Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes CIA

It is my pleasure to greet you as the President of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA).

Next year, our 62nd Anniversary Coupe Mondiale International Competition for Accordionists will be hosted by the New Zealand Accordion Association from August 25-29, 2009. This Coupe Mondiale in Auckland, will be our second event to be held in New Zealand.

Thank you to our 2008 CIA Honorary Vice President Anna Bodell and the NAO Executive Committee and members for the outstanding 2008 Coupe Mondiale held in Glasgow. This well attended event boasted a record number of entries, with contestants competing in over 50 hours of International Competition and attendees participating from more than 30 nations.

It is encouraging to see accordionists coming from all over the world to compete in our various world competitions, which are internationally acknowledged as one of the highest distinctions an accordion player can achieve. At our next Coupe Mondiale in New Zealand, we will hold our first ever 'Digital Accordion' category, as we continue to embrace all those who are captivated by our instrument.

My first association with the CIA began in 1979 in Cannes, France, where I was a competitor representing the New Zealand Accordion Association. It is nice to see that over the years, the CIA Coupe Mondiale has grown to include and promote many musical styles inherent to our wonderful instrument, including the Virtuoso Entertainment Music Competition, the Junior Virtuoso Entertainment Music Competition, the Junior Coupe Mondiale, the International Competition for Piano Accordion, and our most recent addition, the International Competition for Ensemble Music. These categories are held in addition to our Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships which has always been a standard feature of our annual International Competition.

Through our membership and Delegates we are blessed to have access to great variety of talent and expertise covering a broad range of the varied accordion field. Along with this, we are fortunate to be in an age of advanced communication capabilities, so we have the ability to work long distance in our endeavors to promote the accordion and accordionists throughout the world.

Each year we are hosted by one of our International Member Associations, which enables us to bring the excitement of the Coupe Mondiale to new countries and cities annually. While it does create some logistical challenges to host our competition in a new venue and country each year, it enables our competitors and delegates the opportunity to experience the local accordion activities and wonders of new countries and cities each time. It is particularly encouraging to see our hosting committments secured until 2018!

You may find information on this exciting event at our website specific to the Coupe Mondiale at www.coupemondiale.org

We thank you for visiting our website, and invite you to contact us should you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Kevin Friedrich - President
Confédération Internationale Des Accordéonistes (CIA)

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Welcome!
Welcome to the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA) website. On this site you will find information about our CIA Members, our CIA Officers, CIA History, the Coupe Mondiale, our CIA Champions, CIA Test Pieces and now our new Awards for Original Music, our CIA Merit Award Recipients, our CIA Honored Friends of the Accordion and other CIA events. For information specific to the current Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships, please visit www.coupemondiale.org. Thank you for visiting!

Welcome to the CIA - Message from the President
It is my pleasure to greet you as the President of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA). Next year, our 62nd Anniversary Coupe Mondiale International Competition for Accordionists will be hosted by the New Zealand Accordion Association from August 25-29, 2009. This Coupe Mondiale in Auckland, will be our second event to be held in New Zealand. Thank you to our 2008 CIA Honorary Vice President Anna Bodell and the NAO Executive Committee and members for the outstanding 2008 Coupe Mondiale held in Glasgow. This well attended event boasted a record number of entries, with contestants competing in over 50 hours of International Competition and attendees participating from more than 30 nations. It is encouraging to see accordionists coming from all over the world to compete in our various world competitions, which are internationally acknowledged as one of the highest distinctions an accordion player can achieve. At our next Coupe Mondiale in New Zealand, we will hold our first ever 'Digital Accordion' category, as we continue to embrace all those who are captivated by our instrument. My first association with the CIA began in 1979 in Cannes, France, where I was a competitor representing the New Zealand Accordion Association. It is nice to see that over the years, the CIA Coupe Mondiale has grown to include and promote many musical styles inherent to our wonderful instrument, including the Virtuoso Entertainment Music Competition, the Junior Virtuoso Entertainment Music Competition, the Junior Coupe Mondiale, the International Competition for Piano Accordion, and our most recent addition, the International Competition for Ensemble Music. These categories are held in addition to our Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships which has always been a standard feature of our annual International Competition. Through our membership and Delegates we are blessed to have access to great variety of talent and expertise covering a broad range of the varied accordion field. Along with this, we are fortunate to be in an age of advanced communication capabilities, so we have the ability to work long distance in our endeavors to promote the accordion and accordionists throughout the world. Each year we are hosted by one of our International Member Associations, which enables us to bring the excitement of the Coupe Mondiale to new countries and cities annually. While it does create some logistical challenges to host our competition in a new venue and country each year, it enables our competitors and delegates the opportunity to experience the local accordion activities and wonders of new countries and cities each time. It is particularly encouraging to see our hosting committments secured until 2018! You may find information on this exciting event at our website specific to the Coupe Mondiale at www.coupemondiale.org We thank you for visiting our website, and invite you to contact us should you have any questions or comments. Sincerely, Kevin Friedrich - President Confédération Internationale Des Accordéonistes (CIA)