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Editors note: It certainly seems as though a great time was held by all at the AAA Festival! Many are now moving onto the ATG Festival, from which we will have a report next week. On a personal note, the orchestra I direct resumes rehearsals next week, after a break for school holidays. We will begin preparations for a trip at the end of this year, around the North Island of New Zealand.
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AAA FESTIVAL A GREAT SUCCESS - USA Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association The American Accordionists' Association members are totally elated as they depart from Washington, DC, the site of the 1997 Accordion Festival. Never before has so much positive publicity for our instrument come out of any event. Attendees bombarded the organisers with praise about the concerts and related accordion events. The resounding question has been "How will you ever top this one?" The AAA officers are already working on doing exactly that for 1998. The outing to the Capitol steps where four bus loads of accordionists played a patriotic medley, while 24 different media groups (TV, radio and newspapers) buzzed around us. The French musette players from Institut Thepaz were sublime. The US Army Strolling Strings featuring accordionist Manuel Bobenrieth was a never-to-be-forgotten spectacle. The Chinese students, accompanied by Wu Shouzhi, the President of the Accordion Association of China, arrived late due to visa problems, but played well and captured many trophies. The Friday night Tribute Concert honoured eight accordion dignitaries and their lifetime accomplishments on behalf of the accordion. There were two hours of performance and interviews with Tony Perkins on the Fox News TV broadcast, in addition to a series of performance spots and interviews on other programs. Joan Cochran Sommers head of the accordion department of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, conducted the accordion massed band on the Capitol steps and also at the Testimonial Banquet. She says of the event; "It is really beyond anything the accordion has ever seen or dreamed of! I have had numerous calls from newspapers, radio, and TV publicity". Even the BBC called for information about the event, indicating that publicity was world-wide. The AAA requests that readers of this Weekly News send us copies of newspaper clippings and let us know of any radio and TV publicity which have appeared locally regarding this event. The AAA is trying to compile a list of the publicity that was generated by the 1997 Festival to help promote future events. Please send clippings and information to: Faithe Deffner, American Accordionists' Association, P.O. Box 616, Mineola, NY 11501, USA
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"BEIJING CUP" ACCORDION COMPETITION Contributed by Wu Jie On July 7th and 8th, the Beijing Cup Accordion Competition was held in Jingshan Park, Beijing for amateur accordion players. The competition was sponsored by the Chinese Accordion Society. Classes were as follows:
There were more than 200 accordionists participating, most of them being children of Beijing. All were required to play one etude and two own choice pieces, one of which had to be traditional Chinese music.
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INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION SEMINARS IN POLAND Contributed by Natalie Semionova From June 30th to July 7th, International Accordion Seminars were held in Mietne, Poland. There were more than 60 participants, comprising of students of various levels of education. Seminars were held by famous professors, who included Lech Puchnowski and Emi Yjurek from Poland, Viatcheslav Semionov from Russia and Finnish teacher and performer, Elina Leskela. Seminars were held like individual lessons, where students could choose their own teacher, which meant that each teacher gave up to 65 lessons while they were there. Every evening, concerts were held by both students and teachers, with the repertoire consisting of mainly contemporary Russian and Poland composers.
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47TH ACCORDION WORLD TROPHY - ANDORRA Contributed by Mr. Bio Boccosi of Strumenti e Musica This year the 47th edition of the Accordion World Trophy will take place in Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra, from October 1st to 5th. Competitors will come from the following countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine and Andorra. Each country is allowed to contribute a maximum of six accordionists. Participants will be divided into three categories: Junior (up to 18 years of age), Senior (up to 30 years of age), and Variety (up to 30 years of age). The competition is being organised by the Confederatio National de l'Accordeon in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Andorra. Further information on this important international event can be obtained from the Segreteria Generale of C.M.A - Via Redipuglia, 30 - 60122 Ancona, Italy. Phone +39 71-201133, Fax +39 71-52663.
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SWEDISH ACCORDIONIST TO PERFORM IN JAPAN Contributed by Toru Katou Swedish accordionist Lars Holm will give a lecture and performance on August 2nd from 2 to 4.30pm at the Vieplan Theatre, Shinjuku, Tokyo (only a 30 second walk from Shinjukugyoenmae Station of Marunouchi Subway). Lars Holm will play a variety of accordion tunes including Swedish pop music on a chromatic accordion with both free bass and standard bass. In Japan, chromatic and free bass accordions are less popular than piano accordions, which most Japanese accordionists use with standard bass. The admission is 3,200yen. For further information see Future Events.
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ACCORDIONIST TO HONOUR SINGER IN PLAY Contributed by Claude Cavagnolo of Europe Musique Instruments Frenchman Michel Nourry will feature on his accordion in the play "He! V'nez les potes" at the Theatre de l'Oulle, France from July 10th to 27th. This is to be held in the memory of Boby la Pointe, a singer who has mysteriously disappeared.
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ACCORDION QUINTET TO BE PREMIERED IN ENGLAND Contributed by Adrian Williams UK composer, Adrian Williams, has been commissioned by Canadian player Joseph Petric to write a new Quintet which will be premiered by him in England soon, with the Vanbrugh String Quartet. Adrian Williams is a winner of the Menuhin Prize for composition, and is one of the most versatile and naturally engaging musicians of his generation whose unique career has touched upon many different musical fields. His new Quintet is a fiery and virtuosic piece, 15 minutes in one movement, which will draw audiences to the edges of their seats.
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CHICAGO ACCORDION CLUB PRESENTS CONCERTS - USA Contributed by Tom Collins On Monday July 21st, The Chicago Accordion Club will present world renowned artists Mary Mancini and Mario Tacca in concert. Also performing are fine accordion artists, Gelso Pellegini and Anthony Rolando. The address of the concert location is: Elmhurst Legion Hall, 310 W. Butterfield Rd., Elmhurst, Illinois. Tickets are $13, which are available at the door.
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HEATHER MITCHELL-GLADSTONE TOURS GREAT BRITAIN Contributed by Harley Jones Heather Mitchell-Gladstone (an accomplished accordionist and vocalist) has just completed a 2 week tour to Britain. Her repertoire includes folk music, classics, jazz and popular ballads. Her appearances are always well received in New Zealand, Australia, USA, Britain and Europe where she performs on a regular basis. As well as singing and performing, Heather is also a teacher of the accordion and piano and has a Bachelor of Music degree in education and composition which has proved valuable while working extensively in numerous musical programs.
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DICK CONTINO IN CONCERT - CALIFORNIA, USA Contributed by Tom Collins The Accordion Lover Society International is sponsoring Dick Contino to perform a concert on September 14th, from 2 to 4pm. It will be held at the El Cajon Performing Arts Center, 210 E. Main St., El Cajon, CA, just outside of San Diego. Ticket prices range US$12 to $16. For further information phone +1 619-4535486.
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VIATCHESLAV SEMIONOV'S CONCERT SCHEDULE Contributed by Tatiana Lanchtchikova Professor Viatcheslav Semionov has had a very busy timetable for the last few months. He has recently returned from Mietne, Poland, where he taught and performed at the International Accordion Seminars. Before this, from June 10th to 23rd, along with his wife Natasha (who plays the domra, a Russian folk instrument) he had a concert tour to Sweden and Denmark. Apart from all this concert activity, Viatcheslav has been teaching at the Russian Gnessin's Musical Academy in Moscow. His students competed successfully in International Accordion Competitions, with Youry Medjanik and Dmitry Sokolov taking out the top two placing's in the 4th category at the International Accordion Competition in Klingenthal, Germany. Youry Medjanik has also won the Gran Pri Accordion Competition in Tula, Russia. From July 18th to 21st Viatcheslav is going to perform and give several seminars at the 3rd International Accordion Festival, which will take place in Alcobaca, Portugal. Following this will be a concert tour of the USA with his wife in September. For further information see Future Events.
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JAMBOREE & CAMPOUT - OREGON, USA Contributed by Tom Collins The Alpine Acres 5th Annual Musicians Jamboree & Campout will be held from August 29th to 31st in Oregon, USA. Included in the performances will be many accordion artists including Herb Eberle, The Schaeffer Bros, Polka Power California, Tony Pecorilla, Sam's Country Polka Gems, Dale Buse and Warren Pritchard. On Friday a fiesta will be held with the Los Gavilanes Mariachi Band and on Sunday a Polka Mass will be held at 12:30pm with Fr. Joe Black. Admission: 3 day pass US$30 per person, Friday & Saturday nights US$12 per person, Sunday US$10 per person.
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Contributed by Wu Jie On July 13th from 9 to 10.30am, Mr. Ying Qi, an accordion teacher in Guiyang, gave a lecture entitled "The Importance of Accordion Etudes" on "Guiyang People's Radio", a Radio Station in Guiyang. It is the first time that Mr Ying Qi has given such a lecture on the radio. In Guiyang city, many accordion amateur players do not regard accordion etudes as important in their daily practice. The central idea of Mr. Ying Qi's lecture is to aim directly at this problem. As well as speaking, he also played two accordion pieces and two etudes to demonstrate.
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CORRINE ROUSSELET TO RELEASE NEW CD - FRANCE Contributed by Claude Cavagnolo of Europe Musique Instruments A new musette CD is about to be released by Corinne Rousselet, playing the Cavagnolo Odyssee accordion. Tracks are to be named: "S.O.S. Musette", "Special Musette", "Prestige de Musette". For further information contact Corinne Rousselet, 64 rue Saint-Denis, 92700 Colombes, France. Phone + 33 1 47809040.
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EMAILS (ACCORDION TO THE EDITOR) Subject: Accordion Story Can you help me? This is my story.....I purchased an old lady's accordion before she died; true story. She was the original owner and I'm the second. She played it, but I never learned. So I now have this accordion and would like to trade it for a Guitar, but I have no idea how much its worth. I think the manufacturer is out of business. Chris Lewis I believe that they are out of business also. However, after having a look at the Yellow Pages Database, I have found the following listing for Colombo & Sons Accordion Corp. I have no idea if they are the same company, but I think you should give them a go. I personally have no idea as to the value of your accordion.
Colombo & Sons Accordion Corp The other thing I suggest is that you have a look on the page on the Yellow Pages Database page: http://www.accordions.com/index/mdr/accordion_man_dis_ret_t-z_1.shtml This is a list of Manufacturers, Distributors and Retailers in the USA. I suggest that you phone or fax the ones that are closest to you, they could be able to help. Good luck!
Wayne Knights
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EMAILS (ACCORDION TO THE EDITOR) Subject: Buy/Sell listing Last Thursday (July 10th) I submitted a listing for the buy and sell page. It was a Panjet 45 accordion listed as the seller: Matthew Bivins. So far it has not appeared on the list. Will I see it soon? Or did my email not reach you properly? Should I post again? Matthew Bivins Dear Matthew, Yes your email did reach us properly. We got it on the morning of Friday 11th. This is the day we update all our information, so we were very busy with that, and we had a large amount of submit forms to do also. Your listing went into our database on Monday 14th, and will appear tomorrow, Friday 18th. Good luck with selling the accordion! Best wishes,
Wayne Knights
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