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It seems to me that there has been a lot of talk about the lack of top class music students (including accordion) over the past few years. When I talk to highly qualified music teachers who have been teaching for a long time, they all appear to be having the same problem. I personally believe that it is a change in people's lives, usually having too many other interests. Perhaps the world's population is just getting lazy? I'd be interested to hear people's views on this.
Wayne Knights
Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif
The 1998 International Klingenthal Competition will be held from May 8th
to 14th in Germany. The competition will include categories for
soloists, duos, and virtuoso entertainment music.
The opening ceremony on May 9th will include a concert by the Hessen
Accordion orchestra conducted by Fritz Dobler. Over the following
competition days there will be concerts by Jeanette & Lars Dyremose,
Heide Hansen, Klaus Paier & Band and Eric Bouvelle and his Big Orchestra.
At the closing ceremony on May 14th there will be a prize giving and
concert by the Vogtland-Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stefan Fraas.
For further information phone: +49 37467-23210 or fax: +49 37467-22275
Contributed by Hillebrand van der Veen
On April 25th and 26th the Amsterdam Accordion Club Forzando will
celebrate their 60th anniversary with two special concerts at the
Theater De Rietwijker, Parlevinker 9, Amsterdam Noord. 45 accordionists
will perform with the Shell Harmonie Brass Orkest, dancers and a singer
conducted by P. Verzijde. The concert program is based on the future of
the club with music composed specially for the occasion by a club
member. They will also perform a tour through the concert history of
the club by playing their most popular pieces.
As part of the decor, a screen has been made on which digitalised
pictures of the history of Forzando will be displayed through a computer
and overhead projector. During the concerts they will be "on line" and
can send and receive email, which will be viewed on the screen. The
club invites everyone to participate by sending their congratulations
to: albertst@net.HCC.nl Please ensure the name FORZANDO is mentioned in the message.
Concert times:
For ticket information email: H.J.Veen@net.HCC.nl
Contributed by Frederic Deschamps
Accordionist Jérome Richard gave a concert in Portugal on April 5th
where he played a program of typical French music. Jérome, who won the
entertainment category at the 1997 Coupe Mondiale, will participate at
the Klingenthal Competition in May. Jérome has also joined the team of
Hohner artists managed by Frédéric Deschamps and will be participating
in demonstration tours in France and abroad.
Contributed by Heather Masefield
New Zealand accordionists Maurice Jones, Tracey Collins (Air New Zealand Touring Orchestra member), Frank Villich and Brian Holden are to appear on New Zealand's most popular television show "Shortland Street" in May. The four accordionists were required to play the wedding march at a traditional Dalmation wedding, and polkas and waltzes at the reception. This involved two full days of filming at a historic restaurant and vineyard west of Auckland. Maurice Jones was also commissioned to compose the waltzes and polkas in a Dalmation style along with the help of Frank Villich.
Contributed by David Batty
A new magazine has been released in the UK, called "Accordion World" in
response to the growing accordion movement in the UK. The magazine
is a generous A4 size and is published quarterly (March, June, September
and December) by David Keen, 86 Brook Dene Avenue, Watford, Herts,
England, WD1 4LF. The first issue has a great front cover with a full
colour photograph of accordionist Sandy Brechin.
Contributed by Nikolay Kravtsov and Vladimir Besfamilnov
Four teachers from Russia and Ukraine (Vladimir Besfamilnov, Eduard Borisenko, Nikolay Kravtsov and Viacheslav Semionov) were busy with lectures, seminars, master-classes and individual lessons.
Many interesting accordion related themes were discussed during the seminars, such as the introduction of new accordion construction, new musical pedagogical books, and development of accordion technique and musical skill. All participants were awarded certificates.
This event will be held twice a year with the next one planned from November 24th to 27th. For further information see Future Events
Contributed by David Batty
The Wyre Accordion Festival was held on Saturday 11th April at the
Marine Hall Complex, Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. There were
competitions throughout the day and trade stands with new and used
accordions, backstraps, tapes, music and accordion mugs for sale.
The evening concert featured Barbara Anne Martindale (Canada), the
Arnbach Akkordeon Orchestra and the current UK Junior Accordion Champion
Johnny Lee Leslie.
Contributed by Tania Lukic
The AATA (Australian Accordion Teachers Association) International Accordion Festival and Championships will be held in Sydney, Australia from May 22nd to 24th. This year's event will be very exciting with many international accordionists from China and New Zealand having entered so far, along with local Australian accordionists.
Contributed by Angel Luis Castano
Accordionist Angel Luis Castano's concert on April 3rd in the Alhóndiga
Halle, Segovia, Spain was attended by critics Jose Luis Garcia del Busto
and Enrique Franco from Spanish newspapers ABC and El Pais. Angel Luis
performed Seven Words for Bayan, cello, and String Orchestra conducted
by Argentinian Fabian Panisello. The favourable opinion of the critics
(which was published in the National ABC newspaper and in regional
newspapers) was that "it was the most impressionable and successful
music and concert of the series, (Ciclo de Conciertos de Tres Cantos)".
A second concert in the series was held at the Mariano Quintanilla
College, Segovia, featuring French accordionist Jean Pacalet performing
his own music to an enthusiastic audience. Pacalet has performed
previously in other Spanish cities such as Cadiz and Caceres.
Contributed by Wu Jie
At the opening ceremony of the 15th Azalea Flower Festival held in
Renmin Park, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China on April 18th, an accordion
orchestra of 130 children will perform to an estimated audience of over 20,000 people.
Contributed by Toru Katou
On Wednesday April 29th at 1:30pm, a concert featuring concertinas and
melodeons will be held at Kashiwa Hall, Nishi-Shinjuku 8-4-17, Tokyo,
Japan, which is an eight-minute-walk from the west gate of JR Shinjuku
Station. Admission is free. For further information email: maki_t@yk.rim.or.jp
Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl
Accordionist Claudio Jacomucci (Accoland duo) performed on Tuesday April
7th at the Sweelinck Zaal, Conservatory of Amsterdam, Netherlands in
conjunction with a course led by Rafael Reina about Carnatic (South Indian classical) music. Many professional musicians are learning the complex rhythmical technique and use of microtonality, and applying them in contemporary music at the Sweelinck Conservatory.
This concert showed the possibilities of development in improvisation
that this extraordinary stream of music allows. From April 21st to 28th, a
workshop will be held by Jahnavi Jayaprakash, a well-known Indian
musician. The seminar will cover themes such as composition,
microtonality, percussion techniques and theory (including ragas
structure, tala system and ornaments). For further information email: R.Reina@sca.ahk.nl
Contributed by Frederic Deschamps
Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif
Musicians from many countries took part in a recent festival of
contemporary music in Kasan, Russia (the home town of famous composer
Sofia Gubaidulina). The accordion was represented by Friedrich Lips
(Russia) who was invited to perform "De profundis", "Seven Words" for
bayan and violoncello (Sofia Gubaidulina), "Cinema" (Sergej Berinskij)
and "Polka" (Alfred Schnittke).
Contributed by Dennis Gurwell
On Friday April 10th Bennie & the Swamp Gators performed an evening of
authentic Zydeco music and dancing to 100 enthusiastic fans at the South
Pasadena War Memorial Hall, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Band members include accordionist Dennis Gurwell, Bennie Gibbs (guitar
and vocals), A.J. Gibbs (drums), Dempsey Papillon (rub-board) and
B.J.Deculus (bass).
The Swamp Gators next performance is on Saturday, April 18th from 9 pm
to 1am at St. Albert the Great, 804 East Compton Blvd., Gardena, California.
For further information phone Dennis: + 1 818-843-0514.
Contributed by Vladimir Besfamilnov
On April 10th an accordion concert was held in the Scientists House, Kiev, Ukraine featuring Vladimir Zubitsky (composer, performer, 1975 "Coupe Mondiale" winner, and President of the Ukrainian Accordion Association). The concert was part of the International Musical Festival "Music Premiers of Seasons" and Zubitsky performed his new composition "Dedication to Astor Piazzolla" with the Kiev Chamber Orchestra "Kamerata" conducted by B. Matiukhin.
Contributed by David Batty
On April 1st the Leyland Accordion Club, England held an extra club night with guest accordionist Steve Roxton performing, following his appearance at the International Accordion Festival (Lancashire, England) in March. Steve played and sang many tunes during the night including favourites like Whistling Rufus, Under Paris Skies, Irish medley, Jim Reeves Medley, Johnny Cash Medley and several Foster and Allen pieces.
Various club members played solos before Steve performed for a second time and the evening ended with the whole club on the dance floor, arms in the air singing Land of Hope and Glory and You'll Never Walk Alone. Their next club night will be on May 13th featuring guest Deirdre Adamson.
Contributed by Knut Halling
The Frosini-Deiro Association meets every Thursday evening in Stockholm,
Sweden where they discuss music and play in ensemble.
For further information email Knut Halling: sm5bvt@stockholm.mail.telia.com
Subject: Electric Organ Accordion
Dear Sir,
I like your accordion pages, I really enjoy them. I go to them weekly.
Do you know of any Electric Organ Accordion Dealers? Is "Cordovox" still running. How do I get a hold of them?
Thanks,
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your email. I'm glad you are enjoying Accordions Worldwide. I have forwarded your email onto a few dealers that have sold Cordovox in the past (I don't think they are sold any more, but am not totally sure).
The other alternative is to have a look at our buy and sell pages, which are for used accordions and accessories. I'm sure you will find some there. The URL for these pages is at:
http://www.accordions.com/index/b_s/Default.shtml
Good luck!
Wayne Knights |
From April 6th to 10th the International Accordion School festival for teachers and students took place in St. Petersburg, Russia. There were seminars and lectures with individual consultations and master-classes, exhibitions of new musical and methodological literatures, CD and video recordings. 
The finals of the first Tremplin Dynamique Musette competition took place in Chartres, France recently. Organised by accordion teacher Françoise Beaulant, it was restricted to accordionists under 18 years of age. The seven finalists were judged by Claude Thomain, President of the jury, who heard contestants performing a test piece and an own choice piece accompanied by an orchestra.
First place was awarded to Marielle Roy who won some prestigious prizes including:
