Making music together with new vigour

13 music youth hostels in the Rhineland offer a special all-round service for all kinds of music groups, especially for school choirs, orchestras or inter-year music clubs. The hostel managers know from experience what is important. Equally important: they have a heart for music - two site visits.

If you were to listen to the doors on the ground floor, you would hear a lot - classical, jazz, choir music or rock and pop. Music shimmers through the air at Bad Honnef Youth Hostel, because: Musicians are welcome guests here. „Our motto is: experience community,“ says youth hostel manager Christiane Becker. „The music groups make this motto tangible. Every group member contributes to this community with their instrument or voice. That impresses me again and again.“

This has been all the more true in recent months, as singing and making music together was not possible for a long time due to the pandemic. Now that the building has reopened its doors to orchestras, choirs and bands, Christiane Becker has noticed a particularly high level of motivation among all music enthusiasts. „They finally want to rehearse and make music together again,“ she says. „Our regular guests have returned and there are already bookings for the coming years. We look forward to every new music group that fills our house with music and life in the future. As colourful and lively as before the pandemic!“

Choirs, large and small school ensembles and student orchestras have been coming to Bad Honnef to rehearse at the Music Youth Hostel for many years. No wonder: the conditions are ideal. Six rehearsal rooms can be used, some of which even have their own access to the outdoors - making creative and flexible rehearsal breaks in the fresh air very easy. However, the youth hostel in Bad Honnef has more to offer than „just“ ordinary rehearsal rooms. There is even a small theatre for dress rehearsals. The amphitheatre with an open-air stage and space for 150 spectators is ideal for outdoor performances. Dance groups can even perform on the Fun Court, a paved area in front of the theatre.

Drinks are provided for the rehearsal period on request and the dining room offers sumptuous buffets at mealtimes. The room is also sometimes used as a venue for joint performances by choirs and bands. Good soundproofing in the rehearsal rooms ensures that musicians can rehearse undisturbed. The rehearsal rooms are located on the ground floor and the bedrooms on the upper floors so that other guests can enjoy their stay undisturbed.

„In the past, we mainly had choirs that came at the weekend,“ reports Christiane Becker. „Now there are about a dozen school orchestras and choirs and around 20 weekend groups a year.“

Some school music groups regularly come to Bad Honnef year after year. The youth hostel manager is particularly pleased about this. „They often come to us for the first time in year five - and then every year until they graduate. I really enjoy watching their development over the years,“ says Christiane Becker with a smile. “It's also always exciting to see how their music changes over time. At the beginning, the children are still unsure, but with each year they become more confident and you can hear that in their playing.„

Christiane Becker's office on the ground floor of the youth hostel is „right in the eye of the hurricane“, as she says. The sound of violins can be heard through the open door. The youth hostel manager smiles. She enjoys being gently surrounded by sounds while she works.

Change of location. All 13 music youth hostels in the Rhineland are fully customised to the needs of music groups - this also applies to Gemünd Vogelsang Youth Hostel, as participants report. „Wonderful and comfortable rehearsal facilities in beautiful surroundings and impressive nature,“ they say. Or: „Very great and modern youth hostel.“ Or they rave about the „sound in the rooms“. „We've had almost everything: from choir groups to large symphony orchestras, from dance groups to music clubs,“ says youth hostel manager Jascha Rasky. A special music group has announced its arrival for the summer holidays: the Märkische Jugendsinfonieorchester. There is room to rehearse even for such a large ensemble - the Gemünder Kursaal has also been booked for this purpose.

The service offered by the music youth hostels in the Rhineland is impressive: from all-inclusive packages for groups of 20 or more to flexible arrangements that also cater for special requests. Many extras and activity modules offer additional leisure opportunities between rehearsals and in the evenings. And for large music groups, such as complete school orchestras, there is the „Youth Hostel Exclusive“ offer - they then have the whole house to themselves. Especially in the low season, the music youth hostels have attractive offers for the exclusive use of an entire hostel.