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Accordion Festival, Eastbourne - UK
Contributed
by Rob
Howard
 The
Eastbourne Accordion Festival takes place from February 17th to
20th 2006. The organiser, John Romero (picture right), comments:-
"Four days of music the way only accordion
players know how. Our programs include concerts by leading musicians
such as Andy Anderson, Gary Blair, Paul
Chamberlain, Sue Coppard, Gennaro Fiondella, Harry Hussey, Lisa
Lee Leslie, John Romero, Romano Viazzani and Charlie Watkins.
We will, of course, have a full supporting cast of displays with
Trevani Studios, Electronic Accordions Ltd and WEM. In addition
Stan Mayhew will be on hand for advice with accordion tuning. Over
six hours of classes will also run during the weekend and our guests
are more than welcome to bring their accordions along for both these
and to join in our guest concert". The
festival takes place at The Cumberland Hotel, one of Eastbourne's
premier hotels. Accommodation is limited, and early booking is advisable.
For further information email jr@carillonstudios.co.uk
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Emir Bosjnak's Accordion Activities, Copenhagen
- Denmark
Contributed by Rob
Howard
Accordionist
Emir Bosjnak was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he received a
musical education to a high standard. He fled to Denmark during
the war years, and in 1996 enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music,
studying under Professor Jytte von Rüden. In 2000, he graduated
with a music teacher degree with accordion as his major subject,
after which he did postgraduate studies focusing on performance.
He obtained his postgraduate degree in 2001, with the highest possible
marks.
Emir
Bosjnak has performed with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and the
Aarhus Sinfonieta. He performs regularly with his own jazz quartet
'Orient á la Tino', and has recorded a solo CD. Emir has
performed on Danish radio and television, and one of his radio broadcasts
is available on the Internet until next February. He also has his
own website.
Emir
performs with Claude Chichon and his Orchestra on September 16th
at Skørping Musikstation, 18th Grena Kulturhus, and 23rd
Café "Karavanen" i Arhus. He also performs on two
of the tracks on Claude Chichon's new CD.
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International Montreux Accordion Camp, Les Avants - Switzerland
Contributed
by Holda
Paoletti-Kampl
The
6th International Montreux Accordion Camp took place in August against
the backdrop of the beautiful Swiss mountains. The 40 participants
came from Canada, USA, Germany, Swiss, Italy and France, enjoying
both the musical activities and the pleasant surroundings. The teachers
were Mady and Peter
Soave and Jean
Louis Noton.
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Carrefour Mondial de l'Accordeon, Quebec - Canada
Contributed
by Rob
Howard
 Scottish
accordionist Gary Blair sent the following report on the recent Carrefour
Mondial de l'Accordeon, held in Canada:-
"Having lost my accordion on travelling,
it was a relief when it arrived a matter of hours before my first
performance. For me, the festival was an outstanding success. There
were accordionists from around the world. Scotland, England, France,
Italy, South America and, of course, Canada were represented.
Throughout Montmagny, there were different stages and most performers
played at least 4 or 5 times during the weekend. A huge crowd was
present at the Mayor's Park in the center of town. Some
of the performers present included Gary Blair, Frederic Baldo, Giancarlo
Caporrilli, Frederic Langlais, Sam Garcia, Mickaël Vigneau and
Chris Parkinson".
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25th Anniversary Accordion Festival, Geiranger
- Norway
Contributed by Holda
Paoletti-Kampl
 Domi
Emorine and Roman Jbanov, known as the Paris-Moscow
Duo, performed at the recent Belgiaden I Geiranger Accordion Festival,
and have sent the following report:-
"The host Ørskog Accordion Club
celebrated 25 years with a festival in Geiranger this year. During
the weekend the audience could see and hear 6 concerts and dances.
The mood was great, and both professional and amateur performers were
on the stages.
Belgiaden I Geiranger has been a success from the first festival in
1980 when Ebbe Jularbo and Lennart Wärmell were performers. This
year the young recruits showed us that we will also be hearing great
accordion music in the future. Every year big names from all over
Scandinavia have visited the festival. This year the host had invited
the Paris-Moscow
Duo of Domi Emorine and Roman Jbanov.
They played both solo and duets and received massive applause. The
audience was thrilled listening to a mix of classical music, folk
tunes and French variety music. The artistes communicated in Russian,
French, English and Norwegian!
The hosts had also their own contributors in the program. The Junior
Orchestra and the Club Orchestra were both on the stage several times,
with Knut Ivar Bøe as conductor. Also performing were the youth
group 'Optirock', Ingrid G. Hellen, and Oda K. Stenberg, from Vestnes,
and Miquel and Daniel Falcón from Engesetdal. Another local
artiste was Kristina B. Farstad, who also played solo with the club's
own orchestra. Linda Gytri and Vidar Skrede played traditional folk
music. The concert opened with Carl Jularbo's 'Life in the Finland
Woods', in which almost every accordion player present participated.
From Sweden, the famous accordionist Alf Hågedal was successful
both as concert player and as a dance musician. This festival was
a great artistic and commercial success".
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Young Accordionist's Success at International
Eisteddfod, Wales - UK
Contributed by Rob
Howard
 Faye
Ventre, aged 12, from Sawbridgeworth in England, recently achieved
great success being placed 2nd in the Under 16 Instrumental Solo section
at the 59th Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod. Faye, a pupil
of accordion teacher Stella Hughes, played a bayan button accordion,
and competed against instrumentalists from many other countries to
reach the final.
In the
final, which was televised by Sky Television and BBC Wales, Faye played
two contrasting pieces from the 'Children's Suite No 1', by Valdislav
Zolatariev.
Competing against players of the cello, violin, clarinet and piano,
the adjudicators praised Faye for the maturity, musicality and sensitivity
of her playing.
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Festivals Acadiens, Louisiana - USA
Contributed
by Rob
Howard
  The
annual Festivals Acadiens takes place from September 16th to 18th,
at Girard Park and Downtown in Lafayette. This large scale Cajun festival
involves such accordionists as Ray Abshire (picture right), Wayne
Toups (picture far right), Jeffery Broussard and DL Menard, plus many
other musicians and bands.
The festival is in the State of Louisiana, which has, of course, been
badly affected by Hurricane Katrina. One consequence is that hotel
accommodation is scarce due the re-location of people made homeless.
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Poozies October Tour - UK
Contributed by Christine
Adams
 The
all-female folk band The Poozies, featuring Karen Tweed on accordion,
tour concert venues around the British Isles in October and November.
The dates and venues are;-
October
19th - Lakeside, Nottingham
20th - Courthouse, Otley, West Yorkshire
21st - Courtyard, Hereford
22nd - Village Hall, Llandinam, Wales
23rd - Musicport Festival, Whitby
24th - Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven
25th - Tollbooth, Stirling
26th - Queen's Hall, Hexam
27th - Playhouse, Alnwick
28th - Arts Centre, Southport
29th - Centenary Hall, Peel, Isle of Man
30th - Norwegian Church, Cardiff, Wales
31st - Arts Center, Dartington
November
1st - 'Folk in the Fall', Purcell Room, London
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Alexander
Selivanov, first prizewinner of international competitions and teacher
at the Gnesin's Academy of Music in Russia
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Douglas
Ward releases three compositions, 'Abacus',
'Coming
Home', and 'Serenity'.
Samples of the music are available online. The music is in eSheet
format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit
card.
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Gary
Dahl's site is updated to include full length .mp3 sound files
of music from 3 of his popular books. Please visit www.accordions.com/garydahl
to enjoy these varied samples of music.
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Tex-Mex
accordionist Flaco Jimenez is to perform in a fund raising concert
on September 25th, at the Alamo Stadium, San Antonio. The concert
will also involve Cajun, Blues, Rock, Country and Western and Mariarchi
artistes, who are all donating their time and talents for the victims
of the recent disaster. Flaco Jimenez, a five times winner of Grammy
awards, is one of the organisers of the concert.
On
the September 19th Professor 
Trinity
College, London, (also known as Trinity Guildhall) has introduced
an accordion syllabus. Exams are offered from Grades 1 to 8, including
First Concert and Performance Certificates, and are available to
take in the UK and overseas.
A
new