The infuence of Anthony Galla-Rini (1904-2006) on the development of the accordion in the 20th Century cannot be over stated. Galla-Rini’s long-term contribution in terms of performing, teaching, recordings, innovation in accordion designs and leadership within the American Accordionists' Association (AAA) and the Accordion Teacher's Guild (ATG) has no equal. He is probably the most published arranger of all time, and his arrangements were renowned for their accuracy and attention to detail. In 1960 Galla-Rini was elected to the Accordion Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Arcari Foundation.
Professor Joan
Sommers has written her recollections of Anthony Galla-Rini, along
with Ron Galla-Rini, Kevin Friedrich, and Harley Jones which are all
online on the Accordion
USA News.
Further
information about the CMA
Trophée Mondial including the Event Schedule and Entry
Forms is now online on the CMA
site. The 2006 Trophée Mondial will be held in Kragujevac,
Serbia from the 4th to 8th of October, 2006.
The event also includes concerts by pupils of the Kragujevca Music
School, Sergej Osokin - winner of Trophée Mondial 2005 and
Beltango Ensemble from Belgrade. Very reasonable priced accommodation
is available and Competition Coordinator Milan Tomic has released
all the information about the event on the CMA site.
Pearl Fawcett-Adriano has returned to performing after a lengthy absence, and appears at the following festivals and clubs:-
September 29th to October 1st - 15th Raduno Internazionale delle veterani della Fisarmonica, Recoaro Terme, Italy
October 7th - Soar Valley Accordion Club, Rothley, Leicester, UK
October 13th to 16th - Eastbourne Accordion Festival, Cumberland Hotel, Eastbourne
November 2nd to 6th - Accordions International, Caister on Sea, Norfolk November 22nd - Stockport Accordion Club, Woodley Methodist Church
Pearl Fawcett-Adriano won numerous accordion competitions in the 1950s and 60s, including the CMA Junior and Senior World Championship. In her professional career she was one of the first accordionists from outside the Communist bloc to appear at major venues in the USSR, has appeared many times on radio and television in the UK, and was one of the best known and finest exponents of the electronic accordion. Her many superb recordings,
originally issued on LP and cassette, have now been reissued on CD
and are available
online.
A new CD was released recently by Biasin Musical Instruments from Azzano Decimo (PN) by well-known jazz-accordionist Armando Battiston and will be shortly for distribution with the title ‘Il colori del jazz’ (the colours of jazz), a mixture of originals and standard solo pieces.
The
first accordion festival in Bucharest, known also as "The sleepless
nights of the accordion" took place from September 7th to
9th in the ARCUB Arts Center, and on September 10th in Ploiesti.
This event was the initiative of Romanian accordionist Emy Dragoï,
picture right with Richard Galliano.
The year 2006 is the year of the French in Romania. In partnership with the French Embassy, the founders of this festival, Emy Dragoï and the association ‘Acordeon Armony Music’ decided to invite great artistes from France. The Balkan music has also its charm filled of nostalgic feelings supplemented by the great virtuosity.
Accordionist Ion Bica Dragoi, the father of Emy, opened the festival accompanied by a traditional group and with his small son who was highly appreciated by the crowd. They chose to perform a repertoire in memory of the accordionists Farimita Lambru, Marcel Budala and Ilie Budala. Then the trio of David Rolland on the diatonic accordion played music in the Cajun style of Louisiana. The cousin of Emy also made a performance with a program of traditional Balkan music.
In
the second part of the concert a recital by Roman
Jbanov, (picture left) from the Ukraine, on a bayan accordion,
played transcriptions of classical music by Buxtehude, Scarlatti,
Moussorgski, Rossini and pieces by the French composer Franck Angelis
and Russians Viatcheslav
Semionov, Evgenii Derbienko and Viktor Novikov.
The following day, the audiences heard the French musette style with
performances by Alexandra Paris. Roman
Jbanov introduced original Russian pieces. Maestro
Juan Jose Mosalini played the bandoneon accompanied with the guitar
by Argentenian Leonardo Sanchez. Picture right. Their repertoire was
the tango with compositions of Astor Piazzola, but also of own compositions
of Mosalini and others.
The third day Emy Dragoï performed in the first part of
the ‘Etno-Fonia Swing’ jazz and swing manouche, accompanied
by the National Academy of Bucharest, and on the piano
by Petrica Andrei, Christophe Lartilleux on the guitar,
Albert Gheorghe on percussion, Kuba on double bass, with
the contributions of various jazz singers: Irina Sarbu, Iitssor Raluca
and Teodora Enache. The program was very varied. Richard Galliano
charmed the room with his compositions and his individual style.
The final concert took place on September 10th in the Philharmonic
Théatre of Ploiesti. Almost all this festival was recorded
by the Romanian television TVR and will be available their internet
site: www.tvr.ro.
The aim of this festival was to promote the accordion and related
instruments. Emy Dragoï carried this out with a great artistic
and musical quality with the assistance of her friends and her
family. Maybe a 2nd edition of this festival will take place next
year...
Maltese accordionist, mandolin player, singer and composer Benny Grima, with his wife Tonia, also a singer, were present at the Festa celebrating the Feast of St Catherine in Zurrieq. Benny and Tonia had a stall selling their recordings, one of which was ‘Accordion Music From Malta’, and also did some impromptu playing. Benny and Tonia Grima have performed for Maltese communities in the USA, Canada, Ireland, England and Germany.
The Akkordeon Orchestre Straubinger 1973, from Germany, appear in concert at the Town Hall in San Sebastien on September 22nd, at 8pm. The concert is one of the opening events in the 3rd Festival de Acordeón Lasarte-Oria, which takes place from September 22nd to 24th.
The festival also includes a concert featuring the Zero Sette Accordion Orchestra, and accordion soloists Joxan Goikoetxea and Idoia Laburu, all from the Basque region of Northern Spain. This takes place on September 23rd at the Casa de Culture, Manuel Lekuona de Lasarte-Oria, beginning at 7.30pm.
Caroline Hunt is to display about 30 antique accordions at the Carrbridge Music Festival in Inverness-shire on September 23rd. On display will be a number of interesting instruments: ones with horns, ones with bells, and ones with weird keyboards! Many old accordions including a three-row button Morino, made in Switzerland before Morino moved to work for Hohner in Germany. A few of them will be played and we hope there will be some good music between 11am and 4pm. There will also be a number of very rare and hard to find books on accordions available for sale.
Due to popular demand, the Ethnic Dance Theatre repeats a show performed in June that seeks to foster understanding and awareness of world cultures through the re-creation and presentation of traditional ethnic dance and music.
The EDT Folk Orchestra, including accordionist Dee Langley, will collaborate with guests from the Schubert Gamelan Ensemble during the production of Ethnic Dance Theatre’s ‘Beyond the Crescent Moon.’ This show takes place on October 5th to 8th, 2006 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 pm); June 4th at 2 pm at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
The International Accordion Festival takes place from October 13th to 15th in La Villita, San Antonio, Texas. Held in the Riverwalk area, three blocks south of the Alamo, the festival includes concerts, workshops, open mic sessions, in a casual beer garden setting. Musical styles include Celtic to Zydeco, Conjunto to Musette, Klezmer to Cowboy, and much else in between.
This year’s guests include Flaco Jimenez, Joel Guzman, Sunny Sauceda, Shirley Johnson, Corey ‘Lil Pop’ Ledet, Joaquin Diaz (Puerto Rico) and Shati, The Texana Dames, The Fabulous Shpielkehs, Poor Man's Fortune, Peter Stan and Balkan Fantasia, Mingo Saldivar and the Gulf Coast Playboys, the Gourds, Los DesperadoZ, Brian Marshall and the Texas Slavic Playboys, and the Marian Pelka Trio, from Poland, Les Primitifs du Futur, from France, Helen Xu and Zong Ti Lin, from China, and Renato Borghetti (picture right), from Brazil.
The radio station XESQ San Miguel is to broadcast a weekly program, on Sundays at 9pm (Mexico time) presented by and featuring accordionist Salomon Canelo (picture left). The main objective of the program is to promote the music of the accordion in Mexico and in other countries.
The 2007 Marocco-Ballarini Accordion Camp takes place in Mesa, Phoenix, Arizona, January 24th to 28th 2007. The camp will feature daily orchestra rehearsals led by conductor, accordionist and composer Frank Marocco. The camp orchestra will perform a public concert on the last evening of the camp.
There will also be workshops and evening performances and activities, which will be coordinated by accordionist and bandleader, Nick Ballarini. Participation is limited to 50 players (there is no limit on non-players). Registration closes on November 15th 2006.
Gary Dahl - accordionist as well as a composer, arranger, recording artist and music educator, releases 1 new work and 3 updated work for accordion available for purchase online. 'Adios Muchachos', 'Lara's Theme', 'Padam…Padam', 'Champagne Polka'. Samples of these music are available on the site. The music is in eSheet format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card.
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Anthony Galla-Rini – 
He is probably the most published arranger of all time, and his arrangements were renowned for their accuracy and attention to detail. In 1960 Galla-Rini was elected to the Accordion Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Arcari Foundation.
Further
information about the 
Pearl Fawcett-Adriano
A new CD was released recently by Biasin Musical Instruments from Azzano Decimo (PN) by well-known jazz-accordionist Armando Battiston and will be shortly for distribution with the title ‘Il colori del jazz’ (the colours of jazz), a mixture of originals and standard solo pieces.
The
first accordion festival in Bucharest, known also as "The sleepless
nights of the accordion" took place from September 7th to
9th in the ARCUB Arts Center, and on September 10th in Ploiesti.
This event was the initiative of Romanian accordionist Emy Dragoï,
picture right with Richard Galliano.
In
the second part of the concert a recital by 
Maestro
Juan Jose Mosalini played the bandoneon accompanied with the guitar
by Argentenian Leonardo Sanchez. Picture right. Their repertoire was
the tango with compositions of Astor Piazzola, but also of own compositions
of Mosalini and others.
Guests on the BBC Radio Scotland program ‘Take the Floor’ include:-
The Akkordeon Orchestre Straubinger 1973, from Germany, appear in concert at the Town Hall in San Sebastien on September 22nd, at 8pm. The concert is one of the opening events in the 3rd Festival de Acordeón Lasarte-Oria, which takes place from September 22nd to 24th.
The festival also includes a concert featuring the Zero Sette Accordion Orchestra, and accordion soloists Joxan Goikoetxea and Idoia Laburu, all from the Basque region of Northern Spain. This takes place on September 23rd at the Casa de Culture, Manuel Lekuona de Lasarte-Oria, beginning at 7.30pm.
Caroline Hunt is to display about 30 antique accordions at the Carrbridge Music Festival in Inverness-shire on September 23rd. On display will be a number of interesting instruments: ones with horns, ones with bells, and ones with weird keyboards! Many old accordions including a three-row button Morino, made in Switzerland before Morino moved to work for 
Due to popular demand, the Ethnic Dance Theatre repeats a show performed in June that seeks to foster understanding and awareness of world cultures through the re-creation and presentation of traditional ethnic dance and music.
The International Accordion Festival takes place from October 13th to 15th in La Villita, San Antonio, Texas. Held in the Riverwalk area, three blocks south of the Alamo, the festival includes concerts, workshops, open mic sessions, in a casual beer garden setting. Musical styles include Celtic to Zydeco, Conjunto to Musette, Klezmer to Cowboy, and much else in between.
The radio station XESQ San Miguel is to broadcast a weekly program, on Sundays at 9pm (Mexico time) presented by and featuring accordionist Salomon Canelo (picture left). The main objective of the program is to promote the music of the accordion in Mexico and in other countries.
