The
Frankfurt Musik Messe is currently underway at the Messe Frankfurt.
There is a strong accordion presence at this huge musical trade fair
with many manufacturers from many different countries exhibiting.
Public Visitors Day is Saturday 15th March and this day is an excellent
opportunity to hear many superb accordionists. It is also a good opportunity
to see a large variety of all types of bellows instruments from various
accordion manufacturers displaying at this huge musical event.
There will be a full report of the Frankfurt Musik Messe in next weeks
news.
Vladimir Mollov at 'Django in June', Massachusetts
- USA
Leading
Bulgarian accordion virtuoso Vladimir Mollov will be teaching at this
year's 'Django in June', New England's premier occasion to celebrate
the 'Gypsy jazz' musical tradition unwittingly launched in France
in the early 1930s by Django Reinhardt. In 2008, the event will be
held between June 10th and 15th on the campus of Smith College in
Northampton, Massachusetts. Musicians from all over North America
attend, including accordionists, as well as lots of guitars, violins,
mandolins and basses. The instruction is top-notch and the evening
concerts and jam sessions are fantastic.
The accordion has a long and interesting association with Gypsy jazz.
Django Reinhardt's first gigs as a young professional were as an accompanist
playing musette dance music in dance halls in Paris.
Vladimir Mollov began studying the accordion at age seven, later studying
with Nadejda Nicheva in Kazanluk, Bulgaria, Peter Marinov, who is
a Professor in the National Music Academy, with Hristina Danova, and
with Nedelcho Dimitrov. At the age of 13 he was placed 4th in an international
accordion competition held in Vladivistok, Russia. Throughout his
teens he was to either win or rank among the top contestants at a
series of competitions in Russia, Bulgaria and Italy, winning accolades
and awards for his playing of both folk music and jazz.
Vladimir Mollov is currently working on composing, arranging and recording
a solo accordion album featuring folklore, jazz and some new experimental
fusion styles.
Finnish
accordionist Mika
Vayrynen will perform 'Seven Words' by Sofia Gubaidulina in Tallinn,
the capital of Estonia, on March 22nd. Mika will join cellist Ramon
Jaffe in this performance with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under
the direction of Andres Mustonen.
In addition to this concerto performance, Mika is making final preparations
for the much-anticipated World Premiere performance of the last composition
of the late Anatoli Kusjakov, his Sonata No. 7 - 'Misterium'. Details
will be announced soon.
Alternative
rock legends and Grammy winners 'They Might Be Giants', accordionist
John Linnell and guitarist John Flansburgh, have released a new CD
'The Else'. They celebrate the release of their latest album with
a concert on March 15th, 6.30pm, at the Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid
Ave NE, Atlanta, Georgia.
Formed as a duo in 1982, 'They Might Be Giants' enjoyed an amazing
run of breakthrough videos on MTV in the late 80s and early 90s. Their
album 'Flood' was a best seller. The duo expanded to a five piece
band, and developed a reputation as a "must see" live show.
In the late 1990s the band began expanding their horizons into television,
movies, and the internet, notably contributing the opening theme to
an 'Austin Powers' movie, 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart', and the
Grammy winning song 'Boss of Me' for 'Malcolm in the Middle'.
The
2009 Coupe
Mondiale will also include "World Accordion Orchestra III"
to be conducted by famous conductors Fritz Dobler (Germany), Joan
Sommers (USA) and Gary
Daverne (NZ). The superb Bruce Mason Centre venue has a large
stage able to fit over 130 players from around the world, ideal for
orchestral concerts and has excellent live acoustics that enables
solo accordionists to be easily heard throughout the 1,000 seat venue.
Normally
the Coupe Mondiale information is released about one year before the
event but with New Zealand being a more distant destination, the information
is being released earlier to help planning by potential competitors
and accordion orchestras. Many accordionists and enthusiasts are already
planning this "chance of a lifetime" trip to New Zealand,
who hosted the Coupe Mondiale last in 1980, to excellent acclaim.
Those
Darn Accordions, an eccentric accordion sextet who describe themselves
as "America's favorite rock 'n' roll band", want to put
together the top 20 TDA tracks of all time and make them available
as a custom "best of" iMix for download on iTunes.
TDA would like to know what numbers their fans like the most, and
are asking their fans to select their favorite numbers from the band's
various CDs.
TDA say: "So, whip out your iPod or your TDA CDs and cassettes,
and give 'em a listen. Then e-mail us a list of your favorite 20 TDA
songs of all time, along with your snail-mail address, and we'll send
you a free bumper sticker for your help.
Accordionist
Lisa-Lee Leslie will be touring with the play 'Spies', by Michael
Frayn, from March 11th to May 31st 2008. 'Spies', an adaptation by
Michael Frayn from his best selling novel, is a psychological drama
set in wartime Britain, and its many neat touches include live cello
and accordion accompaniment. 'Spies' is a Theatre Alibi and Oxford
Playhouse co-production. The dates are as follows:
March 11th to 15th - Greenwich Theatre, London
18th to 20th - Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
April 1st to 5th - The Nuffield Theatre, Southampton
8th to 12th - New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
15th to 19th - Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
22nd to 26th - Northcott Theatre, Exeter
29th to May 3rd - Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
May 6th to 10th - The Lowry, Salford Quays
13th to 17th - Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke
27th to 31st - Lighthouse Theatre, Poole
Concerts
featuring Italian accordionist Marco
Lo Russo scheduled for March 14th at the French Consulate in Pristina,
Kosovo, and on board a ship on the 15th have been cancelled due to
contractual difficulties.
French
accordionist Richard Galliano is in concert during March as follows:
March 14th - Mare Nostrum, Genèva, Switzerland
15th - Mare Nostrum, Basel
16th Mare Nostrum, Ystad, Sweden
17th - Mare Nostrum, Salle Gaveau, Paris
20th - Concert with Delphine Haidan, Auditorium du Petit Palais, Paris
20th - Mare Nostrum, Poggibonsi, Florence, Italy
For further information email: ginga@wanadoo.fr
Marianske Accordion Orchestra Concert, Meath - Republic
of Ireland
The Marianske Accordion Orchestra, from the city of Marianske Lazne
in the Czech Republic are in concert in the town of Ratoath, County
Meath, on April 19th. Sharing the concert are the K & S Accordion
Band, who have won various All Ireland and Irish Marching Band Association
competitions.
The second Festival de Accordeonslag is a series of 60 concerts, workshops,
etc, in ten cities in the Netherlands throughout March 2008. Artistes
include Appollo'77, Raúl Barboza - Argentina, Carel Kraayenhof,
Lady Angelina, Deux Accords Diront, Oleg Fateev Trio Kruis en Mol,
Chango Spasiuk - Brazil, Lerner Mogluievski Dúo, TOEAC, and
many others.
New information upon artists on the website of accordion manufacturer
Fisitalia
New information on the website of the accordion producer Beltuna/Castelfidaro/Italy
Gary Dahl - accordionist as well as a composer, arranger, recording
artist and music educator,updates 3 of his works and release 1 new
work for accordion available for purchase online, Maria
Elena, '12th
Street Rag' and 'You
Can't Be True Dear'. 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.
New concert information for Pascal
Contet of France.
CD
Reviews and DVD Reviews index page updated. See over 248
reviews of recordings since 1997 to 2008 by Renato Belardinelli, Tania
Lukic-Marx, Alessandro Mugnoz, Paolo Picchio and Joan C. Sommers -
a huge resource of information for those interested in accordion recordings.
Cavagnolo
have a new website, which will also soon be available in English.