The Berlin Wall, often called the “Wall of Shame” and a symbol of the Iron Curtain of the Cold War, was torn down on November 9, 1989, two years after President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”
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The Quintet is notable for its founding of the International Brass Quintet Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, which became recognized as a major forum for brass chamber music. A major highlight of the 1989 festival was the combined appearance of both the East Berlin and West Berlin Brass Quintets with the ABQ two months before the Berlin Wall toppled, a historic collaboration both musically and politically.
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The Quintet is notable for its founding of the International Brass Quintet Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, which became recognized as a major forum for brass chamber music. A major highlight of the 1989 festival was the combined appearance of both the East Berlin and West Berlin Brass Quintets with the ABQ two months before the Berlin Wall toppled, a historic collaboration both musically and politically.
Free Travel For East GermansWhen Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, the Cold War began to thaw in East Germany and finally, on November 9, 1989, an East Berlin official announced that citizens of the GDR (East Germany) would be allowed to cross the country’s borders freely and would also be allowed “permanent departure.” The idea was that exit visas or passports would be issued freely, but there was a lot of confusion about what exactly he meant. Nevertheless, thousands of East and West Berliners flocked to both sides of the wall and started to press forward toward it. The guards were not sure what was expected of them and finally opened the gate for the East Berliners to pass freely for the first time in almost three decades.