The past few months have again been shaped by Corona at the Schramberg School of Music, President Thomas Herzog said recently at their general meeting.
Schramberg – Instrument lessons and class auditions, director Meinrad Löffler recalled, have always been possible through creative online offerings. A broad area is school cooperation – with the Peter Meyer, Ehrhard Junghans and Berneck schools, the GWRS Sulgen, the Tennenbronn elementary school and the St. Franziskus Foundation as well as the elementary schools in Schiltach and Aichhalden.
Return to normal operation
Ensemble and orchestral work has suffered the most from the pandemic. Nevertheless, the symphony orchestra was finally able to give the long-planned Beethoven concert in November 2021. Now that the area has resumed normal operation, two Laurentius concerts and a symphony concert are planned again. The music school will also participate with contributions to the “Marché des Cultures” and the “Mini-Schramberg”. “Jugend musiziert” was set up face-to-face this year, but the a priori uncertainty about the conditions under which the competition would take place resulted in a halving of the number of participants. Nevertheless, everyone involved was happy to be able to participate again.
More recently, Löffler spoke about the situation at the branches in Schiltach, Schenkenzell and Sulgen. He stressed the importance of halls in that they are not bound by the requirements of general schools. Cooperation with the surrounding municipalities is excellent, as evidenced by the provision of new classrooms in Schiltach and Schenkenzell. President Herzog added that the quality of the music school is confirmed by the fact that the Hardt community supports the foreign allowance for all Hardt students.
Figures at pre-corona level
Deputy director Martin Hafner explained the enrollment figures for early music education, instrumental subjects, cooperation, choir and orchestra as well as all ensembles. Classes were canceled during the lockdown, especially in group lessons and orchestras, although the number of students was almost back to pre-Corona levels.
Balanced budget 2022
Head of administration Gertrud Kasper explained that the reduction in corona-related tuition fee income was mainly compensated by short-time work and a state subsidy. The music school closed 2021 with a deficit of one percent of budget volume. Kasper predicts a slight surplus for the 2022 budget. Budget balance is expected by the increase in tariffs on April 1 and the increase in the municipal subsidy.
All re-elected
During the elections, all Board members stood for re-election. Thus Herzog, MPs Susanne Gwosch and Arkas Förstner, secretary Markus Mayer and assessors Kerstin Flaig, Anja Gebert, Thomas Brugger, Rudi Huber and parent representative Anabel Neininger were elected for a further three years. Discharge was granted unanimously.
Herzog thanked the school leadership and administration as well as the teachers for the “great job in these difficult times.” Thanks to the great commitment and flexibility of all the people mentioned and the support of the parents, the music school has weathered the pandemic well. He is delighted that the school can now “appear more in public” through events and concerts, the president said.