Buffalo Grove band and its director profiled in national publication

Posted September 25, 2013 3:09 pm

Submitted by District 214

Ed Jacobi was presented this plaque by the Kundmanngasse School that has been part of the exchange with Buffalo Grove High School since 1990. This was Jacobis 10th Concert Tour to Austria. Courtesy Ed Jacobi

The Buffalo Grove band and its director, Ed Jacobi, were profiled last summer in a national music magazine while on their 10th European Concert Tour.

Jacobi’s picture is on the cover of School Band and Orchestra, promoting a five-page pictorial article and interview, “Up Close: Ed Jacobi — A Life-Changing Experience.”

As part of the school’s 23 years of participation in an international exchange program, 153 Buffalo Grove High School music students, teachers and parent chaperones spent two weeks traveling and performing in Europe.

“I am so honored to be featured in this national journal,” said Jacobi, “but whereas the article recognizes the past, I look forward more to continuing to nurture this exchange, so that students on both sides of the ocean can continue to experience each others’ cultures. What we do is truly unique in our musical world, and for this, I am very proud and appreciative.”

The article chronicles the history of the cultural exchange program, which began in 1990 between Buffalo Grove and a school in Vienna, Austria — Landstrasser Gymnasium.

Each September, the Viennese students and teachers spend up to two weeks touring the sites of Chicago, staying with host families and attending classes as part of their trip to America. Every three years, the Buffalo Grove group reciprocates, with the “life-changing” opportunity to perform in glorious, world-renowned concert venues. Though the trips are centered in Vienna, the Buffalo Grove contingent has also traveled extensively and performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy.

The students and teachers on both sides of the exchange have become good friends as a result of staying in each other’s homes. The article also addresses fundraising the music department must do to finance the trip, and ways to build excitement and interest within the school in order to keep the program thriving year after year.

The article is on the web at http://www.sbomagazine.com/. Choose “Archives” from the menu bar and then select the June 2013 issue.

The Buffalo Grove High School Band poses this past June in front of the Johann Strauss II Memorial in Stadt Park in Vienna, Austria, after their concert performance there. Courtesy Ed Jacobi

Band Director Ed Jacobi and his son, Andrew Jacobi, who is the director of bands at Richwoods High School in Peoria and who also conducted the Buffalo Grove Band in Europe this summer pose after the concert performance in Stadt Park in Vienna this past June at the memorial to Johann Strauss II. Courtesy Ed Jacobi

Buffalo Grove Band Director Ed Jacobi and school Principal Carol Burlinski, who has participated in the last three concert tours, are in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. The trip always ends with a dinner in this historic venue. Courtesy Ed Jacobi

The Buffalo Grove High School Symphonic Band performs at Orchestra Hall in Chicago in March 2012. This is the home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was a milestone performance for both Band Director Ed Jacobi and the Buffalo Grove Symphonic Band. Courtesy Ed Jacobi

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