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Editors note: It is certainly interesting how you can often change people's perception of the accordion as a classical instrument. Most non-accordionists will know that the accordion can be used in music styles such as South American dance music, Irish music, and traditional European music. In the news last week was an item about Tatiana Lanchtchikova who played the accordion with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra. It was the first time that the orchestra members had performed with an accordionist. They were highly impressed with the sound of the instrument and certainly changed more than one mind about the value the accordion can bring to an orchestra.
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RICHARD GALLIANO TO PERFORM IN JAPAN Contributed by Reiko Maeyama From August 25th to 30th, Richard Galliano will perform twice nightly concerts at the "Blue Note Tokyo" at 7pm and 9.30pm. The venue is a five-minute walk from Ginza-line "Omotesandoh" station. Band members are: Richard Galliano (accordion), Dider Rockwood (violin) and Bireli Lagrene (guitar). Admission is 8,400 yen.
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ACCORDION IN PARADE IN IRELAND Contributed by Reuters News Service A parade with hymns played by accordion bands is planned in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately it will be kept very small because of the turmoil in the province and is commemorating its Protestants and Catholics who died during World War I.
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1997 SHANGHAI ACCORDION EXHIBITION FESTIVAL, CHINA Contributed by Shein Joe The 1997 Shanghai Accordion Exhibition Festival recently saw more than 2,000 accordionists taking part over 10 days, using 18 venues. During the Festival, the audience was treated to several performances made by past international competition winners. Amongst them, Zhou Jing was introduced as the 1994 Australian International and South Pacific Champion and the top 3 placegetters from the 1996 French Accordion Championships also performed solo. The main aim of the Festival was to promote and heighten the popularity of the accordion and to improve the standard of accordion performance.
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KIMBERLEY OLDE TIME ACCORDION COMPETITIONS, USA Contributed by Tom Collins The winner of the Happy Hans Trophy at the Kimberley Olde Time Accordion Competitions held from July 7th to 12th, was Mike Belitz of Stevensville, Montana, a member of the "Five Valleys Accordion Association" of Missoula, Montana. Mike did an impeccable performance Of "Tyrolean Echoes", a Bavarian polka.
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ACCORDION AND HARMONICA DAY IN GROESBEEK, NETHERLANDS Contributed by Henk Kuik On August 31st, a well known Dutch event "Accordion and Harmonica Day" will be held in Groesbeek (near Nymegen). The event has an open stage where many accordion and harmonica friends can perform from amateurs to professionals. There are also stands for accordion retailers. The event starts at 11am, admission Hfl.5. (Players and partners free) Entertainers include: Yvonne Op 't Hof, Theo Diepenbrock, Anja en Tanja, Trekzak-Instituut Joop van Doorn uit Druten, Wijchense Liederentafel, John Steenbergen and Frans Krol.
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ACCORDIONIST PERFORMS IN TALLEST BUILDING OPENING CELEBRATIONS – NEW ZEALAND Contributed by Harley Jones Top New Zealand Jazz accordionist Grant "Yogi" Martin performed for 6½ hours on Sunday August 3rd, at the opening of Auckland's Sky City Casino new "Sky Tower". There were hundreds of thousands of people watching as it was launched with a barrage of fireworks and a fantastic laser show. Playing virtually non-stop, Yogi thrilled the crowds by wandering amongst them performing many requests from the queue wanting to be the first up the tower, which is now the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, at 324 meters.
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THE FIRST ACCORDION REPAIRERS TRAINING CLASS - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie From August 15th to 21st the first accordion repairers training class will be held at the Beijing Workers' Palace in Beijing city. This class has been organised by the Chinese Accordion Society, "Parrot" Accordion Manufacturing and "Xing Hai" Musical Instrument Manufacturing. The aim is to train more accordion repairers in China, improving after sales service. The teachers are professional accordion repairers of Chinese Accordion manufacturers, and the courses contain many practical techniques of accordion repairs including regular maintenance and tuning. About 40 accordionists have enrolled and the organisers have decided to make this an annual event in the future.
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JIMMY STEWART REMEMBERED AS AN ACCORDIONIST IN LIFE MAGAZINE Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association When actor Jimmy Stewart passed away last month, Hollywood lost one of its foremost leading men of the golden age of film and the accordion world lost a great exponent of our favourite instrument. Life magazine said it all in a double-page spread photograph of the late star playing his accordion. Some of the actor's biography speaks of the role his accordion played throughout his long and colourful life. "While in college, he went on the road with a magician. It was Jimmy's job to play the accordion during awkward moments." "At Princeton University, his ability to play the accordion helped him win a role in a Dramatic production. After graduating, he accepted an offer from Josh Logan to join the University Players, a summer stock group. It was his job to play the accordion in the tea room next to the theatre and do some small walk-on parts." Alluding to Stewart's lifelong interest in the accordion, "He obviously did much more than just tinker with the instrument." Jimmy was often photographed with his accordion and sometimes played it in his films.
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1998 AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION CHAMPIONSHIPS & FESTIVAL Contributed by Tania Lukic-Marx The dates and venue have been confirmed for the 1998 Australian Accordion Teachers Association annual Championships and Festival. They will be held from May 22nd to 24th, at the Strathfield South Public School, 457 Liverpool Road, Enfield 2136, Strathfield, Sydney, Australia. For further information, see the AATA site.
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ACCORDION ENSEMBLE "CON BRIO", TILBURG, NETHERLANDS Contributed by Evert Grem The Accordion Ensemble "Con Brio" was formed in March 1986. The name "Con Brio" is often used in music, and means "With Fire". Their repertoire consists of light classical music, well-known film music, world hits and popular music as well as original accordion pieces. They have competed successfully in national and international contests including the Netherlands competition for accordion orchestras in Dieren (Gelderland), and in 1989 were Champions of the Vine-region in Brussels. On October 18th, the ensemble will perform at an exchange concert in Tilburg with the Eindhovense Mouth Harmonica Club at 8pm.
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ACCORDION ORCHESTRA HOF CONCERT, GERMANY Contributed by Günther Zeilinger On August 28th, Accordion Orchestra Hof will perform in concert at the "Kurhaus" in Bischofsgrün. at 7.30pm. They will play a new program which includes Bolero from Ravel, and The Moldau from Smetana. Also performing will be soloists Claudia Wolf and Marion Rei, who will also perform duo with Florian Weichert. September 14th sees the orchestra recording two folk music pieces for a TV event in 1998 with the TV station MDR. The first piece is a German polka "Guten Morgen", and the second is a Swiss waltz "Rigi-Fest". The program will be broadcast throughout the whole of Europe. Following this, the Accordion Orchestra Hof will be touring South Africa from September 18th to October 5th. For further details on this tour see Future Events.
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ACCORDIONIST PERFORMS IN MIANYANG CITY - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie On August 10th at 7.00 pm, Ms Luo Linna, (who won many prizes at the American Accordionists' Association Festival & Competition in Washington D.C. in July), held her first accordion concert at the Mianyang Workers' Auditorium, Mianyang City. The concert was very well received because Luo Linna (16 years old) is the youngest accordion performer to hold a solo accordion concert in Mianyang City. An audience of approximately 2,000 watched her excellent performance which included her competition winning music as well as traditional Chinese music. Mianyang TV Station broadcast the concert live and reporters from the TV Station held interviews.
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NEW ACCORDION MANUFACTURER IN IRELAND Contributed by Shirley McGrath A new accordion manufacturer has set up in Ireland. The Cairdin Accordions (pronounced Cor-deen) factory is based in Rathkeale, County Limerick and is managed by Paddy Clancy. They produce accordions in a wood finish, in 2, 3 and 4 reed combinations, and have a choice of handmade or export reeds.
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Contributed by Tatiana Lanchtchikova The first six months of the year have been very busy for Russian accordion students as they have been working towards the completion of two big 45 minute examination programs (December and June) which included a variety of music, from Bach to modern. In addition they were required to play two technical programs which included etudes, scales, and two small 20 minute concerts. Now after their final exams in June and entry exams in July (for entry to Conservatories and Colleges), the students and teachers are enjoying a summer holiday.
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KD LANG'S CD FEATURES ACCORDIONIST Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association Good Morning America (ABC-TV) recently featured sensational vocalist KD Lang in a segment which opened with the sweet strains of an accordion as cameras panned in on Teddy Borowiecki playing the intro to "Constant Craving," a cut on her Warner Bros. CD, "Ingenue." A week earlier, KD Lang performed with the Boston Pops and Teddy Borowiecki's red accordion maintained both visual and audible prominence on that TV broadcast as well. A Grammy award winner, Lang took Best Pop Female Vocal Performer honours too, singing her way through several platinum and gold hit recordings right up to her newest CD, "Drag". Known for her varied styles, KD Lang is into "adult contemporary" and has a vast following. Teddy Borowiecki has been with the songstress for about 13 years, dating back to her old band, the Reclines, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As an important member of her backup group, Teddy performs on both accordion (his original instrument) and piano. Interestingly, almost all of KD Lang's nine recordings include some accordion.
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IRISH GROUP PERFORMING IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND Contributed by Vince McHale Irish accordionist Morris Crum together with the Irish band "From Glen to Glen" have been performing in Auckland, New Zealand over the last three weeks. The group come from Antrim & Derry in Northern Ireland and perform traditional Irish songs in their native language as well popular tunes such as "Carick Fergus" and "Wind beneath your wings". Group members are: Leo McCaffrey (vocals), Morris Crum (accordion), and family members Francie Brolly (guitar and vocals), Anne Brolly (vocals), with their daughters Aine and Nodlag (vocals, harp and flute).
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EMAILS (ACCORDION TO THE EDITOR) Subject: misprinting? Hello Your page about REEDS says: "Hand Made. This is best cut of reed. The reed plates are hand cut and made of the best steel, called Duraluminium" I'm sure it's a mistake in printing, because Duraluminium does not contain any steel at all and is an alloy of aluminum and copper. And the term Duraluminium probably means "durable aluminum". Michael Berenstein Hi Michael, I'm not sure which is correct. I have forwarded your Email onto two accordion repairer friends of mine to clarify this. If it needs changing, I will do so and let you know in due course. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! Regards,
Wayne Knights
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