Bio Boccosi, born 1912, who turned 94 in April this year has sadly passed away on 28 June 2006.
Bio Boccosi was an honorary citizen of the towns of Castelfidardo, Osimo and Recoaro Terme, and founder and director of several branches of the Italian Music Teaching Centre. He was widely celebrated for his life which was dedicated to music and to the accordion in particular.
Bio Boccosi was the Secretary General of the Confederation Mondiale de l'Accordeon for over 50 years. He was also a founder of the "Italian Pianists' Trophy" held in Osimo, Accordion World Oscar recipient, founder of the National Accordion Meeting of Recoaro, and winner of several awards including the "Giuseppe Verde" award granted by DISMA (Milano), the "Gorni Kramer" award (Stradella), the "Applauso d'Oro" award (Clivio), the SIAE prize for his 50 years in the music industry, and the "Nota d'Oro" award (Santa Giustina).
Bio Boccosi was also involved in the start of the Premio Internazionale di Fisarmonica, Città di Castelfidardo with Beniamino Bugiolacchi in 1964 which later changed from a national event to an international event in 1987. He was also the founder and editor of Strumenti e Musica for many years, which did so much to promote Italian musical instruments generally and in particular, the accordion.
His enormous contribution to the accordion and its development will continue long beyond his lifetime.
William Schimmel to perform Vintage Accordion Concerto, New York USA
On July 18th, Dr. William Schimmel will perform Andy Arcari's Accordion Concerto (Concerto in D minor) outdoors at New York's famous Washington Square Music Festival. The Concerto, which dates back to 1942 is considered one of the first American Accordion Concertos written, along with the Galla-Rini and Pietro Deiro works of the same period. Dr. Schimmel has updated the work a bit and has added some new material based on the original Arcari and re-orchestrating it for The Festival Strings, with Allyssa Lamb on background vocals, melodica, glockenspiel, kazoo and whistling - giving it a vaudevillian dimension.
Andy Arcari was one of the accordions' great pioneers. He rose to great fame as a member of Gary Cooper's USO troop during World War II. He established the Arcari College of Music in Philadelphia, The Arcari Foundation (one of the first composer commissioning organizations) and Arcari Publishing. In addition to the Concerto, he wrote a Classical Sonata and a number of light works. The performance will take place at 7.30pm at Washington Square Park in New York's Greenwich Village and the admission is free. The Washington Square Music Festival, which began in 1953, is one of New York's longest established music festivals.
Accordionist, bandleader, composer and arranger Martin Lubenov has his own website, which is now linked to Accordions Worldwide. The website gives full details of the music, recordings and activities of this outstanding accordionist.
Martin Lubenov, born in 1976 in Sofia, Bulgaria, moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1998 in order to study and soon became a link between the music of Yugoslav and Macedonian communities and the Central-European folk and world music scene. Martin Lubenov has studied classical music and jazz in Sofia and Vienna, though his roots in Balkan music kept him from becoming purely an academic musician.
The site also features the Martin Lubenov Orkestar and the Jazzta Prasta Quartet and each group has recordings for sale.
The annual Trophée Mondiale World Championships competition takes place in Kragujevac, Serbia, from October 4th to 8th, organised by the Confederation Mondiale des Accordeonistes.
The test pieces for the Trophée Mondiale include:-
Classical Senior category: A choice of 3 movements from Painting of Autumn, by Anatoli Kusjakov.
Classical Junior category: A choice of 2 movements from The Frosted Trees, by Sergei Voitenko.
For information about the test pieces, email the CMA General Secretary Jacques Mornet : cnima@wanadoo.fr
The contest rules for the Trophée Mondiale have been revised recently, and are now available online.
The Association ‘La Famiglia Marchigiana’ have organised a lecture titled ‘Accordion, History and Music’, given by Beniamino Bugiolachi, director of the International Accordion Museum, Castelfidardo, Italy. Beniamino Bugiolachi is an acknowledged authority in this field, and will be offering to the public his great experience and his great knowledge concerning the accordion community.
This event takes place at the Leonardo da Vinci Center, 8370 Lacordaire, St. Leonard QC, H1R 3Y6, Montreal, on July 3rd, at 7.30pm. The well-known jazz accordionist Renzo Ruggieri, from Italy, will be present at the lecture, performing incidental and atmospheric music. The event will also be a display of the marchigiana musical culture, especially the most representative symbol of their region - the accordion.
Scottish accordionist Gary Blair visited Italy over the weekend of
June 23rd to 26th, in a trip organised by Cooperfisa Accordions to
perform at two concerts in the Verona area. Due to his luggage and
accordion not arriving from London, Gary had to use a borrowed instrument
and to hastily buy some clothes!
The '15th Festa Nazionale Della Fisarmonica', (Gary
& poster picture) was held in Erbrezzo the next day. The festival
included a competition, (stage
photo) and Gervasio Marcosignori was the President of the Jury,
whose other members were Tiziano Chapelli, Vanio Testi, Cesare Tronel,
and the Ukrainian accordionist Eugena Cercassova. Gary Blair and Marcosignori
performed in the evening concert (pictured).
Gary thought that "The whole festival was just superb with some
amazing performances by students from as far away as Croatia".
The next day Gary Blair travelled to perform at a festival in San
Benedetto Belbo, (Gary
on stage) where he met his good friend Mauro Carra, whom he had
first met at the London Accordion Festival in 2001. They both performed
to a very very enthusiastic audience to finish an exciting and most
enjoyable weekend.
The annual Montreux Jazz Festival takes place from June 30th to July 15th, and involves a large number of artistes. On June 30th, at the Casino Barriere at 9pm, the pianist/singer Paolo Conte is in concert, fronting a band that includes Massimo Pitzianti on accordion and bandoneon.
Accordionist Lisa-Lee Leslie is Musical Director and solo accompanist for the play Mirandolina, staged at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, from July 5th to August 5th. The play - comedy, set in Italy, is written by Carlo Goldoni, and stars Raquel Cassidy as Mirandolina and Matthew Kelly as Ripafratta.
Giorgio Dellarole accordion and Alessandro Tampieri violin perform in concert together at the Sala Ghislieri on July 7th at 9.15pm. Their program includes music by Corelli, Bach and Scarlatti. The concert is part of the Armoniche Fantasie - XIII Festival di Musica Antica dell'Academia Montis Regalis.
Those Darn Accordions, from San Francisco, California, describe themselves as ‘America's favorite rock 'n' roll accordion band’. Their style, concerts and recordings have made them one of the most original accordion bands in the world. Their concerts in July include:-
July 5th - Abbey Pub, Chicago - with The Polkaholics
6th - Waterfest, Oshkosh, Wisconsin - with David Lee Roth and Starship featuring Mickey Thomas
July 7th - Turner Hall, Monroe, Wisconsin
8th - Summer Breeze Concert Series: Prairie Center for the Arts, Schaumburg, Illinois
The success of the first event has convinced the town council in Pineto to organise the second Pineto Jazz Accordion Festival, set for July 21st to 23rd. On July 21st, the Germano Mazzocchetti Ensemble perform, and will be promoting a new CD release. The Frank Morocco Quartet (USA), is in concert on July 22nd, and on the 23rd singer Antonella Ruggiero, with the Renzo Ruggieri Group, performs music from the war years between 1915 to1945. The Dixieland Brass Band, directed by Mannello Pine, open each of the concerts. Admission to all concerts is free.
The
annual Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordion takes place from August
31st to September 4th in the beautiful town of Montmagny situated
on the St Lawrence River, near Quebec City. Apart from the festival,
there is the accordion museum, plus kayaking, biking, fishing and
bird watching. Camping is available within walking distance to the
festival.
The artistes this year include: Stephan Portelli (Marilou Emerial), Vincenzo Abbracciante (Italy), Martin Reilly, Marcel Loeffler, Ludovic Beir, Z? Mulato, David Corovillano, Alexandra Paris (France), Myriam Added, Emmanuelle Pariselle (concertina), Roberto Brasaov, and Mahers Bathers.
The Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordéon, founded in 1989, offers a unique opportunity to enjoy folk, classic, rock, jazz and popular repertoires. The event also highlights the cultural heritage of Quebec, while at the same time opening the door to the discovery of world music!
On September 23rd and 24th the bi-annual competition dedicated to the memory of Gorni Kramer will take place in Poggio Rusco. The categories are for variety and classical, and with one special category dedicated to the jazz of the great Kramer.
Gorni Kramer (1913 – 1995) was one of Italy’s greatest and most influential accordionists and composers, and his work was widely acknowledged in the general music world, including the jazz fraternity.
Help Required
Gregory Warner writes:
“I'm an American citizen (and accordion player) planning a vacation from July 15th to July 23rd. I was thinking of going to Romania to try to hear some accordion music there.
But I see there's a festival in Estonia that same week.
Can you give me some advice if I want to do some cultural tourism, and I'm particularly interested in Roma music?” Contact: gwarner@stlawu.edu
Martin Lubenov - Balkan-accordionist who has at his young age already found his own style. With breathtaking virtuosity and playful elegance he combines Balkan Roma music with shades of swing, modern jazz, tango nuevo, salsa and musette. There is also the Martin Lubenov Orkestar and the Jazzta Prasta Quartet - Lubenov's unorthodox balkan quartet, all with recordings for sale.
A new site selling a CD titled "Akkordeonorchester Hof" with sound samples. Music conduct by Günther Zeilinger of German. Purchase online.
A new site selling a CD titled "Allegria Continentale" with sound samples. Music performed by Pearl Fawcett-Adriano of England. Purchase online.
A new site selling a CD titled "Ettore Fantasia" with sound samples. Music performed by Pearl Fawcett-Adriano of England. Purchase online.
A new site selling a CD titled ‘Tarabuk’, with sound samples. Music performed by Marco Lo Russo of Italy. Purchase online.
Gary Dahl - accordionist as well as a composer, arranger, recording artist and music educator, releases 3 replacements of his works for accordion available for purchase online. 'Les Bicyclettes De Belsize', 'Pigalle', 'Under Paris Skies'. Samples of this music are available on the site. The music is in eSheet format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card.
Bio Boccosi, born 1912, who turned 94 in April this year has sadly passed away on 28 June 2006.
On July 18th, Dr. 
Martin Lubenov'
The annual Trophée Mondiale World Championships competition takes place in Kragujevac, Serbia, from October 4th to 8th, organised by the 
Accordion, History and Music, Montreal Canada
Giorgio Dellarole
Pineto Jazz Accordion Festival, Pineto - Italy
The
annual Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordion takes place from August
31st to September 4th in the beautiful town of Montmagny situated
on the St Lawrence River, near Quebec City. Apart from the festival,
there is the accordion museum, plus kayaking, biking, fishing and
bird watching. Camping is available within walking distance to the
festival.
Bi-Annual Gorni Kramer Competition, Poggio Rusco - Italy
