Czechs in Germantown: The Czech Melody Masters will play for a Christmas party dance this Saturday, December 1 at Austin's Saengerrunde Halle, beginning at 7:30 PM. The annual dance is open to the public and is one of several German Christmas events in Austin this coming weekend sponsored by the Austin Saengerrunde and German Free School. Sunday Dec. 2 is the Saengerrunde Christmas Concert at 2:30 PM at the hall, featuring the Seangurrunde choirs and St. Louis Catholic church bell choir.
The hall is one of the oldest halls still in regular use in Texas, having been built in 1879. The Austin Saengerrunde organization is Austin's oldest continually existing social/fraternal organization.
Czechs in a German Hall? CMM leader Thomas Durnin says his group has been playing German Oktoberfest events for the past two months, either with the full band or trio version, mostly in the Austin area but also Fredericksburg and Minden, LA, for the second year in a row for their Fasching Festival. "What I've noticed over the past few years are more Texas Czech bands performing at various German events such as the Fredericksburg Oktoberfest and at Wurstfest. I guess to most people they don't notice the difference and/or don't really care. Technically, we've got two Germans in our band," Thomas said. That qualifies!
Watch for a new CMM CD coming soon, which they recorded live at Saengerrunde Halle. "It's one of our most favorite places to play, since the acoustics are so good, given that it was built for choral performances and the wooden dance floor is superb." Thomas said.
Chris in Yorktown: Chris Rybak has added a date to his calendar. He'll be at Yorktown Community Center this Sunday, December 2, from 2-6 PM. Yorktown Community Center is on State Highway 72 and Coleto Creek, 75 miles east of San Antonio and 36 miles northwest of Victoria.
Tomball Is Christmastown: The schedule is set for the Tomball German Christmas Market, to be held December 7-9. Das Ist Lustig, Chris Rybak, Dujka Brothers, TubaMeisters, Alpenfest are just some of the great bands performing throughout the weekend.