Concert at Rabenstein

Warming up for the Rabenstein performance
Photo: Colin Talcroft

June 24: The day began with a quick tour of Vienna by bus and then on foot before heading to Rabenstein, an hour and a half southwest of Vienna, through verdant farmland, to prepare for the group's second concert in Europe, this one in conjunction with Musikverein Rabenstein, a local group of mostly young musicians that provide music for the town of Rabenstein (population 2,600) as needed, playing at celebrations and funerals and even performing from time to time as a marching band for the town. The town's mayor joins in on Tuba.

The poster for the Rabenstein
performance
Photo: Colin Talcroft

The Rabenstein group performed three traditional Austrian pieces before SRSYO played its program, with members of the Rabenstein ensemble joining them onstage in the finale, Strauss's Thunder and Lightning Polka, a piece very familiar to the audience, which knew where to join in clapping without any prompting. The entire concert, meanwhile, prompted a standing ovation.

The Rabenstein Musikverein
performs traditional Austrian music
Photo: Colin Talcroft