The US Air Force in Europe Orchestra made the Czech students move
Marie Gregůrková, Marta Štorkánová, septima
On the 17th September 2018, we had an amazing opportunity to welcome musicians from America - The US Air Force in Europe Orchestra.
A lot of school kids from the whole region came to hear this extraordinary band. The concert took place in a courtyard of Gymnázium Joachima Barranda in Beroun. The weather was sunny and warm, and the whole event went on nicely too.
At the beginning, the audience was a little bit shy, but the Americans were professionals in warming up the atmosphere and in the end, we were all dancing to the sound of “In the mood” by Glenn Miller. The orchestra performed all kinds of genres, instrumental and vocal pieces as well. We surprised ourselves by joining in Adele´s famous “Skyfall”.
But the most surprising moment came, when the conductor called one volunteer from the crowd and started teaching him how to direct the whole orchestra. Then the boy tried to make it by himself and ended up conducting one composition and he did really well. Afterwards he even received the conductor´s baton as a gift.
When the last song ended, a huge applause filled the courtyard. And after all this clapping, all members of the orchestra went down from the podium and mingled with students to talk or to take some pictures with them. They were really friendly and it was a great experience to talk with them.
