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Thomas “of course” had a piano with him and Voice Over Piano was prepared for the performance at Fiona Ma’s

But from the beginning: the planned performance on March 3rd with one (1) rock & pop performance within a program filled with top-class colleagues (opera singers from the Met and Carnegie Hall) went so well (the audience kept shouting: “we want more”) that we spontaneously added two additional performances.

End of the performance and final applause New York 03/03/2023 Voice Over Piano LD United Nations

The days that followed were invitations and talks about the future (partly great things, but not yet ready for a decision).

The Solicon Valley Cyber ​​Lions Club had already heard about our NY commitment in advance and asked if we could “just” travel on to San Francisco – this is where we last had concerts before Covid19 in 2019 (also in Sacramento, Placerville etc. ). After the confirmation, Thomas Blaeschke was commissioned to plan the music for a concert in aid of the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria for March 12th, 2023 as concert director – he got down to it immediately with only three weeks time and provided the artists, including opera singers again (Diana Karskovskaya, Russia), who happened to have already performed in Carnegie Hall, together – including a singer with Turkish roots as a homage to the actual theme of the evening. Thomas accompanied Diana on several pieces on the piano and Voice Over Piano rocked with her program with Sara Dähn and Thomas afterwards.

The result: $ 6,000 for a good cause.

The President of the Silicon Valley Cyber ​​Lions Club greets the selected guests

Sara Dähn and Thomas Blaeschke (Voice Over Piano) were displayed all around

But now for the extension of the tour: as soon as it was known that VOP was coming, you were invited to the birthday party by California Treasury Secretary Fiona Ma and were asked to perform there as well. One became three – like in New York 🙂 Fiona’s brother said after the performance: “You stole the show!” – how cool is that?!

Incidentally, Fiona manages the 5th largest economy in the world with 2 trillion US dollars; she also announced two days after her birthday that she will be running for vice governor in 2026.

And all of this meant that while Sara had to fly back to Europe, Thomas had to stay an extra week because they want VOP back at events as early as October 2023.

We are looking forward to it!

This has been awarded for the 7th time since 2015 and honors individuals and institutions who are particularly committed to the interests of the Bundeswehr or their families. In addition to a certificate sealed by the Federal President and a sculpture, the award winners also receive prize money. It can be awarded in up to four categories and has since been awarded to 18 prize winners, including the Bundesliga soccer teams Borussia Dortmund and Hertha BSC or the cities of Paderborn and Euskirchen as well as the BILD newspaper.

On August 4, 2021, “Voice Over Piano” was the first band to receive the award in the “Education & Culture” category from Federal Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer.

The laudator, the chairman of the recommendation committee and general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, Dr. Gerd Landsberg:

“For many years, Thomas Blaeschke and Sara Dähn with the band ‘Voice Over Piano’ have been campaigning for the interests of soldiers of the army one. Thomas Blaeschke has been performing for the Bundeswehr since 2003; In 2012 Sara Dähn joined. The list of engagements by Voice Over Piano is long. Even in the Corona year, despite their own financial failures, they did not get tired and have an online concert for the ‘everyday heroes in action and their families’ with the support of the reservists’ association, the Evangelical and the Catholic Working Group for Soldiers’ Care (EAS and KAS), Caritas Association, German Bundeswehr Association, Bundeswehr Sozialwerk, the Soldiers’ and Veterans’ Foundation and the higher-level BAS in the Garlstedt barracks. This concert has already received over 30,000 clicks on all channels.”

In a brief conversation on stage with Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer, she asked the artists questions about their performances with the Bundeswehr and in the areas of deployment compared to other concerts. Blaeschke explained that the Bundeswehr, in addition to the civilian sector with concerts and performances throughout Germany and, for example, New York, San Francisco, Brussels or Shanghai, only accounts for 2% of Voice Over Piano’s artistic work, but for Blaeschke, Dähn and the other participants band members both in the experiences and impressions of the work of the soldiers in the areas of operation, as well as in their gratitude for the concerts under difficult travel and security conditions are always special.

After 3 hours and a seated dinner including a discussion and photo with the minister, the ceremony for Voice Over Piano ended with a discussion with the mayor Silvio Witt, who was also awarded for the city of Neubrandenburg and who, according to Blaeschke and Dähn, is interested in a concert there that they are finally giving almost 20 open air concerts again after an 8-month Corona concert break in cooperation with institutions, cities and communities in Lower Saxony, Bremen and Thuringia, among others.

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Many thanks to Federal Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was happy to follow the nomination suggestions and sees us as “ambassadors for the Bundeswehr in society”.

Many thanks to the FUAV Warendorf near Münster – especially to Lieutenant Colonel Stephan Wuesthoff, the EAS Berlin – especially to the General Manager Rolf Hartmann, and the Reservists Association Bremen – especially to Stefanie Schnakenberg and Tobias Scholz – for the nomination!

Many thanks also to the protocol department of the Federal Department of Defense for the fantastic organization, to Dr. Landsberg from the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the many people, to the soldiers, the media, the state commands (Hamburg State Command, Hesse State Command, Lower Saxony State Command and Bremen State Command), the Bundeswehr Logistics School, the personalities from politics and business for the steady support for Voice Over Piano – and many, many more that we cannot name all.

Many thanks to the many fans/spectators at our concerts and performances! It feels fantastic to receive so much encouragement!

Last but not least, we would like to mention our families and friends, who always support us, keep our backs free and stand by our side!

THANKS!

We are happy to continue performing for you to give back something of what you give us!