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Editors note: Yesterday in New Zealand we had something that rarely happens for the accordion huge media exposure. Not a small item stuck in the back either a full blown colour photo of Grant "Yogi" Martin appeared on New Zealand's nationwide newspaper "The Herald". After speaking to him on the phone, he says he was swamped with requests to perform here, there and everywhere! It's certainly great to see the accordion in the limelight. Yogi also performed live on New Zealand's national music TV station, at the primetime of 8pm. A great way to end the week!
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ACCORDION FESTIVAL IN MONTMAGNY, QUE'BEC CANADA Contributed by Leo Manville Le Carrefour mondial del'accorde'on will be held from August 29th to September 1st in Montmagny, Quebec, Canada which is both USA and Canada's Labour Day Holiday Weekend. A range of different activities have been organised for this festival including an impressive exhibition of instruments and photographs which shows the relationship between the Irish culture and the development of Irish traditional music; the making of a diatonic accordion; records and cassettes from accordionists from all over the world; lectures on the bandoneon and the philosophy of the squeeze-box by Pierre Monette; a children's corner; an exhibition of accordion manufacturers, or you can get your accordion valued by Romolo Bitocchi. Indoor and outdoor concerts throughout the festival will feature talents such as Geert Oude Weernink (Holland), Len Wallace (Canada), Rabaska (France), Mario Tacca and Mary Mancini (USA), Pinnin Pojat (Finland), Ildo Patriarca and Victor Sanchez (Argentina), Pierrick Cordonnier and Jean-Luc Revault (Brittany) and Bernard Fιlix and Norman Formanger (Canada). A four course dinner with host Peter Pringle and guest accordionists Jean-Louis Noton and Serge Duchesne will be held at 6pm on Friday, (29th), a ball on Saturday night (30th) and a musical farewell brunch from 10am - 1pm on Monday (1st). For further information see Future Events.
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CEMAES INTERNATIONAL CELTIC FESTIVAL - WALES Contributed by Neil Browning Cemaes International Celtic Festival will be held from August 22nd to 25th at the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. The opening ceremony will be held at 2 pm on Friday (22nd) with Welsh musicians, singers and dancers performing music of welcome On Saturday (23rd) there will be workshops for the accordion, fiddle, harp and whistle and at the completion of the workshops, an afternoon concert will be held to show the results of the morning sessions. Throughout the weekend there will also be a variety of Celtic concerts, recitals, lectures, street parties, displays and exhibitions. |
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ACCORDION ENSEMBLE PERFORM IN ROSMALEN, NETHERLANDS Contributed by Evert Grem On July 13th, the Con Brio Accordion Ensemble performed at a concert with the Royal Accordion Club "Blij Leven" ("Happy Life") in the Community centre "De Bron" in Rosmalen, Netherlands The Chairman of "Blij Leven" welcomed the visitors to this concert which was held to celebrate the end of the first 6 months of the year. The "Blij Leven" orchestra (conducted by Henk Thiebosch) performed a variety of music such as:
The program of the Con Brio Ensemble (conducted by Mrs Margriet Ras) included Dutch compositions such as: Treble Concerto (T. Huggens) Typical Music (Suite 5 pieces) (J. Holvast)
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ACCORDION MUSIC DURING THE EUROPEAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP IN SEVILLA SPAIN Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl At the 23rd European Swimming Championship in Sevilla Spain, two great Russian swimmers Brousnikina Olga and Kisseleva Maria who were representing their nation in synchronised swimming, performed to the rhythm of an Argentine tango played on the accordion.
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4TH CHINA INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION FESTIVAL, BEIJING, CHINA Contributed by Toru Katou The 4th China International Accordion Festival" was held in Beijing from August 11th to 15th. The grand opening included hundreds of Chinese accordionists playing accordion tunes. During the five day event accordionists from Germany, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Yugoslavia performed, with young Chinese accordionists performing on the final day. Next year, at the 5th Festival (on August 15th 1998) it is planned to attempt a world record with the largest accordion ensemble for the Guinness Book of Records.
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"MAMI CUP" MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COMPETITION - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie A competition is being held from August 16th to September 7th at the Middle School attached to Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China. This competition is sponsored by Shanghai "Dong-Fang" TV Station, and is divided into three sections: Accordion, Violin and Piano.
More than 400 children will participate in the event including 100 accordionists. Competition dates are as follows:
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RUSSIAN ACCORDIONIST PASSED AWAY Contributed by Tatiana Lanchtchikova On July 26th, Russian accordionist Anatoliy Shalaev passed away. Anatoliy Shalaev is known in Russia and abroad as a performer, composer and arranger of many solo and duo accordion pieces. He was a founder of the Bayan Duo with Nikolay Krjilov and from 1943 to 1979 they have given many concerts in Russia, Europe and USA. They have also accompanied many famous Russian singers including Ludmila Zjikina. As a solo performer Anatoliy Shalaev was a laureate of the 1st diploma of the 6th International Students Festival in Moscow in 1957 and he has recorded more than 10 LP's which include his own compositions. Anatoli Shalaev has contributed to the popularity of the accordion in Russia, as his music, which is based on Russian traditional melodies, is played by many accordionists in Russia and other countries.
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ACCORDION PERFORMS WITH STAGE SHOW IN TAORMINA, ITALY Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl Renzo Ruggieri has composed and arranged the stage music for the theatrical piece "The Abduction of Proserpina" by Rosso Di San Secondo, staged by the A.C. Retablo theatre company from Catania and directed by Federico Magnano San Lio. The show opened on August 1st in the beautiful "Teatro Antico" in Taormina, as part of the festival Taormina Arte 97 (Music-Cinema-Theatre) under the artistic direction of Giorgio Albertazzi and included a small live band featuring an accordionist, dancers, singers and of course actors, for a total of more than fifty artists. The leading actors were the famous Judith Malina and Hanon Reznikov from the "Living Theatre" of New York. An important role was reserved to the solo accordion that, besides opening the show, underlined all the main interventions of one of the protagonists. Critics and reviews have been positive and encouraging. This is not the first time that Ruggieri uses this extraordinary instrument for stage music. In fact, in 1993, at the Colosseo Theatre in Rome, he wrote the whole soundtrack for the show "Doppio Legame" (by Maria Piera Regoli-directed by F. Magnano San Lio-production A.C. Retablo), only for accordion.
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CONCERTS OF CLASSICAL ACCORDIONS IN PRATO, FLORENCE Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl In conjunction with the "International High Level Perfectioning Stage", the EOLO Centre of Research for the Accordion (Comune di Prato) has organised several concerts during September. These will be held at the Cappella del Convitto Cigognini, Piazza del Collegio Prato, Florence on the following dates:
Free Entry. For further information please contact: Patrizia Angeloni, Tel/Fax + 39 574 33530 or +39 338 8922673
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STOP PLAYING YOUR HEART OUT - UNITED KINGDOM The United Kingdom paper - Scottish Daily Record (18/7/97) recently featured an item about veteran accordionist Stan Curzon. "He has been banned from playing his beloved accordion because doctors fear it will give him a heart attack. Stan, who is 71 years old, has been playing tunes in Southsea, Hampshire for decades on his massive Bass Hohner accordion. He is now looking for something smaller and lighter, so he can continue playing."
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Contributed by Joan-Cochran Sommers Stas Venglevski, a Russian bayanist, will perform at 2 pm, Sunday September 14th, in the Theatre at Johnson County Community College. (This is a suburb of Kansas City, MO.) Tickets are US$12. ($8 for students and seniors). There will also be educational outreach activities on Monday, September 15th. The concert is part of JCCC's Young Artist Family Series, which shines the spotlight on new and emerging classical musicians. Venglevski is a graduate of the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. His concert will include pieces by Bach, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Shostakovich. His keyboard artistry, dazzling technique and sensitivity have brought Stas increasing acclaim as a virtuoso of the bayan..
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Contributed by Tom Collins The Northwest Accordion News recently included an article about excerpts from "Lady of Spain: History" by Toby Handon. "Lady of Spain" was written in the 1920's by three English songwriters who were fed up with English dance bands that played mostly American Music. They used an old Spanish folk song form and wrote a Spanish melody and some words for it. It soon became popular with big bands, especially Guy Lombardo. It was originally written as a quasi-Spanish fox trot. In the 1930's, American accordionists took up the piece and played it as their "Spanish" piece. One of the earliest pictures of Lawrence Welk shows him in his Spanish costume from his days of touring and with the George Kelly vaudeville troupe when he would perform Lady of Spain nightly. It really took off in the late 1940's when Dick Contino won the Horace Heidt radio talent competition. His version of Lady of Spain with its repeated notes, vigorous triple bellows shake, and sudden modulation from C to Bb has become the authoritative virtuoso version.
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"SUMMER CITY NIGHT" CONCERTS IN AUSTRIA Contributed by Franz Hochwimmer Every Wednesday evening throughout the summer, (until the end of August) in downtown Zell am See, Austria, the whole shopping centre swings and is a big stage for musicians, accordionists, bands, clowns and artists, who wander from street to street, and house to house. The shops all remain open until 10 pm. Wednesday evenings in Zell am See stand for:- meeting each other, conversation, entertainment and being happy, hence the name - "Summer City Night".
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A CHILDREN'S ACCORDION & ELECTRONIC ORGAN CONCERT IN WUXI CITY, CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie On August 19th in the Big Theatre of Wuxi city in Jiangsu province, China, a Children's Accordion Concert was held. This concert was sponsored by Wuxi Musicians Association and Wuxi Childrens Palace. About 20 accordionists aged from 7 to 12 years old played at the concert. There were 500 seats in the theatre, which was completely sold out. This is the first time a children's accordion concert has been held in Wuxi.
The program included solos, duets, and trios, with the highlight of the program including:
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NEW ACCORDION BOOK "THE ART OF EXPLORING PRACTICE" Contributed by Tom Collins A new book "The Art Of Exploring Practice" by Joe Morelli will be available soon. Do you enjoy practicing? Is practice productive for you? In this new book, Target; Focus, Joe Morelli presents a fresh & unique approach to practice that will help you examine your efforts and explore your creativity. Interested? Write to Joe Morelli, 2692 Lauralynn Drive, N. Vancouver, B.C. V7J 2Y5 CANADA.
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Contributed by Tatiana Lanchtchikova From August 14th to 26th American accordionist Robert Sattler will be in Moscow, Russia for rehearsals with Natasha and Viatcheslav Semionov. They will begin a 3 week concert tour on September 1st in USA, where they will perform solo, duo, and trio: two bayans and domra (Russian folk instrument). Included in their concert program will be music by various composers and compositions by Viatcheslav Semionov. When he is not rehearsing, Robert Sattler is sightseeing in Moscow.
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CHICAGO ACCORDION CLUB GUEST PERFORMERS - USA Contributed by Tom Collins
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