On March 23rd in Moscow, at the 20th jubilee ‘HIKA’ (the Russian ‘Oscar’) award ceremony of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts, Aidar Gainullin - composer, artiste, singer, winner of 18 international accordion competitions, the grant-aided student of fund of M. Rostropovich - has received a figurine for the best music for the Russian film ‘Euphoria’. Aidar Gainullin has also recently received the National Award for the ‘Best Music’ from film critics for ‘The White Elephant’. The ceremony for this award took place in Moscow’s famous Vsevolod Meyerhold-Center.
This year becomes an unforgettable one for Aidar Gainullin as the list of his titles and awards has increased again: he won the title ‘Tatar of the year 2006’ at the Internet competition of the Tatar World Server tatarlar.ru.
Aidar Gajnullin has recently returned from Chicago, USA, where he performed some very successful solo concerts. At the beginning of April, Aidar will participate at the Festival of New Music to be held in Trossingen, Germany.
Musikmesse Sets New Attendance Record, Frankfurt - Germany
The 2007 Frankfurt
International Musikmesse trade fair set new attendance records,
with 108,000 visitors and 2,400 exhibitors, from approximately 120
countries. The Musikmesse offered 250 musical events, with international
stars covering all styles of music.
Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management Messe Frankfurt GmbH, says: "The industry has seen the biggest Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound ever since... A great success of these two leading trade fairs that have grown steadily over the last 28 years. But it's not only the numeric sensation that counts - we are delighted to see that the topics and the outstanding programme of concerts, top acts, workshops and seminars met our visitors' and exhibitors' needs and expectations."
The next Musikmesse events are in St. Petersburg, Russia, from June 16th to 19th 2007, and Shanghai, China, from October 17th to 20th 2007. Next year’s Frankfurt event will be held from March 12th to 15th 2008.
AccordionLinks.com, the world’s largest linking site for accordion has had a complete new makeover in the last week with the new front-page style being modified and extended throughout the site. The site update includes an excellent search box being added to the top of every page to make searching for information even easier.
AccordionLinks.com
is a co-operation between Webmaster Jeroen
Nijhof (picture right) and the Accordions
Worldwide internet site, providing a free service for all accordion
related websites to be listed. This popular site, has recently received
further recognition when Jeroen Nijhof was awarded the CIA Honored
Friend of the Accordion Award for his services to the accordion running
AccordionLinks.com
The award will be presented in Washington this August at the 2007 Coupe Mondiale and Jeroen Nijhof will be attending to receive this honor.
‘Days of Macedonian Music 2007’, Skopje – Macedonia
Contributed by Anica Karakutovska
The annual ‘Days of Macedonian Music 2007’, organised by the Composers Association of Macedonia – SOCOM, patron: President of the Republic of Macedonia Mr. Branko Crvenkovski and Ministry of Culture, is being held from March 27th to April 19th in Skopje. This year features two jubilees: 60 years since the foundation of the Composers Association of Macedonia – SOCOM; the 30th ‘Days of Macedonian Music’ event.
At
the concert of Young Macedonian Composers, students of the composition
classes at the Faculty of Music – Skopje, held on March 30th
in the City Museum of Skopje, Macedonian composer Elizabeta Ilievska
(picture left) presented her new work ‘Hand’ - trio for
violin, viola and accordion.
The
trio (picture above) consisted of: Kliment Todorovski- violin, Bojan
Taleski- viola, and Bojan Volcevski - accordion, was prepared by Professor
Zorica Karakutovska (picture right). This was another successful co-operation
between Professor Karakutovska and this young composer, her ex-accordion
student when ‘Hand’ was very well received by the large
audience and music critics wrote, this was an excellent new work.
Multi
World Champion “Speedy” Julian Gonzales (France - picture
left) will be joining a star line up for the 62nd NAO
UK Championships to be held on the weekend May 4th to 6th 2007
in Scarborough, Yorkshire. “Speedy” was the winner of
the 2006 Coupe Mondiale Virtuoso Entertainment category and winner
of many other international competitions.
Other international star performers include famous jazz exponent Renzo
Ruggieri (Italy - picture right), Mario D’Amario (Italy
2006 Coupe Mondiale Junior Virtuoso Entertainment winner) and Grayson
Masefield (New Zealand). International personalities attending
the weekend include Kevin
Friedrich (CIA President - adjudicating), Harley
Jones (Fiji, Accordions Worldwide Director – reporting)
and Lars Arnevig (Norway– adjudicating).
The UK Jury members have agreed to donate their services in aid of
the CIA Coupe Mondiale 2008, to be held in Scotland. They include
Raymond
Bodell, Graham
Laurie, Gina Brannelli, Elaine Beecham, Gary Blair, Alistair Gillespie,
Karolyn Broadhead, Sarah Diggens, Frederick Parnell, Douglas Ward
and Raymond Jones. A most generous donation towards the Coupe Mondiale
2008.
The UK Championships also features over 430 entries in the various classes for solo, duo and ensemble, an opening concert, a Scottish ceilidh with Gary Blair, and the traditional trade exhibition – the weekend has something for all accordionists.
The
National Association of Accordion & Fiddle Club annual festival
took place at the Brunton Halls in the Scottish borders town of Musselburgh
on the first Saturday in March. The weather was kinder than last year,
enabling more competitors to travel long distances. There were 5 halls
in use throughout the day, and the various accordion and fiddle sections
proved to be competitive. Highlights from the bands competition and
the evening concert involving prize winners were broadcast by BBC
Radio Scotland on the following two Saturdays.
The adjudicators for the accordion sections were Roberto Enzo, Simon Howie, Jimmy Cassidy and Bill Black.
Winners of the solo accordion sections were:
Open Button Key – Graeme McKay
Open Accordion Championship – Tom Orr
Senior Accordion Solo (Pipe Music) – Tom Orr
Junior Accordion Solo (Pipe Music) – Luke Crawford
Senior Traditional Accordion – Liam Stewart
Junior Traditional Accordion – William Scott
Open Polka – Alan Shute
Under 14 Polka – Calum Muir Open
Musette – William Scott
Under 14 Musette – Rebekah Mitchell
Open Classical – Grant McFarlane
Under 12 Classical – Emma Dickson
Under 14 Classical – Calum Muir
Under 16 Classical – William Scott
Next year’s festival takes place in a different venue –
Dunblane Hydro – and the date will be March 1st 2008.
The duo Accordeon Melancolique, Jean-Pierre Guiran and Cherie de Boer, perform concerts as follows:
April 6th, 8pm, at De Wisseling, kanaaldijk 140, Koedijk, near Alkmaar.
April 17th, 9pm, Sint Pieterpoortsteeg 33,Van de Nes, Amsterdam
May 20th, 3pm to 5pm, Lokhorstkerk, Pieterskerkstraat 1, Leiden
May 27th, 2.30pm to 5pm, open air concert, National Park, Voorburg
June 10th, 1pm to 2.30pm, Paradijs, Nicolaas Beetsstraat 48,
Enschede; lunch at noon
The Accordion Pops Orchestra under conductor Daniel Desiderio presents their third ‘Concert of Hope’ to benefit the ALS Hope Foundation, 7.30pm on April 21st, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
The orchestra's roots can be traced to 1970, when it was founded by the Accordion Teachers' Association of New Jersey. Most of the twenty-five plus members of the orchestra are professional musicians or teachers. Many are soloists in their own right. The orchestra performs a repertoire of light classical, Broadway, big band and popular music. It has entertained audiences at concert halls, county fairs, festivals, schools, and playhouses at many locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.
A
grand accordion concert is to be held on April 17th, 7pm, at the Shire
Hall, Howden, Yorkshire DN14 7BJ. The guest list includes accordionists
Pearl
Fawcett-Adriano (picture right), George Syrett, Harry Hussey,
Murray Grainger, Sam Pirt, and the Wetherby Accordion Band (MD Brian
Hibbert). George Syrett will also act as compere.
From
5pm there will be a trade show, involving The Music Room, Kestrel
Publications, Harry’s Old Time Music Stall and Rob
Howard’s ‘An
A to Z of the Accordion&rsquo (picture left);. Murray Grainger
will be demonstrating the Roland
Virtual Accordion.
The event is organised by Hull accordionist Harry Kipling, and all profits will go towards cancer research.
The Paris Jazz Festival is an annual summer event, which presents a programme of free concerts in the beautiful surroundings of the Parc Floral, with concerts every Saturday and Sunday from June 9th to July 29th. The artistes involved are Big Band Mania, Swing Manouche, Jeunes Pousses and World Fusion. The concerts begin at 3pm and entry is free.
The
lively folk band Toques do Caramulo, featuring accordionist Luís
Fernandes, tour venues on the Iberian coast of Portugal, where they
will be promoting their new CD ‘Toques do Caramulo é
au Vivo’. Their concert dates are as follows:-
April 11th, 10.30pm - La Fabrica de Chocolate Club, Vigo, Galiza
12th, 10.30pm - Casa das Crechas, Santiago de Compostela, Galiza
13th, 11.50pm – Con do Moucho, Illa de Arousa, Galiza
14th, 11pm - Barriga Verde, Lalín, Galiza
20th, 11pm - Bar Liceum, O Porriño, Galiza
21st, midnight - Pub Gatos, Melides, Galiza
24th, 10.30pm – Avenida da Praia, Sines
25th, 5.30pm – Teatro da Luz, Lisbon
In
honour of Maestro Gicaomo Carrisi (1906-1990) composer, director and
music teacher, the first National Composer Competition will be organised
on the October 27th at 4pm at the Salone del Circolo, Piazza Dante
87060 Mirto Crosia, Cosenza, under the direction of the artistic director
Gennaro Ruffolo.
The jury will be: President Carmine Di Marco (Premio Oscar Mondiale
di Composizione), Giuliano
Cameli (picture left) Pasquale De Rosa and Michelina Di
Nella.
AccordionLinks.com – the largest accordion linking site in the world has had a complete makeover and the addition of a very useful search box near the top of the page.
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Deutsch
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On March 23rd in Moscow, at the 20th jubilee ‘HIKA’ (the Russian ‘Oscar’) award ceremony of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts, Aidar Gainullin - composer, artiste, singer, winner of 18 international accordion competitions, the grant-aided student of fund of M. Rostropovich - has received a figurine for the best music for the Russian film ‘Euphoria’. Aidar Gainullin has also recently received the National Award for the ‘Best Music’ from film critics for ‘The White Elephant’. The ceremony for this award took place in Moscow’s famous Vsevolod Meyerhold-Center.
AccordionLinks.com
AccordionLinks.com
is a co-operation between Webmaster 
‘Days of Macedonian Music 2007’, Skopje – Macedonia
At
the concert of Young Macedonian Composers, students of the composition
classes at the Faculty of Music – Skopje, held on March 30th
in the City Museum of Skopje, Macedonian composer Elizabeta Ilievska
(picture left) presented her new work ‘Hand’ - trio for
violin, viola and accordion.
The
trio (picture above) consisted of: Kliment Todorovski- violin, Bojan
Taleski- viola, and Bojan Volcevski - accordion, was prepared by Professor
Zorica Karakutovska (picture right). This was another successful co-operation
between Professor Karakutovska and this young composer, her ex-accordion
student when ‘Hand’ was very well received by the large
audience and music critics wrote, this was an excellent new work.
‘Speedy’
Gonzales at 
Multi
World Champion “Speedy” Julian Gonzales (France - picture
left) will be joining a star line up for the 62nd 
The
National Association of Accordion & Fiddle Club annual festival
took place at the Brunton Halls in the Scottish borders town of Musselburgh
on the first Saturday in March. The weather was kinder than last year,
enabling more competitors to travel long distances. There were 5 halls
in use throughout the day, and the various accordion and fiddle sections
proved to be competitive. Highlights from the bands competition and
the evening concert involving prize winners were broadcast by BBC
Radio Scotland on the following two Saturdays. 
The duo 
The Accordion Pops Orchestra under conductor Daniel Desiderio presents their third ‘Concert of Hope’ to benefit the ALS Hope Foundation, 7.30pm on April 21st, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
A
grand accordion concert is to be held on April 17th, 7pm, at the Shire
Hall, Howden, Yorkshire DN14 7BJ. The guest list includes accordionists
From
5pm there will be a trade show, involving The Music Room, Kestrel
Publications, Harry’s Old Time Music Stall and 
The Paris Jazz Festival is an annual summer event, which presents a programme of free concerts in the beautiful surroundings of the Parc Floral, with concerts every Saturday and Sunday from June 9th to July 29th. The artistes involved are Big Band Mania, Swing Manouche, Jeunes Pousses and World Fusion. The concerts begin at 3pm and entry is free.
The
lively folk band Toques do Caramulo, featuring accordionist Luís
Fernandes, tour venues on the Iberian coast of Portugal, where they
will be promoting their new CD ‘Toques do Caramulo é
au Vivo’. Their concert dates are as follows:-
In
honour of Maestro Gicaomo Carrisi (1906-1990) composer, director and
music teacher, the first National Composer Competition will be organised
on the October 27th at 4pm at the Salone del Circolo, Piazza Dante
87060 Mirto Crosia, Cosenza, under the direction of the artistic director
Gennaro Ruffolo.
