The local newspaper Corriere Adriatico/Ancona reports, that on Sunday Massimo Ballone-Burini, aged 58, owner of the Ballone Burini Accordion Factory was kidnapped and robbed when he was parking his car in his garage after an evening out at a local Pizzeria.
Three men tied him up and put tape over his mouth and a plastic bag over his head. Massimo said... “at a certain stage, I was really frightened as I could not breathe any longer and thought I would die!”
His life was saved when Massimo was able to struggle enough to free his hands and get the bag off his head. He called for aid from his neighbours who then freed him.
The kidnappers stole an amount of money and his expensive gold watch. Luckily he was not injured and his Range Rover and Porsche were left behind.
The famous music school CNIMA J. Mornet (Centre National et International de Musique et d'Accordéon) announces their courses which begin in September 2006 for a period of 34 weeks until June 2007 for full time students.
Full time students may study for official degrees such as the CFEM (Certificat de Fin d’Etudes Musicales: Certificate of End of Musical Studies) given by the French Confederation of Music, the DEM (Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales : Degree of Musical Studies), the DE (Degree of Studies) and CA (Training Certificate).
The school also offers 3 different short-term programs:
- the 12 week program: you choose the weeks according to your availability
- short-term holiday program as announced from time to time.
Teachers photo (left to right): Sébastien Farge, Roman Jbanov, CNIMA Directors Nathalie Boucheix and Jacques Mornet, Domi Emorine, Claude Sauvage, Pascal Meurge and Stephanie Methot. Roman and Domi are widely known as the Moscow-Paris Duo.
The CNIMA specializes in accordion and keyboard teaching, open to everyone (no age required), every style and every level with no entry examination. The school provides housing including meals and to have tutors in house all the time is a real advantage. The large number of competition successes enjoyed by CNIMA students attests to the quality of tuition.
Mayor Lucchin opened an exhibition dedicated to the accordion, past and present, on July 22nd in the Museum Etnografico di Sauris. City council members and accordionist Denis Biasin, who collaborated in mounting the displays, were all present. International celebrity accordionists Peter Soave from USA and Mady Soave from France were special guests.
The exhibition, known as ‘The History of the Accordion’, includes about 50 instruments, including different types of accordions, bandoneons and concertinas, some of which are rarities. The display also includes memorabilia to illustrate the fascinating story of free reed instruments.
This exhibition is part of the city council’s tourist promotion, which offers also offers beautiful landscape, sports and gastronomic jewels. The accordion exhibition will remain open for visits until October 1st every day from 10am to12.30pm and 4pm to 7 pm (from September 11th, 10am to 12.30pm).
On August 13th, Queensland Accordion Club hosted their 19th annual concert at the Sharks Football Club Function Centre in Southport, Queensland. Performers at the largest accordion concert held in Australia included the Ladies Ensemble, the German Band, Latin Mafia and soloists Leo Mazzei and Julie Castorina.
They were joined by guest artistes from New Zealand, the North Shore Ensemble and Lionel Reekie. At the conclusion, all performers combined under the baton of 93 year old Ozzie Mazzei.
Organiser Ashley Ebsworth (right) followed the afternoon concert with a dinner followed by an evening function for 250 people with dance music provided by Lionel Reekie & the Latin Mafia.
The IMAC masterclass in Montreux, with Peter and Mady Soave and Jean-Louis Noton, was as in previous years a very successful event - with plenty of lectures, dancing, excellent Swiss background panorama and, as we can see, also excellent food prepared by the grand Maestro Soave.
When John MacDonald, Australian-based Scots accordionist-entertainer, returned to his native Scotland recently, he met up with old friend John Carmichael in Glasgow. The meeting led out to one of Scotland's best jam sessions for a long time…
On a beautiful sunny summer's day in the suburb of Giffnock, accordionist John Carmichael's home and garden were turned into a perfect setting for the best in Scottish Music.
Among the musicians were John Carmichael and John MacDonald on piano accordions, Ivor Britton and Charlie Kirkpatrick on button accordions, plus the great talents of Marie Fielding on fiddle, Walter Sinton - well known Scottish keyboard player - also visiting from Australia, and his brother John Sinton on double bass. The music flowed on into the early evening, much to the delight of the residents of the Glasgow suburb.
John Carmichael and John MacDonald also took the opportunity of recording some Station IDs for Ontario's Radio Station Bluewater Radio 91.3 FM and Andy Mack's(left) ‘Sounds of Scotland’ Show, which is heard live on the Worldwide Internet every week. Andy is a great supporter of Scottish music, and is a great ambassador for Scottish accordion music overseas.
John MacDonald’s latest CD ‘Years Apart’ is available online.
The French qualification competition for the CMA Trophee Mondiale 2006 to be held in October was held in La Selle sur le Bied on the 21st August 2006. The qualification event was organised by CMA President Frederic Deschamps and he, Ray Bodell and Jacques Mornet formed the jury.
The classical competition was held in the church of “La Selle sur le Bied” and the Variety Virtuoso Entertainment classes were held in the local “Salle des Fetes”. Large numbers of the public supported the event.
In the Senior Classical category, from the four entries, Julien Gonzales (picture) qualified in first place and was awarded 19/20 by the international jury. He is a former CMA Variety Junior and CMA Variety Senior champion and is still only 19 years of age!
A total of 9 candidates qualified in Junior Variety Class which included a very creditable performance from 11 year old Benoit Nortier who was placed 2nd in the class, while in the Senior Variety class Dimitri Saussard and Mickael Vigneau excelled – gaining equal first place with Jean Ribeiro, Estelle Sauvain, Olivier Selac, Cyril Blanchard, Benoit Chabod, Jérémy Buirette, Benjamin Durafour and Solène Normand all giving very creditable performances.
From August 27th to 28th, in Buonvicino, will be the first Buonvicino Art Festival, organized by the city council. This new festival will offer 3 days of music within the walls of this ancient city.
Sunday 27th, at 10 pm, in the Piazza S. Ciriaco Abate
Renzo Ruggieri (left) solo accordion
Monday 28th, at 10 pm, in the ancient city- Il Belvedere
Riccardo Galimi and Alberto La Neve duo
r.galimi (piano), a. la neve (sax)
Tuesday 29th, at 10 pm, Piazza del Popolo
Acoustic Music Ensemble
S. Cauteruccio - accordion, P. Perrone - violino, E. Campagna - guitar
Des Rives D’Accordeon is a two-day event taking place in Le parc de la Villette, Paris on August 26th and 27th. There will be a wide range of continuous accordion music, including jazz, musette, contemporary électro, Balkan, etc. Accordionists booked to appear include Daniel Mille, David Venitucci, Lionel Suarez, Didier Dullieux, Jean-Luc Amestoy, Pascal Contet, Jean-François Baëz, Man Xin, Yves Weyh and Zakarya, sheng player Wu Wei, Jean-Luc Bouffard, Ophélie Gaillard, Marianne Piketty, Bijan Chemirani, Serge Adam, Philippe Botta, Carol Robinson and Tom Mays.
Accordionists Ian Watson, Mark Bousie, Karen Street and Edward Hession
perform with the Nash Ensemble at the Royal Albert Hall on August 31st,
at 10pm, as part of the annual BBC Henry Wood Promenade series.
Accordion Courses are now going to be offered, starting in September and October for short and long periods at the University of Music, Rome. The accordion tutor at this prestigious music institution will be Maestro Marco Lo Russo (left) and the courses will be at Via G. Libetta, 1 - 00154 Roma Italy.
The CD "Tarabuk" by Marco Lo Russo is available online.
The second bi-annual Blas Festival takes place at various venues in the Highlands of Scotland from September 1st to 9th. The many artistes include such accordion-based performers as Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, Roya Maclean, Fergie Macdonald, Capercaille, Gary Innes, Melanie Simpson, Iain ‘Tonkan’ MacDonald, Donald Black and Malcolm Jones, Skipinnish, Seamus Begley, The Occasionals and the Black Rose Cèilidh Band.
"Piazolla-studio" Tango by Friedrich
Lips (accordion), Sviatoslav Lips (piano), Vladislav Igolinsky (violin), Kirill Rodin (cello) and Mark Pekarsky (percussion).
The famous music school CNIMA J. Mornet (Centre National et International de Musique et d'Accordéon) which specializes in accordion and keyboard tuition.
MusicForAccordion.com has made a major update of the site to improve navigation and make it easier to find accordion music and accordion recordings you are looking for.
The latest CD by Akkordeonorchester Hof 'Bellow Madness' is available online. Purchase with credit card.
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The local newspaper Corriere Adriatico/Ancona reports, that on Sunday Massimo Ballone-Burini, aged 58, owner of the Ballone Burini Accordion Factory was kidnapped and robbed when he was parking his car in his garage after an evening out at a local Pizzeria.
Teachers photo (left to right): Sébastien Farge, Roman Jbanov, CNIMA Directors Nathalie Boucheix and Jacques Mornet, Domi Emorine, Claude Sauvage, Pascal Meurge and Stephanie Methot. Roman and Domi are widely known as the 
Mayor Lucchin opened an exhibition dedicated to the accordion, past and present, on July 22nd in the Museum Etnografico di Sauris. City council members and accordionist Denis Biasin, who collaborated in mounting the displays, were all present. International celebrity accordionists 
Queensland Accordion Club Annual Concert, Southport - Australia
Performers at the largest accordion concert held in Australia included the Ladies Ensemble, the German Band, Latin Mafia and soloists Leo Mazzei and Julie Castorina.
IMAC Masterclass, Montreux - Switzerland
This year the 60 participants were divided into 2 groups, with players coming from USA, Croatia, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy.
On a beautiful sunny summer's day in the suburb of Giffnock, accordionist John Carmichael's home and garden were turned into a perfect setting for the best in Scottish Music.
The music flowed on into the early evening, much to the delight of the residents of the Glasgow suburb.
From August 27th to 28th, in Buonvicino, will be the first Buonvicino Art Festival, organized by the city council. This new festival will offer 3 days of music within the walls of this ancient city.
Sunday 27th, at 10 pm, in the Piazza S. Ciriaco Abate
Des Rives D’Accordeon is a two-day event taking place in Le parc de la Villette, Paris on August 26th and 27th. There will be a wide range of continuous accordion music, including jazz, musette, contemporary électro, Balkan, etc. Accordionists booked to appear include Daniel Mille, David Venitucci, Lionel Suarez, Didier Dullieux, Jean-Luc Amestoy, 
‘Accordion Courses Begin at the University of Music, Rome – Italy
Viktor Romanko Concerts – Central Europe
September 15th, 8.15pm - Stadtkirche Unterseen bei Interlaken, Switzerland