Pushing boundaries

The path into the world of contemporary music rarely begins in a village band. In the case of Nik Bohnenberger, however, it did. Born in 1994, the composer grew up in Bech, near Echternach – but in an environment where music is part of everyday life.

"I come from a proper musical family, " Bohnenberger reveals to us when we meet him at the Philharmonie on a rainy morning. "Everyone in our family plays some kind of wind instrument in the village band – parents, uncles, siblings." The Harmonie Bech-Berbourg became a kind of musical home for him at an early age. He started playing the horn at the age of five; later, he takes up the piano, and before long he was regularly attending rehearsals and performances with the local band. At some point, this was no longer enough for him, and he also played in the Echternach band and in the music corps of his lyceum.

The Echternach Spring Procession in particular has left a lasting impression on him. "For a while, I actually did three tours here. With all three bands back to back. By the end, my legs were exhausted and my lips were worn out, but then we went off to the Patt (which approximately translates into a "round of drinks", ed.), " he says and laughs.

Nik Bohnenberger looks back fondly on that time. "The music played in a Harmonie is not marching music, but really beautiful, film-like music. Of course, this music is always composed by someone, so I wanted to know how it actually works."

He found the answer in solfège lessons. There, at the age of eleven or twelve, he discovered a computer programme that could be used to write sheet music. This was a key moment for him. "I found it incredibly exciting, and then I just started typing in notes at home in the evenings."