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Editors note: Well I have arrived back in New Zealand after a wonderful holiday. Firstly I spent two weeks in China where I went to Fuzhou, Xiamen and Wu Yi Mountain. In Fuzhou I met up with some excellent accordionists that I first met at the New Zealand Championships in May last year. They all made me feel very welcome and we had a great time together. Then I went onto Portland, Oregon in USA, where unfortunately I didn't meet with any accordionists but managed to get in some excellent skiing and made many new friends. Since I have been away there have been many new sites coming on line. These include US accordionists Joseph Soprani, Kevin Friedrich and the International Trio, Italian diatonic accordion expert Giuliano Cameli and Italian manufacturers Morbidoni and Gabbanelli.
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Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of Titano Accordions On Monday night, January 26th TDA (Those Darn Accordions) performed at the 25th Annual American Music Awards on ABC Television, where they joined host Drew Carey in a wild medley of past AMA "Song of the Year" winners. The show featured TDA, Las Vegas accordionist-entertainer Dick Contino, and Carey himself who played together in a zesty potpourri of hit melodies, which showed the accordion as an indisputable force in the music of today. They performed live from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, an 11 song tribute that lasted about 3 1/2 minutes, to approximately 10 million viewers.
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ACCORDION CONCERT TOUR - MEXICO Contributed by José A. Valadez Alanís Accordionist José A. Valadez Alanís is planning a tour of 51 cities in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico playing classical music such as Rossini, Gounod and Brahms. One of the tour objectives is to introduce people to classical and semiclassical accordion music.
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WORLD PREMIÈRE WITH THE "HOFER SYMPHONIKER" ORCHESTRA - GERMANY Contributed by Günther Zeilinger The Hofer Symphoniker Orchestra will present a world première at their 6th Major Concert on Friday February 13th at 8 pm, "Freiheitshalle", Germany. Stefan Hippe (well-known accordionist and composer) was commissioned by the Hofer Symphoniker to write "Portraits", a work for symphonic and accordion orchestra. His composition will be presented by the Hofer Symphoniker and the Akkordeonorchester Hof (led by Günther Zeilinger). The Conductor of this very interesting but difficult work will be Hikotara Yazaki from Japan.
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FIRST MIDI ACCORDION CONCERTS IN CHINA Contributed by Maurice Jones New Zealand professional accordionist, Maurice Jones, toured China from January 15th to 25th, playing concerts and giving workshops in Shanghai, Fuzhou and Xiamin cities. These concerts were organised by the Shanghai Accordion Association and the Fujian Accordion Association and were reportedly the first MIDI synthesised accordion concerts in China. In Shanghai, Maurice filled the 1500 seat Shanghai Concert Theatre, two nights running, with hundreds queued up outside hoping for a spare ticket. This concert theatre is the most prestigious venue in Shanghai. Press and TV news covered Maurice's modern electronic/acoustic programme which included hits like Lambada, Dancing Queen (Abba), tangos and American marches and he was mobbed by autograph hunters after every concert. Workshops were given in each city on improvisation, own arrangements, and modern bass rhythms Maurice has been invited back later this year with requests that he perform in many more cities.
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"URAL TRIO" 40TH ANNIVERSARY - MOSCOW, RUSSIA Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif The Ural Trio (Ivan Shepelsky, Anatoly Khizhniak and Nikolai Khudiakov) celebrated its 40th anniversary with two concerts in Yekaterinburg and Moscow last December. This famous Russian chamber ensemble was founded at the Academy of Music in Kiev in 1957. In 1966 the trio moved to Yekaterinburg in the Ural and from then on they called themselves the Ural Trio. In 1986 they were awarded the distinction "Folkartists of Russia". In their years of performing, the trio has assembled a large repertoire that includes works of various styles and different periods and have played numerous concerts all over the country. Contemporary composers have produced music pieces for the trio and ensemble member Nikolaj Khudiakov has written a number of outstanding transcriptions. For over 30 years their music has been heard on Russian radio, Russian TV has recorded some of their concerts and they have over a dozen records.
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NEW YEAR'S CONCERT AT CHENGDU TV STATION - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie On January 23rd, a Chinese New Year's Concert was held at the Chengdu TV station to an audience of 800. Sponsored by the Chengdu TV and Radio stations, the 40 performers were some of the station's reporters and editors. Among them was Mr Xu Yan (accordionist and music editor at the Chengdu Radio Station). Chengdu TV Station "15-Channel" broadcast the concert live.
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ACCORDIONIST APPEARS IN CABARET CRUISES Contributed by John MacDonald John MacDonald has been performing in cabaret cruises recently. His first cruise was on the "Sky Princess" which sailed from Cairns (Australia) on January 8th and arrived in Sydney on January 13th. His next performance was on the "Island Princess" which sailed the Indian Ocean from January 26th and arrives in the Maldive Islands on February 1st. John is planning a New Zealand tour entitled "Scotland the Brave" during March, April and May this year.
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GUESTS SOAVE AND NOTON AT BAY AREA ACCORDION CLUB - USA Contributed by Marian Kelly, President of the Bay Area Accordion Club Peter Soave and Jean-Louis Noton are featured guests at the Bay Area Accordion Club meeting on February 2nd at Donworth Hall, on Eucalyptus at 22nd Ave, San Francisco, beginning at 7 pm. Jean-Louis will perform on the reedless MIDI accordion and Peter Soave will talk about the accordion, Jean-Louis and his music. On February 3rd, Peter Soave will present an accordion technique workshop and demonstration. Subjects covered will include keyboard touch (articulation), bellows control and presenting a good accordion image. Subjects will be pertinent to a wide range of ability levels and to users of either button or piano accordions. Following the workshop Jean-Louis Noton will give another concert on his reedless accordion. This will be held on the first floor, in the Board Room, of the San Francisco Ballet Association building, 455 Franklin St in the Civic Center. Doors open at 6:30pm and the workshop begins at 6:45pm.
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SOUTH SCOTLAND ACCORDION FESTIVAL Contributed by Gary Blair The South Scotland Accordion festival will take place on Saturday February 7th at Airdire Town Hall, Scotland with competitions starting at 9 am. At 7.30pm there will be an ''Accordion Spectacular'' concert compered by Mr George Syret featuring Giancarlo Caporilli (Italy), the Ronmar Accordion Orchestra, Ron Hodgson and Julie Best.
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YACHTSMAN AND HIS ACCORDION SAVED FROM DISTRESS - USA A castaway German yachtsman was recently saved from distress by Polish seamen near the coast of Florida, USA. The cargo boat received an SOS message and found the yachtsman drifting in his dinghy. The mast on his yacht had broken and the only thing he could save was his accordion!
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FIRST INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS - RUSSIA Contributed by Alexander Shpak From December 14th to 21st, The First International Competitions took place in Vladivostok and attracted 197 participants, including ensembles and orchestras from Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, China, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, USA, Ukraine and South Korea. The Jury was headed by Sergey Naiko with other jury members from Russia, China, Hong Kong and Bulgaria. At the opening ceremony performers included the trio "Vladivostok" (N.Lyakhov, A. Kapitan and S.Arbuz), Professor S.Naiko, "Myetelitsa" ensemble, and Vladivostok Music College Orchestra of folk instruments (conducted by R.Turov). In addition to the competitions there were performances of folk music, creating a festive atmosphere and attracted the attention of radio, television and press. Winners of the "Concert Performer" categories performed at the closing concert. Competition winners:
Accordionists and Bayanists
Video competition
Folk Instrument Performers
Orchestras without age limit
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A "NEW YEAR LIVE CONCERT" IN JAPAN Contributed by Toru Katou On January 25th, "A New Year Live Concert" was held in the Civic Hall, Tokyo, Japan which included cajun, Irish and traditional music performed on concertinas and diatonic button accordions. Guest accordionist Jim Ediger from Canada performed Irish tunes accompanied by a pianist. Jim is also performing at "Dubliners Irish Pub" in Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, Tokyo. For further information see Restaurants
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KINLOCHARD CEILIDH BAND – NEW ZEALAND Contributed by Heather Masefield The Kinlochard Ceilidh Band from Scotland is on the "Spirit of Freedom" Tour. They sold over 200 CD's and 60 cassettes during their performances at the Auckland Folk Festival at Kumeu last weekend. They perform Ceilidh dance music while promoting the Wallace Malt Liqueur Whiskey and free tasting for the audience is part of their performance! They will continue performing throughout New Zealand until February 22nd. For further information see Future Events
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"LARK IN THE MORNING" MUSIC CELEBRATION - USA Contributed by Mickie Zekley Registration forms are now available for the "Lark In The Morning" 1998 Lark Camp to be held from July 31st to August 8th at Mendocino Woodlands, Mendocino, California. Tutors include Jack Gilder (anglo concertina), Chuck Borsos (accordion), Suzy Thompson and Marty Jara (cajun accordion) and John Paul (button accordion). For further information phone: + 1 707 964-5569 or email: larkinam@larkinam.com
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NEW CD "THE CLASSICAL ACCORDIONIST" - ITALY Contributed by Giuseppe Scali Salvatore di Gesualdo has just released a new CD, "The Classical Accordionist", with the recording label EMA Records based in Fibbiana, Italy (near Florence). Salvatore plays pieces by Landino, Merulo, Byrd, Frescobaldi and Pasquini and some of his own compositions including "Improvisation 1"; "Improvisation 2"; "Punkte" and his latest work "Musica Pro Guido".
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ACCORDIONIST PERFORMED AT AUCKLAND FOLK FESTIVAL - NEW ZEALAND Contributed by Heather Mitchell An Auckland Folk Festival was held from January 23rd to 25th at Kumeu Showgrounds, Auckland, New Zealand. Accordionist Heather Mitchell performed with guitarist Phil Garland in a series of concerts and workshops. These featured Australian and New Zealand folk music, much of which had been written by Phil Garland.
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ACCORDION & PIANO CONCERT - CHINA Contributed by Wu Jie On February 15th at 7:30 pm, accordionist Mr Li Xiaoyu will hold an accordion & piano concert in an auditorium of the Culture & Art Place in Xian. Mr Li Xiaoyu began studying the accordion ten years ago. At his concert he will perform Chinese music for 90 minutes to an estimated audience of over 2,700.
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ST. PATRICK'S DAY CONCERT - USA Contributed by Billie Hockett On Tuesday March 17th at 7.30pm, a St. Patrick's Day Concert will be held at JFK Middle School, 605 Lexington Street, Waltham, MA, USA, featuring Joe Derrane who plays the two-row button box. In February, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann will induct him into their Hall of Fame. His new CD, "The Tie That Binds" is scheduled for release in late January. For further information email: bhockett@music-for-robin.org
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AUSTRALIAN ACCORDIONIST VISITING NEW ZEALAND Contributed by Heather Masefield Australian accordionist, Elizabeth Jones is currently visiting Auckland, New Zealand. Elizabeth has recently opened a music studio in Maroubra, Sydney, Australia and is a finalist in the Radio 2MBS FM young performers award, which is taking place in June. Last year Elizabeth performed in a concert "Seven Virtuosi Musicians" resident in Sydney with the heads of the Department from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She will perform Gordon Jacobs Concerto for Accordion, Percussion and Strings in August for the Australian Musicians Academy.
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ACCORDION DUO CD RELEASE - CANADA Contributed by Aiden Young Felix & Formanger, an accordion duo from Newfoundland, have a new CD due to be released in February entitled "Carrying On The Tradition". The duo consists of Bernard Felix on diatonic accordion and Norman Formanger playing bass.
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Hello! As part of my studies at Accordion-Concertina Repair Technician's School I have several papers to write. One subject of interest to me is the history of accordion in China. Are there written accounts of the accordion's history in China available to me? Lynda Griffith Hello Lynda, I have passed your email onto Wu Jie in China, as the email arrived here. He will reply to you directly. Best wishes,
Wayne Knights |