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Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif Manager of Friedrich Lips Productions

The 40th International Klingenthal Accordion Competition will be held in Klingenthal from May 2nd to 9th. The Jury will consist of famous teachers and performers, Jürgen Ganzer, Fritz Dobler, Stefan Fraas, Tobias Morgenstern, Gudrun Wall, Georg Reidys, Ulf Seifert (Germany), Owen Murray (Great Britain), Friedrich Lips (Russia), Elsbeth Moser (Switzerland), Jacques Mornet (France), Wang Yu Ping (China), Claudio Jacomucci (Italy), Lech Puchnowski (Poland), Tibor Racz (Slovakia), Iñaki Alberdi (Spain), Jan Meisl (Czech Republic), Anders Grothe (Norway) and Voin Vassovic (Yugoslavia).

The opening concert will include a performance of the Accordion Orchestra of Untergrombach (conducted by Wolfgang Pfeffer). On Monday (May 5th), Elsbeth Moser (accordion) will join Christoph Marks (violoncello) for a recital of chamber music. On Wednesday (7th), Tobias Morgenstern will join the LeipJAZZig Orkester in a type of tango-jazz-fusion.

Workshops will be held by Owen Murray dealing with the accordion music in England and another one about the new Supita II button accordion. Prof. Ganzer will be the chairman of a round table discussion about the relationship between German Music Academies and the International Accordion Competition of Klingenthal. For further competition details email: Intern.Akkordeonwettbewerb@t-online.de

Contributed by Vladimir Ushakov

Soloists of the St. Petersburg Musette ensemble, Vladimir Ushakov, Sergei Likhachov and Svetlana Stavitskaya have just returned from a three week concert tour through Lithuania and Latvia, where they took part in performances with the Baltic International Accordion Quintet and played a variety of solo, duets and trios.

Concerts were given in Kretinga, Elektrenai, Shirvintos, Rokishkis and Mazhejkiaj (Lithuania). They also took part in the Shiauliaj Festival and the Limbazhi Festival (Latvia). Their repertoire consisted of a variety of classical and variety music with works by Piazzolla (Meditango, Ausencias, Preparense & Libertango), Ye. Doga, Veksler, Vossen, Galliano, Likhachov, Kern, Bazhilin, Peyronnin and Murena.

A number of young accordion students attended these concerts, which were enthusiastically accepted by the audience.

Accordionist Luís Fernandes will take part in a show entitled "Os CantAutores" which began on April 24th and will run until April 26th in Portugal. The show includes a variety of pieces such as "De Não Saber O Que Me Espera", "Coça a Barriga" and "Os Hinos".

On April 24th the event opened at the Auditório da Universidade do Minho in Guimarães. The following evening it will be presented at the Cine-Teatro Passo Clube in Serta, with a final show at the Praça 8 de Maio in Alcanena on April 26th. Their program will include works by José Afonso, Sérgio Godinho and Fausto. This show has been on tour in Portugal through dozens of concerts and was recorded on CD in 2002. This concert is a tribute to the great musical genius of the cantautores who have left their musical mark on the first three decades of democracy in Portugal. For further details email: dorfeu@dorfeu.com

Contributed by Myriam Taubkin

The "Brazil of the Accordion" Musical Spectacle is a show based on the Brasil da Sanfona CD's.
The show maps Brazilian music through the accordion and goes deep into the culture that inspires its artists, featuring performances by four Brazilian accordionists, Dominguinhos (from the Northeast region), Dino Rocha (from Pantanal), Toninho Ferragutti (from São Paulo) and Renato Borghetti (from the South). While the accordionists are performing a video plays in the background showing images of the places and regions they come from, the people, their religion, their popular pass times, their life etc.

The show was presented at the VI Mercado Cultural da Bahia in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil in December 2002.

On June 14th it will be presented at the Encuentro de las Artes Scenicas de las Americas in Mexico City, Mexico. For details email: myriamtaubkin@ig.com.br

Lips Accordion Workshops - Austria

Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif Manager of Friedrich Lips Productions

For the third time the city of Imst (located in Tyrol, near Innsbruck) will organize workshops for musicians and artists of different styles. At the beginning of July participants have the opportunity to combine some relaxing days with artistic activity. Accordionists Friedrich Lips (from the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow) and Roman Pechmann (Conservatory of Klagenfurt Austria) will give solo lessons and teach chamber music. For further information email: herbert@accordion-cd.co.at

Contributed by Marie Bey

The 1st "Mon Bel Accordeon" Festival (My Beautiful Accordion Festival) will be held at Théâtre 71 in Malakoff from June 11th to 14th under the direction of Pascal Contet. The event will feature an accordion exhibition and a variety of concerts by Danças Ocultas, Roulotte Babylone, Benat Achiary, Philippe de Ezcurra, Claude Tchamitchian, La Bande à Paulo, Petro Odrekhivskyy, Trio Allers, Retours, Ars Nova Ensemble, Guichen Quartet, Jérôme Richard and DJ Rom.

For further details email: theatre71@wanadoo.fr

This year's "Stefano Bizzarri" International Accordion Competition will take place in Morro D'Oro (Teramo, Italy) from July 18th to 20th. The 2003 event will add a Jazz section (with a trio provided by the organizers) to the existing Classical and Variety classes.

The competition includes cash prizes, ranging from € 800 for the Jazz section to € 1200 for Classical and Variety sections, as well as special prizes such as € 150 for teachers who boast at least 5 candidates.

The evenings will feature extraordinary international guests, which will turn the event into a top notch accordion festival.

For information and enrolments email: info@premiobizzarri.com

Contributed by Kevin Friedrich

Winner of the newly established CIA International Competition for Piano Accordion, Alexander Poeluev (Russia) will appear as a special International guest artist at the New Zealand Accordion Association Championships and Festival held from May 30th to June 2nd in Auckland.

In 2002 Alexander won the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA) 55th Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championship hosted by the Danske Harmonikaspilleres Landsforbund (DHL) in Copenhagen, Denmark. While different categories have been won in subsequent years when Jerome Richard won the Virtuoso Entertainment Category (1997) and then the Coupe Mondiale (1999), Alexander became the first contestant to ever win two categories in the same year - the "Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships" and "International Competition for Piano Accordion Class".

Alexander, a student of Viatcheslav Semionov will also appear as a guest artist at the Australian Accordion Teachers Association National Festival in Sydney, Australia from May 23rd to 25th before traveling to New Zealand.

The New Zealand Accordion Association is a member of the CIA and actively supports the CIA by sponsoring the winner of the competition.

Accordion Concert in Jekaterinburg - Russia

Contributed by Jutta Menn

On March 21st over 500 people enjoyed an accordion concert held in the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Jekaterinburg. Performers included students from Ural Conservatories that have won competitions such as J. Pirogov, R. Jakupov, A. Ivanov, A. Oseev (student of Professor Viktor Romanko), plus the Ural Bayan Trio, Ajuschka Ensemble (leader V. Zikin), Tagiler Harmonikas Accordion Orchestra (leader V. Kapkan).

The concert featured a performance by the Tagiler Harmonikas Accordion Orchestra with soloist Viktor Romanko. The program included works by Zubitsky, Semionov, Gridin, Piazzolla and Tschernikov.

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Yao Yi recorded Jose Serbrier's accordion concerto with the National Orchestra of Toulous with Serbrier conducting. The recording will be released by Naxos in August. The piece was commissioned by the American Accordionists Association. Yao Yi was placed 4th in the Arasati competition (Spain) and won the best test piece prize in December last year.

Easter Performance - USA

Accordionist Jon Hammond entertained for five hours on Easter Sunday (April 20th) at Roth's Westside Steakhouse in Manhattan with guitarist Bill Wurtzel and drummer Rudy Lawless.

On April 28th, Jon will hold a CD release party and concert at Le Bar Bat in New York City with Alex Budman (tenor saxophone), guitarist Joe Berger and Ray Grappone (drums). This club was a famous recording studio in former days called "Mediasound". Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, The Rolling Stones and many other stars have recorded there. Many well known musicians are expected to attend the event such as trumpet player Manny Duran, broadcaster Joe Franklin, members of boy band Dream Street and their producer/manager Louis Baldonieri. For details email: laterent@webtv.net

This year the Menghini accordion factory, following its merger with SEM, took part in the three most important European music expos - Frankfurt (March), Paris (March) and Rimini (April). All events were attended by large crowds, which as always flocked around the legendary Super VI Scandalli accordion, but demonstrated great interest also for the new MIDI instrument by SEM, the Ciao (one of the easiest models ever conceived), as well as for the new line of diatonic instruments by Paolo Soprani.

Enthusiasts were welcomed by Menghini artists including Mirco Patarini, Renzo Ruggieri and Frederic Slick, who gave successful performances at the stands and in appointed concert halls.

Casa Del Tango - Switzerland

The "Casa Del Tango" show will be presented at the "Temps Modernes" in Vevey on May 23rd and at the "Caveau de l'Hôtel de ville" in Lausanne on May 30th.

Performers include the "Trio Malevo" which features Alain Ray (bandoneon), Hugo Gianone (bass & vocals) and Miguel Angel Pereira (guitar). For details email: casadeltango@cooperation.net

Accordionists Felipe Gadea and Gerardo Rizza performed a very successful concert at the Asociaciones de Vecinos La Union in Geneto, Tenerife on April 20th. The concert was organized by the Council of La Laguna, Office of Culture and the "Centro de la Cultura Popular Canaria" (Canary Island Popular Cultural Center). Gerardo Rizza performed a variety of musical styles such as classical, jazz, Latin and Italian with pieces from "La Traviata" (Verdi) and Italian tarantellas.

This was followed by Felipe Gadea playing pieces by Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Kachaturian plus popular Spanish and South American folk songs. A wonderful surprise for the audience was when he played "Roque Nublo", but step by step he changed the style into a jazz interpretation!

The two accordionists then completed their program with a variety of duets, with audience singing along. Congratulations were given to these two artists for their enjoyable concert, enabling the people of Geneto (La Laguna) to enjoy the versatility of the accordion.

Contributed by Jonatan Karlsson

The International Reykjavik Accordion Festival will be held from July 18th to 21st in Reykjavik. This festival is designed to provide an opportunity for accordion enthusiasts to meet their colleagues and present the accordion and accordion music to the public. One goal is to offer as varied a program as possible so that people can see and hear this instrument played in many different ways. The accordion has been played in Iceland for generations and is an important part of the musical heritage of the nation. In recent years, the instrument's popularity has increased as more people are learning to play and the instrument is used in contemporary and traditional music.

During the weekend, accordionists will perform in various locations in Reykjavik. Numerous concerts will feature artists from Iceland and abroad. The festival program will be announced in late May. For details email: jonatank@isl.is

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Giorgio Dellarole will hold a series of accordion courses from July 14th to 26th in Val d'Aosta (Italy). The courses will take the form of individual lessons, group classes and a chamber music workshop. The week from July 14th to 24th will feature a series of conferences which the students will be able to attend free of charge. Course participants will be invited to hold a 12-hour seminar (January 2003), recitals and concerts in Courmayeur and surrounding centres, as well as taking part in the end of course events.

For further information and bookings email: cluster.aosta@libero.it

Contributed by Elisabeth Glauber

The Musikfreunde-Neuaubing-Pasing Orchestra (Munich) performed recently at the Town Guild-hall in Pfaffenhofen/Ilm, Bavaria. The orchestra played the Concerto for Bandoneon and orchestra "Aconcagua" (Piazzolla) with guest accordionist Konstantin Ischtschenko. The orchestra also performed "Queen of Sheba" (Händel) and "Tres Minutos Con Realidad" plus an arrangement by Elisabeth Glauber. Konstantin Ischtschenko also played a variety of solos. The gave the players a standing ovation.

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

The 9th Accoland accordion and Alexander Technique Seminar for musicians will be held from July 14th to 20th in San Sebastian.

Guest accordionist Stefan Hussong will teach at the event, which is for accordion students and enthusiasts. Anne Landa will teach Alexander Technique for musicians to group classes as well as individuals.

In addition guest Kepa Junkera will give a masterclass on the diatonic accordion. For details email: accoland@ya.com

From April 29th to May 3rd, accordionist Honorio Antonio Martinez Cuello will take part in the 36th Vallenata Music festival held in Valledupar, Cesar. This is a competition to select the best musicians on accordion, drums and guacharaca. For further information email: homarcu@hotmail.com

Massimiliano Pitocco will perform with the Orchestra of the province of Foggia on May 11th. Their program will include works by Piazzolla and the premiere of a piece for band and orchestra by Pasquale Corrado. For further details email: massimiliano.pitocco@dimmidove.com

Contributed by Maki Aozasa

A new CD entitled "The Sun and the Accordion" was released recently by Horizon Music in Osaka, Japan. All music on the CD is composed, arranged and played by accordionist Norimichi Nagasaka. Tracks include "Sun and Accordion", "Bridge of Normandie" and "Scorching Rhythm". For CD information email: ao-chan@LAccordion.com