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• 7th International Accordion Week in Alcobaca - Portugal
• Memorial Week Devoted to Michael Ganian - USA
• Successful Disma Music Show - Italy
• International Accordion Championships and Festival - Australia
• Bayou Seco at Royal Oak - England
• Finnish Accordionist Tours Japan
• Camp and Workshop - Germany
• Highland Gathering - Indonesia
• Ruggieri Attends Specialisation Course and Major Jazz Event - Italy
• New Accordion USA National News Online
• Tango De Camara Concerts - Venezuela
• Emanuele Rastelli in Italy and Switzerland
• Boom Boom Room Concert - USA
• Autographed Accordion Collection - Belgium
• Orchestra Concert in Böblingen - Germany
• Accordion Concert in Varazdin - Croatia
• May Accordion Ventures - Japan
• Great Swoordal Squeeze - England
• "Playing in the Face of IVA" Campaign - Italy
• Kammer Duo Cadenze - Germany
• New East European News Online
• Successful Concert - New Zealand
  
• Breast Cancer Benefit Jamboree Dinner & Dance - USA
• New CD by Christian Maes - France
• Antique Accordion Information
• Accordion Information Required
  

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

The 7th International Accordion Week will be held from July 21st to 29th organised by the Serenata Music School and Anibal Freire in Alcobaca. During this event many guests will perform including the Quintet Moscow, Duo Semionov, Duo Dmitriev, Yuri Shushkin, Duo Monte Carlo, Inaki Diegues and Claudio Jacomucci who will hold a course regarding the Alexander Technique. Courses will also be held for "Accordion Repair" and "Interpretation". For further details phone/fax: +351 262 596790

Contributed by Vahan Harutyunyan

From April 12th to 24th a meeting took place in Los Angeles to honour the memory of Michael Ganian one year after the tragic and unexpected death of this well known accordionist and composer in Brno, Czech Republic.

Famous Armenian composers Alexand Harutyunyan, Eduard Mirzoyan and Konstantin Orbelian attended this special occasion. Guests visited Ganian's grave at a local churchyard in Griffith Parks and a prayer meeting in St. Peter's church.

Vahan Guevorkyan presented his new book "Melody", which is Ganian´s biography. Participants also saw a film named "Michael Ganian" which was created by the artist's close friends Jirí Kubík and Vahan Harutyunyan. An article devoted to Ganian was published in the LA Times and three TV stations broadcast the film "Michael Ganian" and other documentary films.

One of Ganian's CD's "Differénce" was recently awarded a prize. Armenian Music Awards in LA appraised the CD in the category of instrumental music.

While the meeting was underway in LA, the arrest of Ganian's murderer was taking place in Brno, Czech Republic, the town where Michael Ganian lost his life.

Contributed by Beniamino Bugiolacchi

Francesco Rutelli playing the largest accordion in the world

The hugely successful Disma Music Show opened on April 28th and ended on May 1st in Rimini. This event is the only Italian show wholly dedicated to musical instruments and this year it featured 500 exhibitors on an area of 25,000 square meters at the city's brand new exhibition centre. Over 1,200 international brands showcased their musical instruments and accessories, attracting the attention of approximately 50,000 people during the four-day event.

Highlights included:

• the gala concert at the end of the festival, during which over 1,200 young people from all over the country performed under the direction of Paolo Damiani (conductor of the National jazz orchestra in Paris)
• the presentation of the award sponsored by Coram (association for the promotion of musical culture) to the great contemporary composer Luciano Berio
• and the visit of Francesco Rutelli, candidate for the Prime Ministership at the next national elections, who pledged his commitment to the solution of the many problems faced by those who "make music" in Italy. Rutelli was fascinated by the mega-accordion built by craftsman Giancarlo Francenella, and managed to play a little tune on it for the delight of the audience.

Contributed by Tania Lukic-Marx

The Australian Accordion Teachers Association will hold its annual Australian International Accordion Championship and Festival from May 25th to 27th, 2001 in Sydney. A highlight of the event will be the Accordion Gala Concert at the Club Marconi on May 27th (for the information of Club Marconi members and their guests). This concert will feature (for the first time in Australia) famous American accordion group "K" Trio (Mary Kasprzyk Tokarski, Julie Kasprzyk Cardona and Walter Kasprzyk) and some of Australia, China and New Zealand's top accordionists, entertainers and ensembles as well as competition winners. For further details email: tlukic@jigsaw.net.au

Bayou Seco (which includes accordionist Antonia Apodaca) will perform at Royal Oak in Lewes, England on June 7th. The group will present an exciting and informative overview of Southwestern music on diatonic accordion, violin, guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica. For further information email Vic & Tina Smith at: invic@globalnet.co.uk

Finnish accordionist Mika Väyrynen has just returned from a successful trip to Japan. While there, he was interviewed by two of the biggest Japanese Music-magazines, "Ongaku no Tono" and "Pia" and had several meetings with concert agencies and recording companies. He also discussed future solo CD projects for the Japanese market.

Mika also took part in a recording for the JVC Victor-label, with cellist Yoko Hasegawa in Chichibu-Seibu, Tokyo. Their program included "Pictures at an Exhibition" (Mussorgsky) and Miniatures by Cui, Scrjabin, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev etc. The CD will be released in October or November this year.

Mika plans to return to Japan in November and December for a longer tour, performing with Yoko Hasegawa (cello) and then continuing with "Tango for Four".

Contributed by Heiderose Riefler

A workshop and camp will be held from July 27th to 31st in Gomaringen, Neuhausen/Erzgebirge organized by the Deutsche Harmonika Verband e.V. - DHV (German Accordion Association). The workshop is for participants from 8 years of age. For further details email: heideroseriefler@gmx.net

Burach (which includes accordionist Sandy Brechin) will perform at the Jakarta Highland Games in Jakarta, Indonesia which began on May 10th and will run until the 15th. Their program will include "The Birds Set" and "The Life And Times of Johnny Hattersfield". For further details email: sandy@squeeze.demon.co.uk

Earlier this year Renzo Ruggieri took part in a seminar on "Arrangements for Jazz Big Bands" held by well-known musician Mario Raja at the G. Verdi Music School in Prato (Italy). This interesting course covered jazz harmony, arrangement philosophy and techniques for small and large orchestral groups, and the analysis of works of the jazz repertoire.

In early April, Renzo took part in "Cremona Jazz", one of the most important Italian jazz festivals. Artistic director Manuela Casale put together a top programme this year, with guests including Paolo Fresu, Mercedes Sosa, Vinicio Capossela, Toots Thielemans, Fabio Concato, Pino Daniele and others. Renzo performed at the "The Old Tower" club with his "Solo Accordion Project", playing a series of totally improvised pieces through the use of digital multi-effects and loopers.

Concert reviewer Jon Ballantyne (La Provincia, April 14th 2001) wrote: "A fascinating evening from the point of view of the musical offering, and one which confirmed the great technical skills of this musician from Roseto degli Abruzzi".

A new edition of the Accordion USA, United States National Accordion News is now online. If you would like to contribute an item for this news either send it via the online submit form or email Kevin Friedrich at: usanews@accordions.com

Tango De Camara, which includes Gad Schliesser (accordion) and Zuleika Pérez (mezzo soprano) have been performing successful "Chamber Tango" concerts in Venezuela recently. The duo perform pieces aimed at traditional tango fans (including the famous Carlos Gardel tangos) and have created an interesting musical hybrid, mixing the academic with the popular, while remaining faithful to the musical elements of the original versions. They are currently seeking a promoter who may be interested in their project. For further information email: reiniers@telcel.net.ve

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

On April 16th and 17th Emanuele Rastelli held two concerts at the Italian club in Wädenswil (near Zurich). The concerts were organised by the Centre for Italian Studies in Zurich and were so successful that Rastelli was asked to perform again in September.

Rastelli then returned to Italy to perform at the 5th annual "A Day Together to Promote Life" event which took place at the new European conference centre in Bellaria Igea Marina on April 22nd. He presented a program consisting of swing, musette and Brazilian music, playing alongside many artists and opera singers of international fame.

Accordionist Jon Hammond performed at the "Boom Boom Room (John Lee Hooker's famous Blues Night Club) in San Francisco last week with Ronnie Smith (drums) and Barry Finnerty (guitar). Their program included burning renditions of "Cookin' at the Continental" and "Liberated Brother" by Horace Silver. Two agents from the Bill Graham Presents concert booking agency arrived to critique the show.

Jon is currently in Manhattan working on his TV show and also meeting with the local 802 Musicians Union Jazz Committee.

Patrick would like to offer his wife's autographed (Yvette Horner, Aimable etc.) accordion collection as she has now passed away. He hopes that the collection will bring joy to an accordion enthusiast. For further details email: patrick.baltus@chello.be

Contributed by Günther Stoll

On May 12th the Harmonika-Spielring Böblingen will perform a concert at the Albert Einstein Gymnasium school in Böblingen as part of their 70th anniversary celebrations. Their program will include Nabucco-Ouvertüre (Verdi), Jeux d'Enfants (Bizet), Huldigundsmarsch (Grieg), Romanze and Werziade1 (Dobler), Nufritete (Götz) and Irische Suite (Seiber).

Performers include the First Orchestra of the HSB (conducted by Günther Stoll) and Christian Frost who was a prize winner at the State Competition "Jugend Musiziert" (for Young Musicians). He will perform Konzertrondo (Jacobi) and Preludio (Volpi). For further details email: Guenther.Stoll@t-online.de

Accordionist Nikola Jankov performed a successful concert in Varazdin recently. His program included works by Bach, Vivaldi, Semionov, Zolotarev, Rizolj, Sarasate and Gridin. Nikola is now working and living in Croatia after finishing his studies at the National Academy of Music "P. I. Tchaikovsky" in Kiev, Ukraine with Professor V. Besfamilnov.

Contributed by Toru Katou

On May 20th the Keihan Accordion Club will hold a concert at the Kawasaki Culture Hall. For further details on this event email: cato@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

From May 20th to 27th the "German Sight-seeing Exhibition" will feature accordionists in Hibiya, Tokyo. Admission free. For further information phone the office of the German Government at: +81 3 3586-5046

Contributed by Jane Edwards

The Great Swoordal Squeeze will be held at the Punch Bowl Inn at Low Row (near Reeth) in the Yorkshire Dales from May 18th to 20th. Concertina workshops will be held by tutors Dave Ball (early English music), Pam Bishop (French tunes), Anne-Marie Boisard (Duet), Sandra Kerr (English), Mary McNamara (Irish music on Anglo), Harry Scurfield (Anglo) and Carolyn Wade (Band). Guest tutor Pauline de Snoo (Holland) will give a workshop on the Victorian Repertoire, Regondi and other composers/players of that time.

Tutor Mary McNamara will also give a concert on May 20th in Otley (near Leeds). Mary has become a popular entertainer and recently released a CD. For further details email:
jedwards@wrenbeck.u-net.com

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Seven thousand people have joined the first part of the "Playing in the face of IVA" campaign, an initiative by Dismamusica (the association of distributors of musical instruments, publishers and craftsmen) aimed at asking for a reduction of the rate of the Italian goods and services tax (IVA) on musical instruments, which now stands at 20%. The large community of music makers asks that Italy recognise the educational, cultural and social role of musical instruments, a role already granted to books (on which IVA stands at 4% only). The petition was handed to MP Luciana Sbarbati, Vice President of the Submissions Committee at the European Parliament, during the Disma Music Show in Rimini. The show hosted a conference entitled "European Aim: equating the level of IVA on musical instruments to the rate for books". Speakers at the conference included MP Luciana Sbarbati, Antonio Monzino Jr (President of Dismamusic), Beniamino Bugiolacchi (President of the Association of Musical Instruments Makers), Mario Minasi (President of Coram) and Mauro De Nadai (coordinator of the Retailers Association).

Contributed by Elisabeth Glauber

The Kammer Duo Cadenze from Ukraine (which includes Ivan Yergiyev - bayan and Elena Yergiyeva - violin) will perform at the "Bürgerhaus Gräfelfing bei München" in Gräfelfing on May 31st. This successful duo play contemporary and traditional music. For further information email:
elisabeth.glauber@t-online.de

A new edition of the East European News is now online. If you would like to contribute information on a recent or upcoming event, a new publication or CD release please email Sergej Tchirkov at: tchirkov@accordions.com

Contributed by Christine Adams

Accordionists Adam Thorpe and Campbell Bettridge performed works by Bach, Liszt, Solotariew, Repnikov and Mozart at a successful concert in Auckland last week. The pair plan to compete in international competitions in Sydney (Australia), Auckland (New Zealand) and London (England) during 2001. Guest orchestra The North Shore Musicale began the evening's entertainment.

Contributed by Nils Lundin

Accordionists will perform at a Breast Cancer Benefit Jamboree Dinner & Dance, which will be held on May 20th at the Viking Club in Braintree, Massachusetts. All proceeds from this event will go to the Breast Cancer Renewal Project. For further information phone: +1 781 659-2206

A new CD by Christian Maes entitled "The Giant's Walk" was released recently by Compagnie Héritage in Anost, France. The CD includes tracks such as "Veloma", "Shadows" and "Trip in the Forest" For further information email: cie.heritage@wanadoo.fr

Samantha Kerr would like information on an accordion with "Cruicianelli" written on it with Greek letters. She believes it was made in Germany however, it says "Made in Italy" on the back. Email: Stersam35@hotmail.com

Kristine Gonsalves would like information and a possible value of a Rajah - Gebr: Ludwig accordeon (pine tree brand accordion) with steel bronze reeds, made in Germany. Email: mkgonsalves@cs.com

Sheila would like instructions of how to use a diatonic button melodeon. The owner has played a piano accordion, but due to recent surgery this is now difficult. Email: SheilaRS@aol.com

Mike Allen would like information and a possible value of a 1960 Sonola Rivoli accordion in excellent condition and in the original case. Email: blownheat@worldnet.att.net