TLA Steel Band adds a ‘new dimension’ to German concerts

Band members joined Littlehampton Twinning Association on a four-day visit to the twin town of Durmersheim, adding their musical skills to the harmony built up between the two communities over almost 30 years of partnership.

Led by Littlehampton Academy music teacher Lee Nelson and support from helpers Jane Acott and Martin Osborne, the 10-strong band of students from the academy wowed their audiences in Durmersheim and the neighbouring city of Karlsuhe.

On Friday (July 1) they held a workshop at Durmersheim’s secondary school, the Realschule, which gave the opportunity for the German students to try their hand on the steel pans.

That evening they returned to the Realschule for a concert attended by members of both the Littlehampton and Durmersheim twinning groups, German students and their families and gave a performance which earned a standing ovation.

On Saturday (July 2) morning the band took to busking outside Karlsruhe’s natural history museum and earned enough to pay for lunch, before a spot of sightseeing and then a late-afternoon performance in the city centre as part of a festival of international understanding.

Again, there was a rapturous reception from the audience of several hundred, many of them dancing and clapping along to the Caribbean rhythms given a new twist by the talented youngsters from Littlehampton, who triumphed in Paris just a few weeks ago and will soon be off to Switzerland.

David Twinn, chairman of Littlehampton Twinning Association, praised the band for their “fantastic” performances and for adding a new dimension to the twinning visit.

A total of 52 people made the trip from Littlehampton, mainly by coach and some by plane, and they all had an enjoyable stay with their host families.

It was a more low-key visit than usual, with no major group excursion, but more time to chat together, and, at a communal lunch, an opportunity for the visitors to introduce the Germans to the delights of good old English trifle.