2nd July 2013 – The first concert
The first concert took place on July 2, 2013 at the University of Konstanz - not in the main lecture hall at that time, but in a smaller lecture hall. For example, the “Overture für Harmoniemusik Op. 24" by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Gustav Holst's "First Suite in E flat" and Warren Barker's "Selections from Les Misérables" were played.
28th January 2014
The second concert followed just six months later. The program of the New Year's Concert 2014 included the overture to Beethoven's "Egmont", Holst's "Second Suite in F", Claude Debussy's "Golliwogg's cake-walk" and numerous other pieces.
10th July 2014 – Double concert with the Big Band
In the following semester, a double concert with another ensemble was organized for the first time. Together with the Big Band of the University of Konstanz, conducted by Christian Mader, Wind Symphonica performed for the very first time in the university's main lecture hall at the 2014 summer concert. While the big band performed classic big band sound with pieces such as Neil Hefti's "Flight of the Foo Birds", Wind Symphonica played, for example, G. F. Handel's "Water Music" and Calvin Custer's "Forrest Gump Suite".
24th January 2015 – The Hohenheim Concert Band visits Konstanz
Just six months later, another double concert took place at the University of Konstanz. The University of Hohenheim Concert Band was the only symphonic wind orchestra at a university in southern Germany until Wind Symphonica was founded. Now our "big brother" came to visit and presented himself, among other things, with two movements from Johan de Meij's first symphony "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Legend of Maracaibo" by José Alberto Pina. Wind Symphonica then performed the “Carmen Suite No. 1” by Georges Bizet and parts from Modest Mussorgsky's “Pictures at an Exhibition”.
9th July 2015
The 2015 summer concert included Edward Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite", the "Hommage March" from Grieg's "Sigurd Jorsalfar" and "The Wind in the Willows" by Johan de Meij.
23rd January 2016 – European premiere of the Ararat Suite
Personal contacts with the composer gave Wind Symphonica the unique opportunity in 2016 to perform the "Ararat Suite" by the internationally successful Armenian composer and conductor Loris Tjeknavorian for the first time on a European stage. Incidentally, this was also the world premiere of the work in its version for symphonic wind orchestra. Other pieces that evening were Alfred Reed's "Fourth Suite for Band" and "Highlights from the Musical Tanz der Vampire" by Wolfgang Wössner.
YouTube-Playlist
9th July 2016 – Open-air concert in the Uni's inner courtyard
Wind Symphonica played in the open air for the first time at the 2016 open-air concert in the inner courtyard of the University. With the best weather, Latin American rhythms such as in Rafael Hernandez' "El Cumbanchero", Arturo Márquez' "Danzón No. 2" and Ernesto Lecuona's "Malagueña" created a good mood in the audience.
YouTube-Playlist
21st January 2017
The 2017 winter concert focused on program and film music. For example, two movements from Johan de Meij's first symphony "The Lord of the Rings", the Ennio Morricone medley "Moment for Morricone" by de Meij and the music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" were played. With guest conductor Julia Albicker, who usually played the clarinet with Wind Symphonica back then, the orchestra performed Naoya Wada's "Rejoice!".
YouTube-Playlist
21st May 2017 – Benefit concert in cooperation with the Lions Club
For the first time in the history of the orchestra, Wind Symphonica performed an additional concert outside of the usual semester rhythm in early summer 2017. At the invitation of the Lions Club Konstanz, Wind Symphonica played a benefit concert in favor of the therapeutic riding school TRAB e.V. in their riding hall. For example, Elmer Bernstein's soundtrack to "The Magnificent Seven", the "Forrest Gump Suite" by Henk Ummels based on Alan Silvestri's film music and "Nessun Dorma!" from Giaccomo Puccini's "Turandot" were performed.
YouTube-Playlist
20th July 2017
In addition to orchestral works such as the "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 – Land of Hope and Glory" by Edward Elgar and "Slava!" by Leonard Bernstein, Wind Symphonica presented three smaller ensembles for the first time at the 2017 summer concert with pieces such as the "Fanfare for St Edmundsbury" by Benjamin Britten and the "Canzon Seconda A Quattro" by Giovanni Gabrieli. Benedikt Ammon swapped his euphonium for the baton for Bert Appermont's "Robinson Crusoe".
YouTube-Playlist
27th January 2018 – Solo concert with tuba
In the winter of 2018, a solo concert was performed for the first time. Attila Benkö, tubist of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and native of Konstanz, showed his skills with Rolf Wilhelm's "Concertino For Tuba And Concert Band", Oystein Baadsvik's "Fnugg Blue" and Michael Burns' "Blues for Tuba". Other performances included Jean Sibelius's "Finlandia" and the overture to Leonard Bernstein's "Candide".
YouTube-Playlist
19th July 2018
The concert celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Wind Symphonica opened with the "Festive Overture Op. 96” by Dmitri Shostakovich. Works like Bert Appermont's "Saga Candida" and Danny Elfman's Batman soundtrack followed.
YouTube-Playlist
20th January 2019
The 2019 winter concert included the prelude to Friedrich Smetana’s opera "Libussa", Guy Woolfenden’s "Gallimaufry" and a medley from George Gershwin’s "Porgy and Bess". The play “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!” by Eric Whitacre, which was accompanied by a picture presentation on the big screen in the main lecture hall, was a special feature of the evening.
YouTube-Playlist
11th July 2019 – Solo concert with clarinet
For the 2019 summer concert, a soloist was again won over for the concert. The clarinetist Simone Knäble originally came from Konstanz, studied orchestral music with a principal subject in clarinet in Düsseldorf and was a member of the Bundeswehr's music training corps (Ausbildungsmusikkorps der Bundeswehr). She had already taken part in the premiere concert of Wind Symphonica in 2013 and now shone with Malcolm Arnold's "Sonatina for Clarinet" and Gilbert Tinner's "Clari-Fun-Key". The audience also heard pieces such as “Mars, the Bringer of War” from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets Op. 32" and Richard Wagner's "Homage March".
YouTube-Playlist
15th February 2020
The 2020 winter concert was Wind Symphonica's last public appearance for the time being before a multi-year corona break began. Highlights of the program included "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" from Holst's Planets, "Orient et Occident" by Camille Saint-Saëns and the program piece "1405: Der Brand von Bern" by Mario Bürki.
YouTube-Playlist
10th July 2022
In July 2022, a concert could finally take place again. With Arturo Márquez' "Danzon no. 2" we brought a real "Wind Symphonica classic" to the stage. In addition, the "Mambo" from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story", Stephen Melillo's "Godspeed!" and Alfred Reed's "Armenian Dances (Part 1)" were on the programme. Both halves of the concert were opened by a brass ensemble.
Program booklet (german)
YouTube-Playlist
28th January 2023
At the beginning of 2023, Wind Symphonica went "back to the roots" and played the overture to Beethoven's Egmont, which had been performed nine years earlier at the 2014 New Year's Concert. The orchestra also presented Satoshi Yagisawa's Hymn to the Sun - With the Beat of Mother Earth and a medley from the musical Miss Saigon, among others. The highlight of the evening was the solo vibraphone piece St. Mountain by Florian Poser with Wind Symphonica percussionist Weihan Zhao as soloist.
Program booklet
YouTube-Playlist
25th June 2023 – Anniversary concert: 10 years Wind Symphonica
In the summer of 2023, Wind Symphonica celebrated its tenth anniversary. The anniversary concert in the Konzil building in Constance was arranged together with the student choir d'Acchord. In addition to powerful works for orchestra and choir such as Ola Gjeilo's Meridian, a highlight of the evening was Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. d'Acchord excelled with Toto's world hit Africa and Bart Howard's classic Fly me to the moon, among others. With Patricia Wezstein on the flute, Wind Symphonica presented the Concertino for Flute by Cécile Chaminade.
Program booklet (german)
YouTube-Playlist
3rd February 2024 – Church concert
In February 2024, Wind Symphonica performed a church concert for the first time in the orchestra's history. One of the pieces performed at the concert in St. Stephan's in Constance was "Gloriosa", a "symphonic poem" in three movements by Yasuhide Itō. The orchestra also presented the festive march from Wagner's "Tannhäuser", Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and the film music for "Henry V". With Samuel Kopecek as soloist on the trumpet, "The Carnival of Venice" was played - fitting for the imminent climax of the Constance Carnival.
Program booklet (german)
YouTube-Playlist
16th June 2024
The 2024 summer concert took place in the Wollmatinger Halle in Constance. The five musicians from SeeBrass, the brass quintet of the Eintracht Petershausen music association, were guests. Among other things, they performed "Gabriel's Oboe" by Ennio Morricone and the well-known first movement from Jean-Joseph Mouret's "Première Suite de Symphonies". Wind Symphonica presented Gustav Holst's "First Suite in E-flat", a true classic of symphonic wind music. The orchestra also played "Conga del Fuego Nuevo" by Arturo Márquez and an excerpt from the musical "Elisabeth" by Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze.
Program booklet (german)
YouTube-Playlist