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Australian
International Accordion Championships and Festival - Australia
Contributed by Tania
Lukic-Marx
The Australian International Accordion Championships
and Festival organized by the Australian
Accordion Teachers Association, will take place at the Ninavah
Sports and Community Club in Edensor Park from May 24th to 26th.
The event will include competitions in a variety of age groups for
soloists, duos, groups and orchestras.
Guest artists include Mario Massineo, Cathie
Travers, ASA Orchestra, Sydney Balalaika orchestra (with soloist
Milica Obradovic), winner of the Coupe
Mondiale Piano Accordion Class Branko Dzinovic as well as well
known NZ accordion entertainer Lionel
Reekie. In addition the AATA will be Honouring Peter Piccini
and adding him to their Roll of Honour. Tania
Lukic-Marx will give a speech about Peter during the Gala Concert
on Sunday. The AATA have also organized a trophy for Peter in appreciation
of his contribution to the accordion in Australia. Unfortunately
Peter is unable to attend this event, so Mario Massineo will accept
the trophy on Peter's behalf.
The competition time table will be on line at
the AATA
website 3 to 4 days before the competition begins. For details email:
tlukic-marx@mail2me.com.au
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Jimmy Shand Memorial Fundraising
Concert - Scotland
 Contributed
by Stuart Thomson
A project to have a Memorial Sculpture to the
late accordionist Sir Jimmy Shand erected in Auchtermuchty, Fife
(where he spent the major part of his life) is now underway. Many
events have been organised, in order to raise funds for this worthwhile
cause. On May 24th a concert will be held in The Concert Hall, Troon,
Ayrshire with entertainment provided by two bands - David Ross &
his Band (David plays the Shand Morino, as designed by Sir Jimmy
Shand) & Kenny Thomson & the Wardlaw Scottish Dance Band. For this
special occasion, Kenny Thomson will play an early "Piano" Morino
model dating from 1939.
For further details email: j.s.thomson@lineone.net
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Concert to Honour Piazzolla -
Portugal
Artur Fernandes (concertina) will perform with
the group "4Portango" at the Auditório do Cefas in Agueda on May
11th. The group also includes Paulo Belchior (piano), Luís Cardoso
(saxophone), Bitocas and Carlos Marques (clarinet).
The concert, which is organized by the D'Orfeu
- Associação Cultural and supported by the Ministry of Culture and
Portuguese Institute of Performing Arts, will be held in honour
of the 10th anniversary of the death of Astor Piazzolla and include
a program of tango music. For further details email: dorfeu@dorfeu.com
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New Projects for Renzo Ruggieri - Italy
 Jazz
accordionist Renzo
Ruggieri recently took part in a promotional tour for the new CD by
Italian singer-songwriter Giovanni Seneca, entitled "Margini Abitabili".
The group, which included Seneca (guitar and vocals), Ruggieri (accordion)
and Emiliano Rodriguez (saxophone), performed at the "Il Posto delle Fragole"
in Rome and played live on the national radio channel RAI 3 during the
"La Stanza della Musica" show.
 Following
this, the "Musica Experimento" association of Montopoli di Sabina (province
of Rome) and its artistic director, Enrico Cocco, organised a concert
featuring the Namaste Trio, which includes Guido Arbonelli (clarinet),
Cinzia Genderian (vocals) and Renzo Ruggieri (accordion). Their program,
entitled "Songs del mondo" (Songs from Around the World) showcased pieces
by Bernstein, Beggio, Carmichall, Galliano, Gershwin, Piazzolla and others.
Renzo
Ruggieri was also invited by the Teramo provincial council to be the
guest of honour at the gala presentation of a new CD-ROM devoted to the
landscapes of the Abruzzo region. The evening was attended by RAI TV presenter
Tiberio Timperi, "Spazio Tre" theatre group, Cherubino quintet, local
group "Lu Passagalle", as well as major local authorities.
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Polish Accordion Trio Performs
in Austria
  Contributed
by Rita Thomas
The Polish accordion trio "Ars Harmonica" will
perform a concert entitled "Eastern Europe between Classic and Folk"
at the Festsaal Amtshaus in Vienna on May 23rd.
 The
trio includes Piotr Chololowicz (bayan), Jakub Mietla (chromatic
button accordion) and Piotr Biazik (bass accordion & button accordion).
Their program will include works by Bach, Vivaldi, Gridin, Chatschaturjan,
Piazzolla, Grekow and Chololowicz (Kyrillikata).
For further information email: r.hebenstreit@chello.at
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Colombian
Accordionist Celebrates 30th Anniversary in Mexico
 On
April 20th and 21st Colombian accordionist Lácides Romero performed
at a celebration at the Museum of Popular Cultures in Mexico City
to commemorate 30 years of his artistic career. Over 200 people
attended the concert and were impressed by his interpretations of
works by Scarlatti, Piazzolla, Handel, Camargo, Nazareth and Haydn.
The program finished with "Colombian Variations to the Carnival
of Venice".
Romero plays a unique accordion which he modified
acoustically and mechanically to allow him to play transcriptions
from the Baroque period to the 20th century.
Romero was invited to Mexico by the National
Council for the Culture and the Arts and received a tribute to his
work from the Association of Friends of Colombia.
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Kells Music Festival - Ireland
 Contributed
by Owen
Murray
The Kells Music Festival was held in the historic
town of Kells, near Dublin in the Republic of Ireland on May 4th and 5th
organised by Gerry Kelly and the Oristown Accordion Orchestra. The successful
event included competitions for classical accordion, classical piano and
traditional/folk instruments. The jury consisted of specialists in various
areas, including Irish pianist Colma Brisco (Professor at Royal Irish
Academy of Music, Dublin) and UK accordionist Ian Watson (Teacher at Surrey
University, England). Over 400 accordionists took part in the competitions
including over 50 competitors in the beginner section.
The Senior Recital accordion section was won by Irish
accordionist Emma Rafferty. Each of the adjudicators selected the best
performances from the day to play again at the evening gala concert (5
accordionists, 3 pianists and 5 folk musicians) and from here an overall
winner and runner-up were chosen. Robert Kiernan (accordion) was the overall
classical winner. He received a stunning crystal trophy and a cash bursary.
Plans for the 2003 festival are already underway due
to the success of this year's event. For details email Gerry Kelly at:
gerry56kelly@hotmail.com
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Clarion Folk College Festival -
USA
A fun weekend of workshops, jam sessions, concerts,
and coached group playing for folk musicians of all instruments
and levels will take place at the Clarion University Campus, Clarion,
Western Pennsylvania from May 17th to 19th. The focus of the event
will be group playing with an emphasis on arranging and performing
folk music. Many workshops will be open to all instruments including
the accordion such as Celtic Tunes, Western Swing, Jigs, Classical
Tunes, Canadian Tunes, Easy Old-Time Tunes, Backing up a Song, Wonderful
Waltzes, Playing Together Rhythmically, Chord Progressions, Old-Time
Songs, Swinging Rhythm Section, Master class in Arranging, How to
Practice, How to Jam, and more.
A key part of the weekend will be "Folk Bands,"
where participants will be divided into small bands. Each band will
have rehearsal time together over the course of the weekend. On
Sunday afternoon, bands will be given the opportunity to perform.
To register, email Kris Stiglitz at: kstiglitz@clarion.edu
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The
"Musical Premiers" Festival was held in Kiev from April 11th to
19th and included the premier Ukrainian performance of "Rossiniana",
concerto for accordion and large symphony orchestra. Accordionist
Well
known Bulgarian accordionist Petur Ralchev will tour the USA this
month giving a concert at the Arlington Community Church in Kensington,
California on May 25th. At this concert, Peter will be accompanied
by Anthony Michaels (keyboards), who is also the tour organizer.
Contributed
by 
Contributed
by Carlo Fortunato