Tobias Weber from Munich is a professional musician and a full-time teacher at the Geretsried Music School.
We are very happy about this, especially in these uncertain times.
Geretsried - Artists and musicians are among the hardest hit by the corona pandemic.
In the absence of opportunities to perform, most of them have been condemned to idleness for months.
Tobias Weber from Munich is a professional musician and a full-time teacher at the Geretsried Music School - and very happy about it, as he reveals in an interview with editor Doris Schmid.
Mr Weber, you probably didn't appear on stage very often last year. One of the few appearances was a concert with your teacher colleagues as part of the Isarsommer concert series.
Tobias Weber:
In fact, there weren't many appearances.
I can count them on one and a half hands.
So it was a very special day for us when we performed in the council chambers.
Overall, that was a very strange situation last year.
I can remember a concert at the Jazz Festival in Passau shortly after the first lockdown.
It was very bizarre to be on stage again all of a sudden.
It was a completely different feeling to play in front of people again.
Did you have stage fright?
Tobias Weber:
That is perhaps the wrong expression.
But it does make a difference whether you play at home or together with other musicians in front of an audience.
We actually had to make friends again musically after the long time in which we couldn't really rehearse.
During the lockdown, lessons at the music school took place digitally. A good experience?
Tobias Weber:
At first I thought: For God's sake, how should that be, because I usually play a lot with my students, that's not even possible online.
But contrary to expectations, it has proven to be a great teaching system.
I am quite satisfied.
All of the students practiced an incredible amount.
Of course, this doesn't replace face-to-face teaching, but it worked great.
There were also many conversations with the students during that time.
Somehow we grew closer together.
What did you do outside of class?
Tobias Weber:
Actually, I was really busy.
I was very lucky because the institutions I work with reacted great.
The Nantensbuch Foundation, for example, provided us artists with video jobs.
There was a lot of digital work involved.
I have also been with “Nico and the Navigators”, a music theater ensemble in Berlin, for eight years.
The first production phase had to be canceled due to Corona.
We made up for that in the fall.
That was a lot of rehearsal work.
Now the pieces are ready for the cultural houses to open soon.
Speaking of the piece: As a composer, you would actually have been involved in the Singspiel am Nockherberg again. But that had to be the same as in 2020.
Tobias Weber:
The strong beer festival at Nockherberg was the first major event that was canceled last year.
It was really tough for us.
The Singspiel was finished and we were in the middle of the final rehearsals for the performance.
What was it like, the Singspiel?
Tobias Weber:
It was a very nice Singspiel.
It was about the local elections, the toll scandal and the change in leadership in the CDU and many other topics.
There is a recording of the rehearsal somewhere in the archives of Bayerischer Rundfunk, some of which can now be seen in the BR media library.
At that time there was the consideration of whether to catch up.
But it would have been completely out of date due to Covid-19, the latest political decisions and incidents.
Such a Singspiel lives from the reactions of the audience.
Tobias Weber:
Right.
Basically, it only works with politicians who are present.
But at least Maximilian Schafroth was able to give his lent speech, the first with a digital audience.
Let's look forward to next year, when there will hopefully be another Singspiel.
What are you currently doing?
Tobias Weber:
Together with my partner from Nockherberg, Richard Oehmann, I'm currently preparing a new Cafe Unterzucker album.
The first texts are already set to music.
You have been working part-time as a guitar teacher at the music school for 30 years. A blessing in these times?
Tobias Weber:
Absolutely.
I am extremely grateful for my position there.
I really enjoy teaching.
For us musicians, a permanent position is unlikely to be lucky.
I hear bad stories from many colleagues who primarily played concerts.
Some had to move out of their homes because they didn't have enough money to rent.
The whole industry was hit hard.
I am very disappointed with the way solo self-employed people have been treated.
That is an indictment.
Do you give the city of Geretsried a good reference? The municipality has increased the subsidy for the music school.
Tobias Weber:
We were surprised and delighted
by
this news.
Our thanks go to the board of directors and the management of the music school for their commitment.
From the city of Geretsried this is really a great sign of culture.
This is particularly important in these times.
no
Also read: Painting is his language: Otto-Ernst Holthaus is 90 years old
