublin for the morning service at 11am on Sunday August 14th. Members of the Goethe Choir are delighted to be able to welcome them to Dublin by joining the service to sing some of the pieces that we recently performed in Germany.
