Snyder and Students Perform in Germany

July 21, 2016

from left to right Becky Brown, harp; Austin O’Rourke, drums; Mark Snyder, guitar & vocals; John White, bass

Assistant Professor of Music Mark Snyder performed fifteen of his original songs with his band Nature Boy Explorer in Schwetzingen Germany on June 11 & 12 as part of the delegation representing Fredericksburg and UMW in Fredericksburg’s German Sister City. Senior music major Austin O’Rourke played drums and stage and played guitar on his own song Almost but Not that he wrote in his Technology for Musicians course in Spring 2016. 2015 music & computer science graduate Becky Brown played harp and performed two of her original songs Formaldehyde which was written in her MIDI Composition course and Underwater that was written in her Audio Recording course. John White, UMW music major and german minor 2013, played bass.

The performance on June 11th was on the main stage for the annual Spargelfest which this year was combined with celebrating Schwetzingen’s 1250th year. The performance on June 12th was at Musikschule Bezirk Schwetzingen which is the local music school.

Dr. Snyder and the students also participated in many of the activities that were planned for the delegation such as lunch and dinners, lectures from Schwetzingen’s archivist, city planner and mayor, visited the fire station and participated in the inauguration of the Square of friendship. The delegation from Fredericksburg consisted of Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Cathy Herndon, Jurgen Brat; UMW professor emeritus of German Sammy Merrill, Betty Merrill,, UMW Women’s Rugby coach Bill Lucas and UMW Associate Professor of German Marcel Rotter.

In a addition to performing in Schwetzingen, the group spent time in Cologne, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Mannheim & Hannover Germany, Copenhagen Denmark, Malmö and Scania Sweden.

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