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Editors note: There's certainly been a lot happening here lately. I would like to officially welcome Frederic Deschamps of France, to the Accordions Worldwide team. Frederic will soon have his own web page here, but I can assure those of you who have not heard of him that he is some player, having won the 1992 Coupe Mondiale. If you would like to welcome him, or have any queries in French, please email him at: DESCHFR@aol.com. We now have new information and price schedules for internet sites, which are available to accordionists, accordion businesses and organisations. Now included is a facility to update your own site whenever you want to as well as a free accordion internet site address: www.accordions.com/yourname. These pages will soon be available in German, Italian, French and Japanese.
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NEW HOHNER MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER FROM MUSIC BRANCH - GERMANY Contributed by Hartmut Lange from the Intermusik newspaper The secret about the new majority shareholder of the traditional Matth. Hohner AG from Trossingen, Germany, is unveiled: The HS Investment Group Inc. from the British Virgin Islands, a subsidiary of the K.H.S. Musical Instrument Company a worldwide leading manufacturer of musical instruments from Taipei, Taiwan. The former majority shareholder, the Kunz Holding GmbH & Co. KG from Gschend/Württemberg, Germany still have some shares and the rest of the shares is spread. Under pressure from the media and the public the big secret was (just before the shareholders' meeting) unveiled, after more and more hints led to Taiwan. The K.H.S. Musical Instrument Company (founded in 1930) looks back on a history of fast and ongoing growth. The group, with 1,000 employees worldwide, had a turnover of $US 90 million in 1996. With production plants in Japan, Taiwan, USA and China and a worldwide distribution network, K.H.S. is today one of the "Global Players" in the musical instruments business. Their products range from wind instruments, strings up to drums. The assortments of the K.H.S. and the Matth. Hohner AG (accordions and mouth-organs) will perfectly harmonise, says Helmut Menges, speaker of the board of directors of Matth. Hohner AG.
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CAISTER ACCORDION FESTIVAL - ENGLAND Contributed by Gary Blair The Caister Accordion Festival was held from November 13th to 16th and organised by "Accordion Times & News", England. The Opening Night concert (Thursday 13th) was an accordion club type night with the accordionists performing if they so wished. Pino di Modugno from Italy was asked to play as a taster for Saturday night. He was absolutely dynamite!!! His programme started off with Dizzy Fingers (at a tempo I would have thought impossible!) followed by a couple of other well known tunes. Friday's concert started with The Weaver Valley Band, followed by a great Duo called Amarylis and Gary Blair's band. After an Interval, we were privileged to hear Julie Best and Ron Hodgson followed by Pat Gray from Aberdeen playing a variety of music. Then the Star of Friday's concert, Magnus Johnnsson (only 19 years old and won the Frosini Grand Prix which had 6,000 competitors!!) performed. His programme included a lot of Frosin's works, and he played brilliantly. Saturday's concert was also superb with the Ronmar Accordion Orchestra, Harry Hussey and his brilliant Jazz Band and a solo spot from Julie Best. Then it was the star of the show again, Pino di Modugno who was now playing on MIDI accordion. He started off with a Strauss medley then played ''Uridium'' by Astor Piazzola ( this was unbelievable!). He then totally blew my mind by performing ''Bumble Bee Boogie'' as good as anyone I have heard. My Band then finished off with a Ceilidh and the highlight for me was playing ''The Flying Scotsman'' with TWO drummers!
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RICHARD GALLIANO TO PERFORM IN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND Contributed by Jean-Claude Pouly On Friday December 19th the great french accordionist Richard Galliano will perform in a trio at the Tonhalle in Zurich, Switzerland with the king of swing violin Stephane Grappelli. Richard Galliano is the "inventor" of "New Musette" accordion, which integrates french musette, jazz and tango. He received the accordion "Trophée Mondial" in 1966 and 1967, and also received a 1st Prize in "Trombone" from the "Conservatorsy of Music" in Nice in 1970. Richard Galliano has accompanied several famous french singers like Barbara and Claude Nougaro on the accordion. He eventually met Astor Piazzolla during the 80's and was influenced by his "New Tango". He received the "Prix Django Reinhardt" in 1992 from the French Jazz Academy and often performs in trios and quartets. He has also "jammed" and recorded with many famous jazz musicians and composers.
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INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION FESTIVAL IN ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Contributed by Vladimir A. Ushakov On the last weekend of October an International accordion festival was held in St.Petersburg. This festival is an annual event and has been running for almost 15 years. Members of the organising commitee include famous Russian accordionists such as Alexander Dmitriev, Oleg Sharov and Viktor Dukaltetenko. During the three day festival there were various concerts and master classes held in the main Children's Art house, with accordion teachers from the St Petersburg district. During the evenings public concerts were held in the St Petersburg Concert hall. The last gala concert ran for about four hours with an audience of more than 700 people. This festival will be remembered by the performance of Russian accordionist Yuri Dranga and his son and Swedish guest of the festival, Chairman of the Frosini Society (Scandinavia) - Lars Ek. One week after the festival the city-radio broadcast an interview with Lars Ek with him playing Frosini music and his own compositions. There were also guests from France, Scandinavian countries and different parts of Russia.
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DANIELE VENTURI PERFORMS A CLASSICAL ACCORDION CONCERT - FLORENCE Contributed by Daniele Venturi On Saturday November 29th at 5.30pm, Daniele Venturi will give a classical accordion concert in the Crypt of the Basilica of Santa Croce, in Florence. The concert is being held as part of the exhibition "Tracian Glories - the Most Ancient Gold, the Treasures and the Myths" in honour of Bulgarian people. Venturi will perform varios works including pieces by W. Byrd, G. Frescobaldi, B. Pasquini, J.S. Bach, A. D'Auberge and F. Broz.
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4TH "HUA-YU" FAMILIES' ART COMPETITION - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie On November 26th, the 4th "Hua-Yu" Families' Art Competition was held in Chongqing "Happy World" Park in Jiangbei District, Chongqing, China. Over 300 members from about 100 families in Chongqing city participated in the event to display their talents. Mr Wang Yi's family participated in the contest as a family band. Mr Wang Yi has been an accordionist for ten years and played with his wife and son (guitar). There were over 30,000 people who attended this event.
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Contributed by Ray Anderson The Canadian Accordion Club (CAC) was started 12 years ago by Matt DeFlorio and Dixie Dean. They currently have meetings in fall and spring. After the spring meeting, (May or June) there is a banquet and accordion concert or a group featuring an accordionist. Canadian world accordion champion Iona Reed and her husband Karl Pukara have played two concerts. Grammy award winner Walter Ostanek, Toronto accordionist Joseph Macerollo and Leonard Turnevicius are some of the more famous accordionists featured. At every meeting information from the accordion world is usually announced by Heinz Siemens and members usually exchange music. Committee consists of:
Sylvia Carter - Chairperson
Membership is a lifetime fee of $25 (Canadian). Any one interested in joining please
contact Matt DeFlorio (Toronto)
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Contributed by Toby Hanson The Edmonton, Alberta Polkafest is an annual three day accordion polka festival and competition in Kimberley, Canada. There were 50 competitors this year in various classes ranging from "Kimberley-styled" old-time competition with the choice of playing 2 pieces (polka, waltz, schotisse), a classical category and a fun category dedicated to the Lady of Spain. On the Saturday night a Polka dance was held with lots of accordion playing and some very fine bands and soloists including Michael John Kozak, a fine accordionist who does impeccable Slovenian playing. He also got a new Zupan accordion during the festival, which he played with the Alpine Wanderers, a local Slovenian-style polka band that appeared at the festival. The festival (which was the second) was a great success even though the weather was a little cold.
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Contributed by Vladimir Besfamilnov A new CD - "Bayan" Accordion of classical and contemporary music has been released by Jovica Djordjevic in Kiev, Ukraine. Jovica Djordjevic is an accordionist from former Yugoslavia. He has been playing the accordion from 3 years of age and had his first performance at the age of six. He completed the Secondary Music School as an accordionist and pianist and from 1995 he has been studying at the Ukrainian National Academy of Music under Professor Vladimir Besfamilnov. During this time Jovica has received many awards at National and International Accordion Competitions such as Pula 1989, (Yugoslavia), Grand Prix (France), Citta di Castelfidardo, (Italy) and "Kubok Krivbassa" (Ukraine). Now Jovica is in the final year of his M.A degree at the Ukrainian National Academy of Music. Apart from studying, he performs many concerts in Ukraine, Russia, Spain, France, Italy and Yugoslavia. Jovica's playing is of a very high standard and his artistic approach to the author's work is brilliant placing him among the very top concert accordion performers.
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THE ACCORDION IN ROCK MUSIC - ITALY Contributed by Beniamino Luciani, Cemex s.r.l. The sound of the accordion gives a special fascination and uniqueness to rock music too. It is interesting to observe the use that "Modena City Ramblers" make of the accordion during their concerts. Beautifully played by young accordionist Alberto Cotica, it creates an ambience capable of evoking many different musical scenarios. To watch Cotica play his accordion is a show within the show. Modena City Ramblers are a popular punk-folk band who have been recording for PolyGram since 1994 and perform frequently both in Italy and abroad. Alberto Cotica plays an Excelsior 911 a professional accordion that responds perfectly to his needs. Modena City Ramblers last performed at the Bar Fly in Ancona on November 24th.
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XXXV INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION COMPETITION IN KLINGENTHAL - GERMANY Contributed by Michael Grimm, competition consultant The XXXV International Accordion Competition will take place in the 'vogtlandischen' Klingenthal from May 8th to 14th, 1998. This big accordion festival invites entries from soloists and duos (including accordion with other instruments). There are very attractive cash prizes to be won by successful competitors, as in previous years. Competitors will be judged by an international jury. The competitions will be embedded into the attractive course of the festival, which includes internationally well known accordion soloists and orchestras such as the 'Vogtland' Philharmony Greiz/Reichenbach and the 'Regensburger Domspatzen'.
Invitations for entry for the XXXV International Akkordeonwettbewerb
Klingenthal 1998 can be obtained from the
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ZBIGNIEW BARGIELSKI'S 60TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS - VIENNA Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif For the 60th birthday of Zbigniew Bargielski, the Polish Institute in Vienna (Austria) organised an evening concert to give tribute to this Polish composer who has done so much not only for the accordion but also for the mutual comprehension of the Austrian and Polish music cultures. Bargielski had the opportunity to explain his way of thinking and creating works. Well known artists performed some of his master-works such as: "A la española", "Labyrinth", "Suite of dances and songs" and "Le temps ardent". Some of the most important accordion works by Zbigniew Bargielski include:
SOLOS
CHAMBER MUSIC
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ST PETERSBURG CELEBRATES " LE BEAUJOLAIS" - RUSSIA Contributed by Vladimir A. Ushakov This Year "Le Beaujolais" (the festival of young wine) was celebrated for the first time in different St Petersburg cafe's, restaurants and clubs as it is becoming such a big Festival. For the last three years only "Le Bistro Francais" have celebrated this day. This year's celebration on November 20th featured the St Petersburg Musette ensemble. For three hours the group played French music including wellknown pieces like "Autumn Leaves", "Petit Fleur", musette tunes like "Retour de Hirondelles" and "La complainte des infideles". They also played dance music in various French styles. All visitors at the evening enjoyed pleasant wine and good music.
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BAY AREA BEGINNERS ACCORDION GROUP - USA Contributed by "Jane the Cat" The Bay Area Beginners accordion group had a very successful meet recently with a mixture of absolute beginners and some slightly more experienced players squeezing together. They attempted "Jesu, Joy of mans desiring" which was quite difficult, but everyone made a valiant effort! The East bay group meet was held on November 13th with 7 members in attendence and will continue to be held on the 2nd Thursday of each month.
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ACCORDION CONCERT IN MIANYANG SCHOOL - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie Liu Ya, a fifteen-year-old girl in Mianyang Primary School, held her first concert in a lecture class of the school on November 28th at 10:00 a.m. Over 300 school pupils watched her performance. All the school teachers helped to prepare Liu Ya for the concert, and they think this will encourage the pupils to take an interest in music. Liu Ya played a variety of accordion music including classical and popular pieces.
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MYRON FLOREN AND WURSTFEST 1998 - USA Contributed by Rennie Guenther Myron Floren's birthday party has been tentatively scheduled for November 1st, 1998 in the Grosse Zelt (Big Tent) at 11:30am. This will be held in conjunction with the 38th Wurstfest Festival from October 30th to November 8th. Myron's tentative schedule will be from October 30th to November 4th. To attend Wurstfest you will need to contact them before hand to get your name on the list of accordion players. This can be done by calling the Festival at: + 1 830 625-5709 or + 1-800-221-4369 or you can contact them by e-mail at: wurstfest@newbraunfels.com. Please remember to bring an accordion to the festival.
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Subject: Thanks! I really like Accordions Worldwide and I think it is a great thing including the people who work a lot for this. So I want to thank you. Best regards, Marsell Marinsek
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