Australian Accordion Teachers Association Prospectus

GENERAL INFORMATION

PRESIDENT'S INTRODUCTION

It is with great pleasure that I invite the accordionists from around the world to participate in the 2008 Australian International Accordion Championships and Festival.

It is our aim to make this international event a friendly and entertaining experience. Last year’s festival was a wonderful musical success allowing contestants from any country in the International Open categories. This international flavour of contestants and festival performances made for a superb accordion celebration.

The top classes will continue to have the same musical requirements as the Coupe Mondiale International Piano Accordion Competition, affording even greater possibilities of international competition for our most talented young piano accordion performers. The new 15 years and under international class also has an own choice program to encourage maximum participation.

As part of the AATA policy of moving with the times and keeping costs from rising, we are publishing our Prospectus on-line only. The 2008 Prospectus is now available for viewing and candidates and teachers can print out the classes or rules that apply specifically to them.

Close to the event, the Timetable will be online detailing specific category starting times as well as the general schedule including masterclass, social events and concert times.

For the 7th year, we are proud to present the Coupe Mondiale Piano Accordion World Champion who will be performing at the Gala Concert, the very finest of accordion music for your enjoyment. The Gala Concert is traditionally the most popular part of our event and we aim to ensure you are enjoying some of the best Australian and international soloists, ensembles and orchestras.

The AATA 2008 schedule will have at the end of each day, a social event and dinner where accordionists can meet and talk. Everyone is welcome. AATA 2008 will be a fun event for all combined with enjoyable social times and fine music making.

Tania Lukic-Marx
B.A. and M.Mus. (Kiev) majoring in accordion
President, Australian Accordion Teachers Association

OUR COMMITTEE
Tania Lukic-Marx - President
Ivan Liashenko - Vice President
Zoja Cleary - Secretary and Treasurer
Dr Mark Marinkovich - committee
Melissa She - committee

OUR PRESIDENT

Tania Lukic-Marx, a renowned accordion concert artist, many times Yugoslav National Champion and studied for 7 years at the Kiev Conservatorium of Music in Ukraine with the famous Professor Vladimir Besfamilnov. She completed her post graduate studies, Master of Arts in 1990 majoring in accordion.

Tania has excelled in international accordion competitions, highlighted with a 3rd place at the Klingenthal International Competition for Soloists in 1986 and 2nd place in the 1988 Coupe Mondiale International Solo Championship. The first 'Laureate' from Yugoslavia at these prestigious international competitions and the first Yugoslav piano accordionist to achieve such impressive results. Tania performed the world premiere performance of Zubitsky's "Slavic" Sonata No. 2 in Klingenthal in 1986.

Now an Australian citizen residing in Sydney, Tania Lukic-Marx has continued performing and adjudicating internationally. In 1993, Lukic-Marx made a concert tour to the Peoples Republic of China. Concerts were televised and have been broadcast since then several times. The tour also included performances at the 1st Chinese International Accordion Festival in Beijing.

There have been several concert tours to New Zealand and previous to moving to Australia, concerts in St Petersburg, Moscow, Croatia, Slovenia and Yugoslavia.

Since 1992, Tania has been the Director of her own Music School in Sydney, Australia. Recently she has had several students compete to much acclaim internationally with all her students being placed in the top 8 at the Coupe Mondiale, the highest ranked competitors ever from Australia. Her students have won many Australian national awards as well as awards in New Zealand and the USA.

In 1996, Tania was invited to write the CD Reviews for Accordions Worldwide the largest accordion internet site in the world.

The Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes - IMC - UNESCO honored Tania in 2005 with the Merit Award for her "In recognition of outstanding services to the International Accordion Movement".

Tania is often invited to join international adjudication panels at various accordion competitions as well as to hold seminars and masterclasses including 2006 and 2007 adjudicating at the Ukrainian "AccoHoliday" International Accordion Competition and invited to Poland for Masterclasses with Prof. Besfamilnov in late 2007.

Tania is also heavily involved with accordion activities as the President of the Australian Accordion Teachers Association Inc which runs the annual Australian International Accordion Championships and Festival in May each year.

FESTIVAL AND PERFORMANCES

FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES $10

Any soloist or group featuring accordion is invited to participate. This is an ideal opportunity for any hobbyist, accordion lover or professional to perform for an enthusiastic friendly audience. Performers may be from any nation or territory. This is for all non competitive performances.

All applications welcomed. Please contact the AATA Office early enough to complete application forms and membership forms and have them reach the AATA Office by 1st May. Please note that each performer must be a current financial member of the Australian Accordion Teachers Association Inc.

OFFICIAL PROGRAMME AND TIMETABLE

The Programme of the event which includes the timetable, will be available at the start of the weekend. The timetable of the weekend will be published on the AATA internet site at www.accordions.com/aata by 1st June so that contestants can know the times of their classes.

OFFICIAL RULES

This Online Prospectus forms the official rules for the Australian Accordion Teachers Championships and International Festival.

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES

DATE FOR ENTRIES TO REACH COMPETITIONS SECRETARY:
1st May

Please Note:- Late entries are not possible because the entry dates are as close as possible to the event. You are requested to send your entries in as soon as possible. No refunds.

COMPETITION AND FESTIVAL PROSPECTUS FORMAT

The Australian Accordion Teachers Championships and International Festival offers five performance categories: International Championship, Australian Championship, Standard, Qualified and Festival. Each performance category includes a selection of classes. Details of the classes, the music requirements, time limits, entry fees etc. are in the Class Schedule section.

ENTRY FORMS AND ENTRY FEES

For all International Championship and relative Australian Championship Classes with a Test Piece requirement, only the official numbered entry forms can be used. These are supplied when you purchase your music from the AATA Office.

Entry forms for all other classes are available on this site.

Incorrectly completed Entry Forms will not be accepted.

Please note that each entrant must be a current financial member of the Australian Accordion Teachers Association Inc.

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES AND SUBSCRIPTION FEES

for the year beginning 1st April:

ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP / ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP	$10
FULL MEMBERSHIP Membership Application forms are available on this site.	$50

OWN CHOICE MUSIC

Each competitor is required to provide one copy of their Own Choice music for the adjudicators, (except for the Creative Classes and Festival performances). This music is to be handed to the AATA Official when reporting for your class.

Failure to supply music for the adjudicators means that the contestant cannot play.

THE ADJUDICATING SYSTEM

All the classes are sight judged and adjudicating considerations include: level of performance, difficulty of music, suitability of choice of music (i.e. contrasting style as required for some classes or suitability of music where specific types of music [i.e. Jazz] are a requirement), presentation and audience appeal.

ADJUDICATORS

The names of the adjudicators will be printed in the Official Programme.