KU News Release

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LAWRENCE — Students from the University of Kansas School of Music will travel this summer from Lawrence to Eutin, Germany, to continue a successful music exchange that has developed between the sister cities.

The music students will participate in a seven-week summer residency during the New Eutin Festival. The KU Symphony Orchestra will kick off the festival with a concert at Hasselburg Manor, conducted by Robert Baldwin, director of orchestras at the University of Utah and music director of the Salt Lake Symphony.

The festival will continue with several events in Eutin, including the premiere of “Don Giovanni” on July 15, last shown in Eutin 45 years ago. It will feature the KU Symphony Orchestra and international soloists.

A second opera, Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel,” will begin July 22. This opera was last performed in Eutin in 1956. KU students performed the German-language opera earlier this year at the Crafton-Preyer Theater in Murphy Hall. Professor David Neely, director of orchestral activities, will be musical director.

The Eutin Festival will continue with Musical Fever, a night dedicated to works from “Cats,” “Westside Story” and “Evita”; Classical Night, an event featuring Neely and the KU Symphony Orchestra performing orchestral music; Gala Night, a performance highlighting opera an operetta works and featuring international soloists; and Die Kleine Zauberflöte (Little Magic Flute), a production created for a younger audience.

“We are greatly looking forward to our time in Eutin and excited about performing for international audiences,” said Neely. “The trip will be a positive, potentially life-changing experience for our students.”

Students who will perform in Eutin are listed below by hometown.

Organizers of the summer residency are Neely; Robert Walzel, dean of the School of Music; and Neue Festspiele, Eutin.