Schönebeck/Bernburg. This year's spring concert by the district music school on Sunday afternoon in the Tolberg Hall was announced as the highlight for the pupils of the Schönebeck location, with the award for the best of 2025. It was a highlight for the cultural landscape of the Salzland district.
"You have once again given us a lot of pleasure, as fresh as spring and as artistically diverse as the work at the district music school, with great commitment from all those who support it and also work for our culture on a voluntary basis. A perfect setting!" After the first sounds of spring, head of department Gunhild Watermann surprised the performers and the audience. In front of the assembled audience, she announced and honoured the 2024 Salzlandkreis Culture Award winners on behalf of and with the best wishes of District Administrator Markus Bauer: the "Saitenspiel" string orchestra from the district music school in Schönebeck under the direction of Susanne Reichel-Visontay and Karin Keller from Barby, Chairwoman of the Klein Rosenburg Castle and Heritage Association.
In accordance with the statutes, the Culture Prize jury sat over the proposals submitted by individuals, artists and associations in the district at the end of the year and had to make a decision. They came to the unanimous decision to split the prize and award it to two nominees. Nothing got out until this spring Sunday, when Gunhild Watermann presented the prize and the certificates.
"Congratulations and thank you from everyone who cares about regional culture and history and the various cultural offerings on site. Your commitment is extraordinary, an asset," said the head of the department responsible for the district music school with warm words, addressing the new culture award winners - Susanne Reichel-Visontay and the string orchestra "Saitenspiel" as well as Karin Keller, who is also known as the "White Woman of the Gruselei", a regional legendary figure, not only in Klein-Rosenburg.
Further thanks were also given for the convincingly substantiated proposals and for the entire preparation of the award ceremony with many supporters, including the spring concert of the district music school in Schönebeck under the direction of Sandra Preuß.
"Time and again, we see how people who are particularly committed in their field also inspire other people. They show what the region has and what it can do. They bring the Salzländer region closer together and deserve special appreciation. Our cultural award publicly expresses precisely this appreciation," says District Administrator Markus Bauer. Since 2013, the Salzland district has honoured the commitment of people who preserve and maintain culture with its own cultural award. There are now a total of 19 award winners. The next Salzlandkreis Culture Prize will be awarded in 2026.
The 2024 cultural award winners of the Salzland district - laudations
String orchestra "Saitenspiel"
Award at the suggestion of Katrin Mauer, Chairwoman of the "Friends of the Schönebeck District Music School" association
At the anniversary concert last September, we heard everything from Vivaldi to James Bond, practically a "best of" from the "Saitenspiel" programme. Today - 20 years and seven and a half months after the string orchestra's first performance at the district music school in Schönebeck under the direction of Susanne Reichel-Visontay - we experienced them again and enjoyed their musical performances.
From the very beginning, great musicians, variety and donations have been part of the standard programme. What began as a small group of five violinists has grown into a string orchestra with up to 35 musicians and more.
All its members have one thing in common: their musical careers began at the district music school here in Schönebeck.
The string orchestra "Saitenspiel" was founded in 2004 by Susanne Reichel-Visontay and Alexandru Apolzan.
One of the first performances by the five young violinists was at the Magdalenenhof care home in Schönebeck, where they played small canons and pieces such as "Bruder Jakob".
More and more students joined in the following years, first cellists, then violas and double basses in 2014.
Charly Kunchev has been the orchestra's co-director since 2014. Its members are multiple winners of the "Jugend musiziert" competition at regional and national level.
The orchestra is the winner of the Saxony-Anhalt Youth Culture Prize.
It consists of 25 to 35 members in varying line-ups. The pupils come from Schönebeck, Calbe, Bernburg, Aschersleben, Staßfurt and Magdeburg.
A large concert has been held annually since 2008. The concerts are more than just concerts. This has been the case for the past 20 years and will remain so – fundamentally with a charitable character, for example in aid
of earthquake victims in Haiti, the children's palliative care unit at the Pfeiffersche Stiftungen Magdeburg, victims of the 2013 floods in Saxony-Anhalt, several times for the Human-WG of the Salzland Community Foundation, and for socially disadvantaged children, who were able to go to the Plötzky holiday camp thanks to the concert proceeds. Between £1,500 and £6,000 was raised in each case.The students have always prepared for this with great dedication and vigour at weekend rehearsals, despite their heavy school workload.
Her parents were involved in organising the rehearsals and concerts by providing transport services and taking care of the food. The so-called fairy kisses, which one mum baked, have become something of a trademark. At the last three charity concerts, fairy kisses were sold to the highest bidder and contributed to the concert proceeds.
In preparing and performing the concerts, the orchestra worked together with the Zinzendorf School in Gnadau, the choir of the Dr Carl Hermann Grammar School, the Dr Frank Grammar School in Staßfurt, the Staßfurt Youth Wind Orchestra, the band Peggy Zoo, speaker and actor Ingo Hetsch and the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie.
In this way, cultural institutions from the entire Salzland district were involved and networked.
Through the collaboration with "BelaBrass", the wind ensemble of the Salzland district music school, the orchestra itself grew to a new size, with more extensive works and greater radiance. Since 2008, pupils from the percussion ensemble at the Schönebeck location have also played in the orchestra.
"Saitenspiel" brings people together with music.
Most of the former members remain loyal to the orchestra and play in major performances. The alumni now spread the idea of making music together and the positive effect on social cohesion throughout Germany. They are ambassadors for the Salzland district and they enjoy returning to their homeland. We in the region say thank you for this.
The "Saitenspiel" orchestra under the direction of Susanne Reichel-Visontay is a joint project and can only be realised with the help of many volunteers. These include the musicians, the teachers and also the parents who make the concerts a great event.
Concerts (list)
- 2014 Grand charity concert in aid of the Pfeiffersche Stiftungen Magdeburg children's hospice
- 2015 Collaboration with music student Tobias Wilke on the staging of his musical "Elion"; performances in Staßfurt and Schönebeck
. Together with this musical ensemble, "Saitenspiel" was awarded the Youth Culture Prize of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. - 2016: Collaboration with Tobias Wilke once again and performance of his musical "Twisted" in Staßfurt and Schönebeck
- 2017 Grand performance at the Pömmelte Ring Sanctuary to mark the 10th anniversary of the
Salzlandkreis district Performance at the gala concert celebrating 40 years of the district music school in Schönebeck with current and former students - 2018 Charity Concert
- 2019 Charity Concert
- 2020 Charity Concert
- 2021 Concert for the Salzlandkreis Music Summer on Salzblumenplatz
When it became possible again during the pandemic, rehearsals were held in the open air as small concerts on Schönebeck's market square. - 2022 Participation in the music school's anniversary concert celebrating 45 years at its Schönebeck location, once again supported by former students
- 2023 Charity concert with the largest donation ever achieved for the Salzland Community Foundation, amounting to 6,000 euros.
- 2024 Gala concert to mark the 20th anniversary of the Saitenspiel string orchestra
Karin Keller
Award based on suggestions from Frank Sieweck, Barbyer Heimatfreunde e.V., Anita Bader, MKP and the Friends of the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie SBK
Wherever cultural work takes place in our association landscape between the Elbe, Saale and Bode rivers, she is there too!
In the unified municipality of Barby, she is known as "the white woman from Gruselei". She embodies this regional legendary figure with heart and soul – and not only at "her" castle.
Karin Keller has been working on a voluntary basis for decades as Chairwoman of the Klein Rosenburg Castle and Heritage Association with her fellow campaigners to preserve and revitalise the historic grounds of Rosenburg Castle - with blood, sweat, certainly a few tears and an almost inexhaustible optimism. She and her fellow members look after a small museum on the castle grounds and are developing the site as a tourist and cultural meeting place in the Salzland district.
Since 2019, the castle has been a venue for the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie and now also for the "Sounds in Space" festival. Karin and her colleagues succeeded in bringing the premiere of "Dixieland nonstop" to the castle during the music festival. The new edition is a permanent fixture in the event calendar.
Karin Keller always succeeds in transferring her optimistic attitude like a spark to others and thus kindling a fire of enthusiasm to join in.
Another example: the Salzland Cycling Day 2024. Karin Keller and her fellow campaigners not only managed to attract hundreds of people from all over the Salzland district to the castle because it was the central destination, but also to open their hearts to a cultural and historical gem.
For Karin Keller, maintaining traditions does not mean preserving the ashes - in the form of the existing building fabric - but passing on the fire with ever new ideas.
Walpurgis Night, Irish Folk Evening, Serenade Concert by the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Castle Christmas - all events that have now established themselves at the castle and enjoy a reputation far beyond the municipal boundaries.
Networking with other associations and institutions is always a key concern for Karin Keller. "We can only develop positively together," she said more than once to Frank Sieweck, for example. And this "together" is infectious, says the Chairman of the Barbyer Heimatfreunde e.V..
"Her enthusiasm for her voluntary work is infectious, captivating and absolutely irresistible. Every performance by the orchestra at the castle now feels like coming home for us," says Anita Bader on behalf of the Kammerphilharmonie, praising the collaboration.
"Karin Keller's commitment is infectious and groundbreaking," summarises the Friends of the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie.
All three speakers submitted a separate but convincing proposal for the honour with the same tenor.
As if Karin Keller didn't already have enough to do with "her" castle, the events and all the "trimmings", as well as almost "on the side" of her self-employment, she is also involved on many other levels.
Friends of the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie?
Karin is there. And here too, not just as a paying member, but as one of the most hard-working and energetic contributors. She is always ready to take over the admission or cloakroom service at the concerts. During the operetta summer, she is almost always in charge of the information stand of the Friends' Association on Bierer Berg. "Posters and flyers, I can distribute them quickly," she is often heard saying.
The nativity play at Christmas time in Groß Rosenburg?
Unthinkable without Karin.And when the Anhalt Visitors' Ring Dessau once again offers a coach trip to the serenade concert at the castle, Karin Keller is the chief organiser on site. She got the visitors' association interested in the MKP's concerts, making not only the castle but also the Salzland district's own orchestra even better known beyond the region.
Reserving seats in the local pub, securing a parking space for the coach, asking if everything is in order - all a matter of course for Karin Keller.
Karin Keller's voluntary work in so many different ways, in so many different places, is authoritative and networking. She is a contact person, advisor, source of ideas and always a contributor, in all functions and activities a great asset to the cultural landscape of the Salzland district.
Unfortunately, the term "jack-of-all-trades" only exists as a masculine. For Karin Keller, it would have to be invented as a feminine.
The Salzlandkreis 2024 Culture Prize for Karin Keller is a more than justified alternative.
To the culture prize of the Salzland district
The Salzlandkreis district honours the commitment of people who preserve and maintain culture. Since 2013, the Culture Prize has been awarded to individuals, groups of people and institutions who have made an exceptional contribution to the social, spatial and historical identification of people with their homeland through artistic and cultural activities. With the amendment to the statutes in 2024, the prize will be awarded every two years.
The culture prize is awarded in the fields of literature, music, preservation of customs and local history. Criteria such as voluntary commitment, promotion of young talent or life's work are taken into account.
Residents of the Salzlandkreis district can submit proposals for award winners, for people and institutions who live or have their headquarters in the Salzlandkreis district or who are connected to the district in a special way.
The closing date for entries for the 2024 Culture Prize was 14 May 2024