There have been a number of recent competitions in Europe and now it's the time of the South Pacific. Contestants, teachers and performers from Australia, New Zealand and China are gathering this weekend in Sydney. "Good Luck to everyone"! I shall be there adjudicating and most of the Accordions Worldwide team will be there adjudicating and enjoying the great social times of this fun weekend.

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Wayne Knights Webmaster

• Mystery Guest at Festival - Australia
• Concertina Weekend - Germany
• Accordionist Inducted into Hall of Fame - USA
• Duo Tours UK
• Accordion-Ensemble Bülach CD Release - Switzerland
• Folk Compositions - Bulgaria
• Celtic festival - USA
• Music Ability Training Camp - China
• "Exile" in Japan
• Klezmer Music - Switzerland
• Accordionist with Symphony Orchestra - USA
• Accordion and Vocals in Paris - France
• Celebrity Interviews
• "The Dybbuk" Radio Drama - USA
• James Crabb Tours UK
• Rastelli on National Television - Italy
• Jiang Jie Cup Competition - China
• 6th Walter Eriksson Musikfest - USA
• Zubitsky in Spain and Portugal
• Tango Diminuendo - Finland
• Folk Train Performance - UK
• Accordion Squeeze Off in Texas - USA
• Free Reed Festival features Finnish Accordionist
• Just True - USA
• Accordion Article
• New Sites

Contributed by Harley Jones

The Australian Accordion Teachers Association International Competitions and Festival will be held from May 28th to 30th in Ashfield, Sydney. There is going to be an exciting mystery guest who has had extensive TV exposure in central Europe appearing at the event. AATA President Tania Lukic-Marx reports a record number of entries from Australia, China, and New Zealand have been received for the 1999 event. The festival will also include a Testimonial Dinner honoring John McDonald. Overseas and local performers will appear throughout the weekend including the North Shore Accordion Orchestra from New Zealand (conducted by Heather Masefield and Lionel Reekie), Tania Lukic-Marx, Elizabeth Jones, ACE Accordion Ensemble, Peter Grivic, Maurice Jones, Ross Maio and Micheal Klugha.

Contributed by Martin Doering

The 8th Concertina Weekend was held at Bielefeld, Germany on May 8th and 9th organized by Mario Kliemann. The event included workshops and concerts by concertina players performing a variety of music from Irish folk to jazz and tango. At the opening concert everyone introduced themselves and played a tune.

Workshops were held by Tim Collins (Ireland) on anglo concertina covering Irish style ornamentation, rhythm and phrasing, Jürgen Leo (Germany) on German concertinas and Robbi Pich (Germany) on English concertinas.

Concerts by Mario Kliemann, Thomas Meier, Rainer Süßmilch and Pietro Valente (all playing the English Concertina) were very well received during the event.

The International Polka Association will induct Joey Miskulin into the Polka Music Hall Of Fame at its 31st Annual Festival this summer. Steve Popovich will present the award to Joey on behalf of the Chicago Association, at an induction banquet at the Westin O'Hare Motel on July 31st.

Polka fans will note that Joey's induction will mark an anniversary of sorts. It was thirty years ago (at the 1969 induction ceremony) that Joey was with the late Frank Yankovic as he was inducted into the Polka Music Hall of Fame.

Contributed by Jan Lucas

Accordionist Andy Cutting and Chris Wood will tour the UK from June 10th to 30th. The popular duo will play at folk clubs and Arts Centres in Wyeside, South Molton, Bracknell, London, Colchester, Cambridge, Oxford, Nailsworth, Goole, Eye, Newnham-on-Sevem and Bristol.

Both are also members of the group "Two Duos Quartet", who released their debut CD "Half as Happy as We" in April this year. For further information see Future Events

Contributed by Daniel Aeschlimann

Five years after completing their first CD, the Accordion-Ensemble Bülach (Switzerland) have just released their second recording which also includes performances by the Junior and Piccolo Groups. The CD includes pop music, interspersed with a range of solo performances on the piano, saxophone and mouth organ.

The CD also includes a multimedia presentation for Macintosh and PC users, which gives information about the Accordion-Ensemble Bülach, their music, history and their many successful performances at national and international competitions.

For further information email: daniel-renate@swissonline.ch

Contributed by Angel Marinov

A new music book "Twelve Folk Compositions for Two Accordions" by popular Bulgarian accordionist and composer Ivan Milev was published recently. The pieces are a collection of Bulgarian folk music (hora) composed for two accordions. Each piece has time signatures typical of Bulgarian folk music such as 7/8, 15/16, 7/16, 8/8 and 11/8 plus specific characteristics of Balkan music (Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Turkey).

A piece from the collection is available free of charge to interested accordionists. For further information email: acordion@asgr.ttm.bg

Contributed by Michael Vose

The SRSNH (Strathspey & Reel Society of New Hampshire) will play at the outdoor Southern N.H. Celtic Festival at Oak Park, Greenfield, New Hampshire on June 5th. Society members will play a 50-minute concert set on the main stage at lunchtime. The Festival will provide a ceilidh tent that will feature an all day jam session, to which all musicians are invited.

For further information email: ttraub@world.std.com

Contributed by Bao Yue Ming

A four-day camp called "Music Ability Training & Exam for Teenagers Palace Teachers Nationwide" was held recently at the Qing Dao National Teenagers Activity Camp facility. The event was organised by the propaganda department of the Chinese Central Government and the Central Conservatory of Music. Over 250 directors of Teenagers Palace and professional teachers from all over China attended the meeting, including forty accordion teachers.

Professor Yang Guo Li (Vice Director of the Central Conservatory of Music Accordion Exam Board), gave lectures about accordion teaching and future developments, as well as covering recent accordion developments in China and overseas. The meeting also gave teachers the opportunity to play the accordion and exchange ideas.

Contributed by Toru Katou

On June 12th "Exile" will perform at Nega-Posi, Kyoto, at 7.30pm. The band which includes Norimichi Nagasaka (accordion), Kotaro Oshio (guitar), Tesshin Kaneko (whistle) and Wataru Okabe (percussion) will play a mix of Irish Celt music, French musette, Japanese TV and movie themes as well as rock music.

For further information email: ongakuya@music.office.ne.jp

Contributed by Marc Hänsenberger

Swiss group "Baith Jaffe" (consisting of accordion, violin, piano, doublebass, percussion and vocals) will perform a concert on May 30th in Langnau-Bern. The group play klezmer and French music including Alouette, Sarasate and Vesoul.

For further information email: simili@smile.ch

Accordionist Peter Di Bono performed with the Marin Symphony Orchestra at their presentation of "Music Of The Movies" on May 16th and 18th in San Francisco. The concerts featured original musical scores from very well known films such as "Gone With The Wind", "2001 A Space Odyssey", "Shine", "Casablanca", "Psycho", "Star Wars" and "Schindler's List". Peter played an accordion solo from the movie "The Blue Angels" (in which Marlene Dietrich did the original vocals). The piece included dancers from the Michael Smuin Ballet/San Francisco Ballet, and vocalist Meg McKay.

Contributed by Frédéric Deschamps

On May 27th Anne Dubray and Frédéric Daverio performed at "Tango 13", Paris. Accordionist Frédéric plays his own "Accordéonophore" compositions which critics have said are "powerful with impressive beauty of inspiration and virtuosity". Anne Dubray writes and sings, so together they have become a popular and entertaining duo.

The "Celebrity Interview" of Tom Collins (performer, composer and accordion personality) about his many famous accordion friends is now on line and makes very interesting reading (English only). We hope you will enjoy it.

Next Celebrity Interview is with Massimo Pigini (Manager of the Pigini Accordion Factory) will be published on 15 June. This is a wonderful opportunity to ask all those questions about accordion construction and manufacture that you have always wanted to know. Please send your questions for this interview to Wallace Liggett by June 9th.

Minneapolis accordionist Mark Stillman and his band "Klezmer and All That Jazz" have recorded the soundtrack for a radio drama which is an adaptation from an old Yiddish theatre play called "The Dybbuk". The Dybbuk is produced in Los Angeles by the "Hollywood Theatre of the Ear", directed by Yuri Rasovsky. The entire project is funded by Steven Spielberg's "Rightous Persons Foundation".

The tunes they played were mostly compositions that were written for the show, including the "Dybbuk Frailach" (wedding march) and the Hassidic wedding Nigun (an old traditional Jewish medley). Their performance was designed to sound like an authentic Eastern European klezmer band from the 19th century. The show is scheduled for broadcast in September and will be played throughout North America on National Public Radio with further plans for release on tape and CD in November.

Mark also performs regularly at the Loring Cafe Bar in Minneapolis. For further information email: booser@email.com

Accordionist James Crabb toured the UK with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta from May 12th to 27th performing Astor Piazzolla's Bandoneon Concerto. These well received concerts were performed in Poole, Torquay, Basingstoke, Weymouth, Bradford upon Avon and Truro.

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

On May 16th Emanuele Rastelli appeared in the show "La Domenica del Villaggio" broadcast by the national TV channel "Rete 4" hosted by Davide Mengacci and Rosita Celentano (daughter of the famous singer and actor Adriano Celentano). The show was broadcast from the Republic of San Marino, in an area where nine ancient castles are connected to one another by a series of paths in the Apennine mountains. Rastelli provided the soundtrack to a tour of this area, playing several pieces on his accordion.

Contributed by Li Cong

The first Jiang Jie Cup Accordion Competition was held in May in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province. The competition was organised by the Zhuozhou Education Department and the Zhuozhou Jiang Jie Music Art School. This school has grown to over 180 accordion students (4 teachers) since it began in May 1996.

The competition jury consisted of famous accordionists Jiang Jie (Chairman of the Beijing Accordion Association), Ren Shi Rong, Yang Guo Li, Sun Qi Liang, Rong Shuang Ju and others. Competitors from Beijing and Zhuozhou attended the event.

Results:

• Primary Class: Zhang Miao
• Grade 1 to 3: Ma Xue Hai
• Grade 4 to 6: Zhou Li
• Grade 7 to 9: Luo Wei
• Duet Class: Shi Jian Gong and Cao Zhi Yu

Contributed by Peter Norrman

The 6th Walter Eriksson Musikfest will be held from May 29th to 30th in Vasa Park, Budd Lake, New Jersey from 11am until midnight both days. The aim of the event is to celebrate and preserve Scandinavian Music. The official opening will feature a "Grand March" and Children's Music Parade beginning at 1pm on the 29th with performers from the USA, Sweden and Norway.

Entertainment during the musikfest will be provided by The Scandinavian Accordion Club (New York), Torsten & his accordion (Malmö), The Swede & The Norwegian (accordionists), Al Haugen & Tommy Ippolito (Jazz accordionists) and Scandinavian Folkdancers.

On the 30th a "Folkdance & Music Jamboree" will be held with Swedish and Norwegian folkdances taught continuously from 1 to 4pm and "Accordion Funshop & Lessons" led by Artie Carlson held from 2 to 3pm.

Each evening in the Viking Hall there will be non-stop dance music for as long as the musicians last. Scholarships up to $1,000 will be awarded to eligible music students. All proceeds from the event go to benefit local deserving organizations and non profit groups including the Walter Eriksson Memorial Trust.

For further information email: musikfest@musikfest.com

On May 9th Vladimir Zubitzky performed a concert in the Sala Zuloaga, Segovia, Spain as part of a concert series "Martine de Concerts". The series was organized by the La Fondacion de Bordon, Conservatory of Segovia. Over 100 people attended the concert, which included "Karpathian Suite", "Rossiniana" and original compositions.

Three days later Vladimir performed a concert of classical, baroque and jazz music at the Teatro Maria Matos in Lisbona, Portugal organized by V. Mattono from the Instituto de musica and the Camera Municipal of Lisbona. Vladimir's program included "Finale from Concert for Violin and Orchestra" (Tchaikovsky), Op. 35 (V. Zubitsky) and "Omaggio" (Piazzolla).

Finnish composer Pentti Laitinen has been composing tangos, ballads and rock music for over twenty years. His latest composition is called "Tango Diminuendo" which has been arranged for the accordion by Finnish accordionist Kari Lindqvist. This composition is both melancholic and "full of joy".

Pentti's most famous composition is "By the train to Kirkkonummi" which describes the journey of an old fashioned train. He writes the lyrics to many of his songs and has won several poem competitions.

For further information email: pentti.laitinen@pp1.inet.fi

On July 20th UK based cajun group "m_c_cajun band" (with Paul Asher on accordion and violin) will perform on the "Folk Train" which departs from Sheffield at 7.10pm bound for Edale. At the end of the 30-minute trip, travelers can relax at the local pub for two hours before boarding the train for further entertainment on the return journey home. The event has been organized by the "Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership".

For further information email: m_c_cajun@hotmail.com

Contributed by Billie Brem

The 4th Annual Accordion Squeeze-off will be held on June 12th from 10am to 4pm at the West Fraternal Auditorium in West, Texas. Last year's event, featured over 50 accordionists performing.

This year's event will also include a contest with three categories. This is a fun, all day event, encouraging accordionists to play, talk to other accordionists and have some good food. Guest performers Willard Dyer and his Trio will entertain throughout the day.

For further information email: bbrem@prodigy.net