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"The Squeeze" 16th October 1998 |
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 EDITORS NOTE |
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On Wednesday October 21st, many of the world's top accordionists begin competition in the prestigious Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships in Holland. This event is organised and held annually by the Confederation Internationale des Accordionistes (CIA). During the week of competition, our USA representative Kevin Friedrich will be writing daily reports, which you will be able to find at the CIA internet site. Wayne Knights Webmaster |
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The accordion festival "Oscarshamns Dragspelsfestival" was held for the first time on September 26th in Oscarshamn. This successful event included accordionists and bands from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Russia performing a wide variety of music, including Viktor Romanko, who performed a popular concert to over 350 enthusiastic people. Other performers included Geir Draugsvoll (Norway), and the "Camerata Roman" chamber ensemble who performed with local accordionist, Magnus Jonsson. In the town centre many accordionists played spontaneously much to the enjoyment of the passers by. Later that day, 100 accordionists played three folk songs to over 1,000 people in the main square. The next Oscarshamn festival is planned for September 24th and 25th 1999. |
Contributed
by Erling Johanzon and Roberth Walve|
Vladimir Blagojevic triumphed in the 23rd "Città di Castelfidardo" International Competition. The Yugoslav soloist-composer won the most prestigious section of the event, as well as a cash prize of four million Italian lira, a hand-crafted trophy, the Excelsior prize (1 million lira) and the Accordions Worldwide prize. The 2nd and 3rd prizes went to Dimitri Sokolov (Russia) and Vincent Peirani (France). Carmine Di Marco won the Accordion Composition Prize. Almost 600 candidates from 23 countries throughout Asia, Europe and America took part in this year's event. The streets of Castelfidardo became truly cosmopolitan and music reigned in all its forms and styles, from classical to jazz, from Astor Piazzolla's "New Tango" to rock and roll, proving once again that the accordion is an instrument of infinite possibilities. |
Contributed
by Loretta Bompezzo|
Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif Friedrich Lips' new CD includes a variety of interesting pieces. "Stichira of Ivan the Terrible" (K. Wolkow) is based on a religious verse expressed by Ioann Vasiljevich, Tsar and Grand Prince of Russia. This piece of music has been dedicated to Vladimir Toncha and Friedrich Lips. New versions of "In Croce" (Sofia Gubaidulina) are often heard, interpreted by famous accordionists of various nationalities as the piece was written so performers could create their own versions, thus breathing new life into it. "Souvenir" was originally written for the organ by John Cage (USA). The rests and caesuras create its atmosphere as the composer a11ows the fantasy of the interpreter to take over. "Symphony Nr. 3" "And the sky is darkened" (Apocalypse, chapter 6) for bayan and symphonic orchestra (by Sergej Berinskij) is a blend of various philosophica1 contemplations against a background of illustrating music which represents well-known biblical contents. In the course of its development the human soul is seized by fear and desperation. |
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Contributed by Bernard Loffet On October 18th an accordion ball will be held at the Salle des fêtes, St Thuriau, Morbihan, Brittany organised by the CADB (Collectif des Accordeonistes Diatoniques de Bretagne ) and RBG (Radio Bro Gwened, Vannes). The ball will feature traditional breton music. The Annual General meeting of the CADB will take place beforehand. |
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Contributed by Uli Ebner Dietmar Fink was elected unanimously as the new Chairman by the assembly at the district meeting of the German Harmonika Association (DHV). Outgoing Chairman Josef Karle announced that he would not be standing this year after 36 years on the board of the association. Deputies are Thomas Lüthy and Mrs Rösel with committee members Klaus Strauß and Roland Lehman. Roland Schaaf (Schlüchttal Accordion Orchestra Gurtweil) was elected the District Conductor and his acting representative will be the former District Conductor Wilhelm von Dungen (Murg Accordion Orchestra). Thomas Lüthy took over the post of Association Clerk and the position of Director for Youth Affairs remains unfilled at this time. |
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Contributed by Wayne Knights On October 12th, professional accordion entertainer and vocalist Lionel Reekie announced his engagement to dancer Elena Mouravleva. The happy couple plan to wed in January 2000. Lionel is currently performing regularly at the "Colosseo" and "Viva di Roma", both well known Auckland restaurants, as well as many other engagements. |
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Jakarta accordionist Riza Arshad, would like to contact other accordionists in Indonesia. Riza enjoys writing and composing music and plays in a jazz band that is currently working on their 2nd album. Performances are planned to coincide with the album release. The accordion is popular amongst traditional players especially in the Sumatra area, so Riza has future plans to make a record together with guitar and bass and believes there must be other young players that enjoy the accordion also. For further information email: azir@aradin.com |
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On October 18th, the opening of the recently restored theatre Le Corona in Montreal, Quebec, will feature an open day with singer Hélène Cardinal accompanied by accordionist Mario Bruneau invited to perform music for the visitors. The main theme of the performance will be the Cinema because it is one of the roles this theatre held for some years. For further information email: pmbrut@concentric.net |
Contributed
by Mario Bruneau|
Contributed by Wan Chao Gang The "98 Meishi Cup" International Accordion Festival was held from September 29th to October 5th in Chengdu. The international section of the competition attracted 41 entries and workshops were held by Elsbeth Moser (Germany), Joan Cochran Sommers (U.S.A.) and Oleg Sharov (Russia). Competition winners were: An award evening was held on October 6th, with Li DaChang (Vice Governor of the Sichuan Province), Ma Jianyi (Director of the Meishi Group Ltd) and other guests in attendance. |
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On October 19th, accordionist Betty Jo Simon will be the feature artist at the Chicago Accordion Club meeting. The concert, which starts at 8pm, will be held at the American Legion Hall, Elmhurst, Illinois. Jimmy Bestman will provide some entertainment prior to the meeting, beginning at 6:15pm. For further information phone Club President, John Simkus: + 1 847 683-2528. |
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Contributed by Roland Volk On October 17th, the Altbach e.V. Accordion Orchestra will hold their 25th Anniversary concert at the Altbach Community Hall, Baden-Württemberg. The celebrations include performances by the Altbach orchestra (directed by Harald Sauer) and the Altbach mouth organ trio (directed by Horst Ziegert), followed by a dance and entertainment with the dance band "Champagne". For further information phone: + 49 711 36 79 42 |
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Contributed by Billie Hockett Chris Sherburn (concertina) and Denny Bartley (guitar and vocals) will perform a concert on October 17th at the Regent Theatre, Arlington, Massachusetts. Prior to the concert, a concertina workshop will be held by Chris Sherburn at 1pm. For further information phone: + 1 781 862-7837 |
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The Chester Accordion Club will hold their next meeting on October 27th at the Chester Rugby Club, Chester, Cheshire. Guest accordionist Seamus Shannon (Ireland) will entertain members at this event. For further information phone: + 44 151 336 3403 |
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A grand meeting of accordion enthusiasts including famous concert performers such as Peppino Principe, Wolmer Beltrami, Patrizia Merciari, Giuliano Cameli, Sylvia Pagni and Emanuele Rastelli took place in Recoaro Terme from September 25th to 27th. The meeting was set in a beautiful alpine location rich with tradition and culture. Accordionists enjoyed the famous spa resort, renowned for its mud-bath treatments and its inhalation and mineral water cures. |
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Contributed by Tanya Bozic The Young Accordionists Association of Calgary will be celebrating their 10th anniversary with a festival from May 28th to 30th, 1999. In the meantime, they will hold an Autumn Recital on November 1st and a Winter Concert at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre SW on December 13th. For further information email: hbozic@netway.ab.ca |
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Spanish group Alboka (featuring accordionist Joxan Goikoetxea) have recently released their second CD "Bi Beso Lur" which includes a four-language interactive track of videos, photographs and information on the group's career, audio tracks of the CD and Basque traditional music. The group are currently touring the Basque Country and Europe. Alboka perform traditional music on a variety of instruments and have played at many international folk festivals in Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Norway and Spain. |
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Bennie and the Swamp Gators performed a popular concert on October 11th in Gardena, California. Following this, they played in Pasadena with blues singer "Sweet Baby J'ai". Bennie and the group (which includes accordionist Dennis Gurwell) play infectious Zydeco rhythms from Southern Louisiana. On November 7th, the Gators will play at another fund-raiser in Monrovia, California for accordionist Jo Jo Reed who was badly injured when he was hit by a drunk driver. For further information email: cozey@ix.netcom.com |
Contributed
by Dennis Gurwell|
Contributed by Hans-Joachim Schiller The Sulzbach e.V. Accordion Club celebrated their 25th anniversary on October 11th at the Eichwaldhalle, Sulzbach, Hessen. The celebrations included festive activities with friendly games, food and drinks. |
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On October 5th, the Australian duo "Voxion" of Elizabeth Jones (accordion) and Mina Kanaridis (vocals) performed at the Belrose Country Club, Sydney. Their program included traditional folk pieces and a variety of works from Mozart, Ravel, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Narushima. |
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Contributed by Vladimir A. Ushakov The Baltika-Harmonika '99 will be held from April 10th to 17th, 1999 in St Petersburg for soloists, ensembles and orchestras. The event will include concerts, exhibitions, masterclasses, seminars and special guests, with musicians expected from Europe, UK, Scandinavia and Russia. The main event will be the International Accordion Competition organised by the St Petersburg State Conservatory with participants invited from all over the world. Head of the Jury will be Professor Oleg Sharov with jury members including distinguished musicians and leading professors. For further information email: v-ushakov@infopro.spb.su |
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Contributed by David Batty UK accordionists Gina and Romany Rye have just returned from an American concert tour. Their first performance was for the Accordion Federation of Northern America. They were honoured to meet Anthony Galla Rini, and dedicated Serenata (Tosselli) especially to him. The duo also performed concerts in California, Hollywood and Oregon plus concerts for the Portland Accordion Club and the Rose City Accordion Club. A trip highlight was their participation in the Cotati Accordion Festival where they performed a 50-minute concert daily to over 16,500 people and were honoured to be invited to lead the Lady of Spain Ring, where hundreds of accordionists performed Lady of Spain and Beer Barrel Polka. They wrote a song dedicated to Cotati for the Sunday evening concert, which has now been adopted as a special event song. There are plans for this song to be recorded in the near future and sent to the governing committee of the Cotati Festival. |
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Contributed by Heather Masefield Lighthearted jazz group "Circus" are currently performing in Wellington on Saturday nights at the "Jimmy" bar, St. James Theatre. This fun entertainment group consists of accordionist Rebekah Greig and saxophone, tuba and drums, who play between 10pm and midnight after the show at the theatre. One of the bands first gigs was for the opening celebration of "Te Papa" National Museum of New Zealand. Rebekah Greig is also playing in "Tofos" a one night only stage show on November 1st at the Victoria Universities Memorial Theatre. Tofos features music from the Islands of Greece to the shores of the Pacific, including stunning visuals and dance. Members of the musical ensemble range from traditional Greek singers and instrumentalists to musicians from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. For further information phone: +64 25 241 6904 |
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Chinese accordionist Zhang Guo Ping recently released a 4 CD set which includes a mixture of 60 well known pieces, including "Rassypucha"(V. Gridin), "Espana Rhapsody" (E. Chahrier) and "Passacaglia" (N. Tschaikin). Zhang Guo Ping was born into an "accordion family". His father, Zhang Zi Qiang is a well known accordionist in China. He has attended many international festivals and competitions, and has performed concerts in U.S.A., Poland, Switzerland and France. For further information phone: +86 10-68862137 |
Contributed
by Li Cong| http://www.accordions.com/lips. To coincide with the release of his 9th CD, Russian bayanist Frederic Lips' new internet site has been updated to include this, new sound files and online ordering. |
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