Editors Note
Accordions Worldwide USA representative Kevin Friedrich is currently in New Zealand. While here Kevin will perform a series of three concerts in Auckland and Dargaville with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gary Daverne. We wish Kevin well in these three concerts, and he will be back in the USA on May 14th.

Wayne Knights Webmaster

Paul Chamberlain

Alexander Dmitriev

NAO UK Championships 2002 - England

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

The UK Championships 2002 will be held at the Spa Complex in Scarborough from May 3rd to 5th, organized by the NAO. The event will include a variety of competition classes including Virtuoso, Polkas, Recital Solos, Open Classes, Scottish and Musette Sections. Accordionist Paul Chamberlain will present his own composition entitled "Neva" in the Musette competition section. Adjudicators include Alexander Dmitriev, Djorge Gajic, Frederick Parnell, Angelina Brittain, Douglas Ward, Derek Broadbent and Margaret Venables.

In addition there will be a Trade Exhibition, Masterclasses and a Scottish ceilidh with music by Gary Blair and band.

Guest performers include Alexander Dmitriev, Gina and Romany Rye and the KODA showband. For further details email: accordions@btinternet.com

Accordionist Vladimir Zubitsky was recently awarded a Ministry of Culture Diploma by the Kiev National University of Culture and Arts for his great achievement in music (composition and accordion performance) entitled "Honoured Professor of Kiev University of Culture".

The Diploma was presented by the University Rector, Mykhaylo Poplavsky at a special evening on April 19th at the Ceremonial Hall of the University in Kiev during their student convention, which included all students and professors of the University.

The Diploma reads: "Diploma of Honour Professor of our University to Mr V. Zubitsky, by decision of the Science Council of the University on 1st March 2002. University Rector - Mykhaylo Poplavsky".

Professors and students of the University plan to organize a celebration concert for Zubitsky's 50th birthday in 2003. The event will include performances by the University choir, soloists and the symphony and chamber orchestras.

The 39th International Klingenthal Accordion Competition for soloists and duos will be held in Klingenthal from May 10th to 17th.

The event will include an opening concert with performances by the City Orchestra Klingenthal and the group "Non Stop". Further concerts will be held during the event by a variety of International and National guests including Friedrich Lips, (who will play the world premiere of "Lipsiana"), Philharmonic Orchestra of the Theatre in Zwickau/Plauen, the Vogtland Philharmonic Greiz/Reichenbach, Glory Gospel Singers, David Farmer, Accordion Orchestra Klingenthal and the Concert Ensemble Dyremose.

On May 16th a final concert will be held in the Klingenthal Community Hall with performances by the Vogtland Philharmonic Greiz/Reichenbach and competition prize winners. For further details phone: +49 37467-23210

"Quinteto Tipico" will perform a series of tango concerts at "Gandhi" in Buenos Aires this month. Their first concert was held on May 2nd, with two further concerts on May 16th and 23rd. "Quinteto Tipico" includes Javier Sánchez (bandoneon), Alejo Caramés (electric guitar and arrangements), Gerardo Rodríguez Espada (bass), Luis Sava (violin) and Norbeto Vogel (piano and arrangements). The group will perform with guest vocalist Gabriel Domínguez.

Their repertoire includes a variety of tango arrangements such as "El Choclo", "Boedo" and "La Yumba". For further information email: norbi@vogel.com.ar

Concert Presents New Recording - Austria

Gianni Coscia

Gianluigi Trovesi

Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif
Manager of Friedrich Lips Productions

Accordionist Gianni Coscia and Gianluigi Trovesi (clarinet) presented their new album entitled "In cerca di cibo" (Looking for Food) in Vienna's famous Concert Hall recently. The album combines classical music, folk music and pop songs, which are a specialty of these two performers and friends from childhood days (who built up their international career with their first album "Radici" - Roots).

"In cerca di cibo" was awarded "Den Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik" (the prize of the German record critics) recently. On this album the musicians use improvisation techniques on their own themes as well as with John Lewis' timelessly elegant "Django", Luis Bachalov's film music for "ll Postino" (The Postman) and pieces by composer Fiorenzo Carpi (Milan).

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

On May 10th, Victor Prieto will perform with his trio at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts, as a part of the Berklee College of Music Commencement Ceremony.

Victor has just completed performing in a show with the Peter Deitnan Big Bang at the Ryles Jazz Club in Boston, MA. He is currently preparing for a performance of strings and accordion, which will include a program of his original tunes. This concert will be held at the Berklee Performance Center this summer.

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Simone Zanchini recently graduated with maximum marks as a concert and jazz musician at the "G. Rossini" Conservatorium in Pesaro, where he studied under Sergio Scappini. He is now engaged in a series of performances, which mainly take place in the jazz circuit. An eclectic musician, Zanchini works with groups that represent a wide range of musical styles (classical, jazz, ethnic, Argentinean tango, etc.) and with musicians of national and international fame. Recently he directed the "Laboratorio di musica d'insieme" (Ensemble music workshop) included in the Summer Jazz Seminars Programme of Arceivia (province of Ancona).

Contributed by Anica Karakutovska

The 40th National Competitions for chamber music, choir and orchestra was held from April 18th to 20th in Shtip, Republic of Macedonia. The event, which was organized by the "Association of Musical Pedagogues of Republic of Macedonia" included a variety of categories. The jury included accordionist, Professor Zorica Karakutovska.

The accordion trio of Zoran Kirjakovski, Goran Stankovski and Kosto Todorovski was awarded a special prize for their program which included works by Handel, Zolotaryov and Derbenko. The accordion duo Zoran Kirjakovski and Filip Stameski won first place in their category.

Contributed by Gabriele Guthöhrlein

The accordion orchestra "1. HC Nord Ludwigshafen 1934 e.V." organized a concert recently in Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz with international guest artist, French accordionist Jean Louis Noton.

The concert opened with a performance of Irish Folklore, romantic organ works and arrangements of James bond melodies and songs by Freddie Mercury, by the Nord Ludwigshafen orchestra and the "Akkordeon-ensemble Annweiler". The groups chose this selection of music to show that the accordion is a modern instrument with a large potential for the future. In order to show this even further, Jean Louis Noton performed his way into the hearts of the audience, enticing them into a marvellous world, with the versatility of the MIDI accordion. This is a modern trend-setting development within the range of the accordion. A highlight of the evening was the concert finale when Noton performed in duo with twelve year old Teresa Brunnmueller (Germany).

Over 15,000 people attended the 8th Louisiana Swamp Romp & Crawfish Festival, held at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas on April 28th. The event included a variety of entertainment, Cajun & Zydeco music by local and national entertainers, the best in Louisiana cuisine (with 6 tons of jumbo crawfish), magic shops, dancers, juju mames, a traditional funeral procession with lots of beads and tokens, a Crawfish eating and peeling contest and a costume contest.

Performers included Ponty Bone, Wild Magnolias, Chubby Carrier, the Bayou Swamp Band, Mel Pellerin, Dr. Zog and The Gulf Coast Playboys.

Claudio Jacomucci in Zug - Switzerland

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

On April 14th Claudio Jacomucci joined Claude Haury (cello), Risch Biert (piano), Enrico Bertorelli (reciting voice), Roberto Balconi (vocals) and Hieronymus Schädler (flute) for a performance of the adventure concert "Il Suono Bianco dell'Inverno" (The White Sound of Winter) by Ticinese composer Mario Pagliarani. The event was part of the "Schweizerisches Tonkünstlerfest" festival of contemporary music.

Contributed by Cliff Furnald

The 5th Annual Free Reed Festival will take place during the month of June, 2002. The festival will include a variety of international music on all free reed instruments which will be available online and through radio. If you would like to contribute to the festival please email: rootsworld@snet.net

Contributed by Owen Murray

Accordionists Michelle Smith and Fiona Cormack (who study at Surrey University), performed in a "sell-out" concert at Banstead UR Church near London on April 27th. Performing solo and duo works they were given a warm reception by the packed audience. Li Nan (a student at the Royal Academy of Music tutored by Owen Murray) also played at the concert, performing some of her repertoire for the upcoming Klingenthal Competition.

Contributed by Carlo Fortunato

2000 Accordion Champion Gianluca Campi held a concerto on May 1st at the "Ca'do borgo" Auditorium in the well-known seaside resort of Chiavari, Liguria. The peculiar acoustics of the auditorium, a place of worship which was transformed by a daring architectural project into an unusual "layered" theatre, provided a fitting backdrop for Campi's repertoire, which included classical pieces by Paganini and Rossini and a selection of works by Piazzolla.

Duo 2000 will hold a series of Soirées in Robindale, Randburg from May 3rd to 5th. Their varied program will include "Twilight Time" (Buck Ram), "Moonlight Sonata" (Beethoven), "Warblings at Eve" (Brinley Richards) and a Medley of Leroy Anderson Works. For details email: duo2000@global.co.za

"Zaedno" performed Bulgarian and Macedonian tunes for dancing at Cabrillo in Santa Cruz last week. The group includes Ellyn Bush (accordion), Jim Avera (gajda), Barbara Babin (gadulka), Sue Lindner (tambura), Mike Slama (kaval) and Randy Trigg (percussion). Zaedno will entertain again on May 3rd with the Stanford International dancers at Flexit in Mt. View. For further details email: slamafone@aol.com

Contributed by Alf Goodrich

Classical Accordionist David Farmer will release his debut CD entitled "De Profundis" in June (on the internationally distributed Black Box label). For this recording, Farmer's aim has been to bring together and showcase truly modern works for the accordion. The CD features the work of three contemporary composers - two Russians (Gubaidulina and Zolotaryov) and one Finn (Erkki Jokinen). Listening to these pieces will, for anyone used to a more 'traditional' accordion sound, doubtless come as a thrilling surprise.

As well as being a substantial step in Farmer's own musical development, there is also little doubt that "De Profundis" could well "signal a turning point in people's appreciation for and understanding of the accordion itself".

As the CD will not be on general release until June, those wishing copies before then can email: david@davidfarmer.net

Sharon Sanders would like information on a 50 year old, 120 bass Philharmonic piano accordion, made in Italy and inspected by Aria. Email: champion740@eatel.net