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• 3rd Hallstein Accordion Festival – Austria
• Burach on "Northern Nights" TV Show - Scotland
• Ludovic Beier Orchestra in Paris - France
• Accordion and String Orchestra Concert – Italy
• Dance Music group Concert – Belgium
• International Accordion Day - Argentina
• Concertina Player at Folk Clubs – England
• Blues Alley Concert – USA
• Accordionist Performs with Argentinean Pianist – Sweden
• Orchestra Conductor Awarded Scroll of Honor – New Zealand
• New Edition of News Francais Online
• Duo 2000 Final House Concerts for 2000 – South Africa
• New Accordion Course at Conservatorium - Italy
• Accordionist Performs in Shiga Prefecture – Japan
• “Baïkal” Duo Perform in Savoie - France
• Klezmer Concert – USA
• Accordionist Plays with “Orchestra Contemporanea” - Italy
• Two Duos Quartet Tours Great Britain
• Pozaout Quartet Perform in Texas – USA
• "Nata Bene" Trio in Concert - Italy
• New Sites
• Antique Accordion Information
• Accordion Information Required

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Alois Breitfuss

Klaus Paier

In addition an exhibition entitled “Figures with Free Reed Instruments” (from the Helga Breitfuss' collection) will be held on the 21st.

For further details email: abc-edition@netway.at

Burach on "Northern Nights" TV Show - Scotland

This week “Burach”, which includes accordionist Sandy Brechin will record two live tracks on the TV show "Northern Nights", which is filmed in Aberdeen. The first series is currently running on STV (Scottish Television) every Thursday evening.

Burach’s recording will appear in the second series in early 2001 and include "The Life And Times of Johnny Hattersfield" and "Shadow Of The Night".

The Ludovic Beier Orchestra will perform "Thé dansant" at "Les Jardins de Maffliers" in Paris on November 26th. This will be followed by a "Rhythm ‘n’ Blues Concert" at the Cergy-Pontoise University in Saint-Martin on November 29th.

September 2000 was the beginning of a new concert season for the band of ten musicians and vocalists. Their program includes various musical styles such as "valse musette", swing in the "French-style ball", rhythm ‘n’ blues, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and 70's music.

For concert details email: Ludovic.Beier@wanadoo.fr

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Accordionist Ivano Battiston will perform with Mario Brunello and the Italian String Orchestra on December 5th in Bologna. Their program will include “The Last Seven Words” (Gubaidulina).

For further details email: ivanobattiston@tin.it

A five piece band “Planedenn” (which features accordionist Jean-Pierre Vandenbosch) will perform at “La Tentation” in Brussels, Belgium on December 1st. The group perform contemporary, Irish and polyphonic music and aim to present to the public, music which is innovative, while still being part of the Bretagne dance music tradition.

For further details email: cult@latentation.org

Contributed by Angel Russo

Hector Bocchicchio, Jose Demangone & Angel Russo

International Accordion Day was held in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Spain on November15th. Accordionists in the Federal Capital of Buenos Aires and other parts of Argentina celebrated with concerts and fun events. Over 45 accordionists marched down the main street of Buenos Aires to present a parade of popular music.

The event was organized by the "Asociación Internacional de Acordeonistas" (International Accordionists Association) and sponsored by the Government Secretary of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires and by A.A.D.I. (Argentinean Music Players Association).

Contributed by Jane Edwards

Concertina player Damien Barber will perform at the Black Swan Folk Club in York on December 7th. This will be followed by a concert at the Grove Folk Club in Leeds on the 15th.

For further details email: jedwards@wrenbeck.u-net.com

The Manny Bobenrieth Ensemble will perform at The Blues Alley in Washington on December 4th. The group which consists of accordionist Manny plus violin, piano, bass, electric guitar and vibes, will play a program of compositions of Astor Piazzolla (such as Verano Porteno and La Muerte del Angel), pieces by A. C. Jobim (Zingaro) and Cole Porter (I Love You Samantha).

The ensemble will perform two shows that will celebrate the release of their new CD entitled "Tangata". Over 250 people are expected to attend the event. For further details email: mboben@dellnet.com

Mikael Augustsson

Accordionist Performs with Argentinean Pianist in Sweden

Contributed by Magnus Augustsson

Accordionist Mikael Augustsson performed with well known Argentinean pianist Juan Esteban Guacci at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm recently. The duo played a variety of well received tangos.

Contributed by Heather Masefield

Gary Daverne

Well known New Zealand accordion composer and orchestra conductor Gary Daverne was presented with the prestigious Scroll of Honor by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand on November 19th by Auckland magician, Jon Zealando. The Event was held at the Aotea Centre in Auckland during a performance by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Gary) before an audience of nearly 2,000 people.

The scroll read: “for his dedication and skill in his craft and for bringing the joy of orchestral music to the people. We acknowledge his achievements and salute his professionalism”.

Gary has composed and arranged many pieces for solo and group accordion Including “Sonatina in G “, “Rhapsody for Accordion and Orchestra” and “A Pocket Overture”.

A new edition of the French National news “News Francais” is now online. If you would like to contribute an item please email Grégory Frénard at: greg@accordions.com

Duo 2000 will present their final House Concerts for 2000 on December 2nd and 3rd. They will play an exciting new program of pieces from their upcoming CD as well as pieces with soprano, Heather MacLean (who has won numerous awards) including “The Shepherd on the Rock”, a famous art song by Schubert.

For concert details email: duo2000@global.co.za

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Luigi Lombardi

An important step in the promotion of the accordion in Italy consisted recently in the establishment of a course of accordion studies at the "L. Campiani" Music Conservatorium in Mantua. This initiative is all the more important, considering that previously it was possible to attend accordion courses in only five institutions of this kind: in Pesaro, Castelfranco Veneto, Florence, Fermo and Bari.

The course started on November 10th and is presided over by Paolo Vignani, who is currently teaching students from Milan, Varese, Verbania, Brescia and Mantua. The "L.Campiani" Conservatorium has thus proven its openness to new musical experiences which the accordion will certainly provide, thanks to Giordano Fermi (director of the Conservatorium), Luigi Lombardi and many others.

Contributed by Toru Katou

On November 26th, accordionist Mihoko Goto will perform with guitarist Sadao Ikeda and bassist Tetsuo Aratama at Ritto-Geijutsu-Bunka-Kaikan in Shiga Prefecture.

Their program will include "Dark Eyes", "Green Sleeves" and "Theme of Maria". For further information phone: + 81 77-551-141

The “Baïkal” Duo, which includes Jacques Pellarin (accordion and bandoneon) and Claude Hazan (piano and vocals) will perform at the "Chez Maeva", Lac de la Thuile in Savoie on December 2nd. The duo play a variety of French songs and Argentinean tangos.

For further details email: jean-claude.hazan@wanadoo.fr

On December 9th “Klezmos”, featuring accordionist Wendy Morrison, will perform a mini-concert of Klezmer music followed by a dance at St. Mark's on the Hill Parish Hall in Baltimore. The event is presented by the Baltimore Folk Music Society.

For details email: wendy@klezmusic.com

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Jazz accordionist Renzo Ruggieri played recently with the prestigious “Orchestra Contemporanea” (Contemporary Orchestra) conducted by Toni Fidanza. The repertoire of this ensemble (which includes strings, wind and percussion instruments) focuses primarily on works by Keith Jarret, Bill Evans, Charlie Parker and Richard Galliano, as well as original compositions by Toni Fidanza.

In October they performed in the province of Teramo with concerts at the City Theatre (Atri), at the "G. Braga" conservatory and in the main hall of the university. The orchestra has just completed recording a CD, which includes a piece especially written by Ruggieri.

The Two Duos Quartet, which includes accordionist Karen Tweed will tour Great Britain from December 1st to 16th. The group will begin their tour with a performance at the Countess of Huntingdon Hall in Worcester, followed by concerts at the Wingfield Town Hall in Suffolk, Colchester Arts Centre, Albert Hole in Bedminster (Bristol), Norwegian Church in Cardiff, Leicester Phoenix and a final concert at the Victoria Centre in Wellingborough.

For further details email Karen Tweed: karen@cutting-tweed.demon.co.uk

The Pozaout Quartet from Brittany, France (which includes accordionist Yann-Fañch Perroches) will play at Carpenter's Hall in Austin, Texas on December 14th organized by the Austin Friends of Traditional Music, The Austin Celtic Association and Austin International Folk Dancers.

The band will play traditional Celtic music as well as Irish reels and jigs. After a 45 minute concert, there will be dancing with some dance instructions before each dance to familiarize the audience with dance steps.

For more information email: auscelt@io.com

The Russian/Croatian trio which includes Vladimir Balyk (accordion), Natalia Balyk (mandolin) and Neno Muniti (guitar) will hold a concert on December 14th at Trezzo d’Adda (near Milan). This concert is part of the "Music of the Sky, Music of the Earth” series, organized by towns in the Adda Nord area in collaboration with the Council of the province of Milan.

The previous day (13th), the Trio will perform at Capriate S. Gervasio, in the province of Bergamo. For further information email the artistic director, Eugenia Marini: eumarini@tiscalinet.it

www.beltuna.com
Updated information on Beltuna Accordions, a major producer of accordions in Italy and worldwide

www.accordions.com/alderighi
Updated information on Italian accordionist Fabio Alderighi

Sue Ritchie would like information on a Lira piano accordion, made in Italy in the mid 1900's.
Email: sueron@sover.net

Lee Warren would like details on a "Milano Organetto" piano accordion with mother of pearl keys and brass plates that read “Made in Germany” and “Cdur”.
Email: Tigertapes@aol.com

Guido Marin would like information on how to learn the concertina, in book form or through the internet. email: giroatl@tin.it

Sonja Hopperdietzel recently attended a concert by Barbara Thalheim and accordionist Jean Pacalet. She was unable to purchase a cassette after the concert as they were sold out and would like information on where she can buy a CD or cassette. Email: s.hopper@gmx.de