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Highlights |
AAA is going Virtual for Festival 2021 Competition Categories - USA
Marie-Andrée Joerger Duo Concert with Organist - France
NAA Introduces "52 Challenge!" - USA
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
Bachtopus Releases 4th Commission - USA
Historical Video: Alessandro Mugnoz Demonstrates the Harmoniflute - Italy
Online 2021 CIA Winter Congress Date Change - International
Video: Gianni Mirizzi Performing “Palomita Blanca” Tango – Italy
Video: Alexander Bogdanov Plays to Walruses – Russia
Video: Neža Torkar Enjoying an Open-Air Performance - Germany
Future events |
Cancelled: Annie Gong Performs at Lantern Festival, Auckland – New Zealand
Louise Jallu Quartet at Festival Jazz au Feminine, Bagneux - France
Online: “Flogging Molly” St. Patrick’s Day Celebration - Ireland
Postponed: 1st Hohner Conservatory "Kons-Camp 2021" - Germany
Applications Open: 20th Youth Delphic Games of Russia
Childrens Corner |
New and Updated Sites |
Updated Site: Antonio Spaccarotella - Italy
Updated Site: 2021 Accordion Examination Board of NZ (AEBNZ) - New Zealand
Updated: Russian News
Help Desk, Information needed, Readers CommentsSubmit Your Question, CommentSUBMIT NOW |
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Highlights |
Online: 3rd International Music Prize of Verona “Làszlò Spezzaferri” - Italyby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
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| The 3rd International Music Prize of Verona “Làszlò Spezzaferri” will be held online in May 2021. The competition is open to soloists, chamber groups and ensembles from all countries. Registrations must be sent by email by April 12th, 2021 and videos must be sent by April 30th, 2021, to: info@concorsoscuoleinmusica.it Prizewinners will be announced at a special online award ceremony on May 21st, 2021 at 3 pm. Download competition rules (Italian only): 2021VeronaRules.pdf |
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AAA is going Virtual for Festival 2021 Competition Categories - USAby Harley Jones |
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 Virtual Contest Chairman, Mary Tokarski announces that the American Accordionists' Association (AAA) Festival 2021 Competition Categories will be virtual this year because of Covid-19. The Rules, Regulations and Entry Forms will be included with the next AAA Newsletter and are online now at: http://www.ameraccord.com/festival2021.php Categories will include all the Open and Standard Categories you have seen in the past with the addition of the new AAA Honors Categories. View the Honors Required Music list online and the ordering information. Looking forward to seeing you virtually. |
Marie-Andrée Joerger Duo Concert with Organist - Franceby Christine Johnstone |
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| Marie-Andrée Joerger will perform a concert with Vincent Dubois, (head organist at the Notre Dame de Paris) on March 21st, 2021 at 8pm. The concert will be held at the Church Notre Dame de Talant near Dijon in France. Their program will include works by Bach, Fauré, Poulenc, Caratini and Piazzolla. Marie-Andrée is currently preparing the April release of her solo album "Bach en Miroir" under the Klarthe label which will include preludes and fugues through the ages. For details email: marieandree84@live.fr |
NAA Introduces "52 Challenge!" - USAby Rob Howard |
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 National Accordion Association (NAA) Board of Directors member Sharon Seaton (picture left) is offering to members and guests the “52 Challenge.” This project has been initiated due to the cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 NAA Conventions because of Covid-19. Once a week for the next 52 weeks, they will create a project for you to initiate or complete that involves the accordion or some aspect of music. You will receive an email message starting each Friday that reveals and explains the activity. Some activities will be quite easy to perform while others will consist of a more extended commitment of time and effort. For details on the weekly challenges see the NAA website or email: NatlAccordion@SBCGlobal.net |
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
Joe Burke (1939-2021), Galway – Republic of Irelandby Rob Howard |
  Video: Recorded in Listowel, Ireland in 1995.President of Ireland Michael D Higgins leads tributes: “The news of the death of Joe Burke, distinguished and influential accordion player, will have saddened countless music lovers and fans of traditional Irish music, at home in Ireland and much further afield. His legacy, not only the great archive of his music but also the love for music that he kindled among countless young musicians, will continue to inspire.” - President Michael D Higgins. Born 1939 in Kilnadeema, County Galway, Joe Burke began playing the 2-row BC diatonic button accordion at the age of four. He won the All-Ireland Senior Accordion Championship at the Flead Cheoil in 1959 and again in 1960. Together with fiddler Aggie Whyte, he won the All-Ireland duet championship in 1962. He was also a superb flautist, and in the 1980s recorded a flute-harp duet album, ‘The Tailor’s Choice’, with the renowned harpist Máire Ní Chathasaigh. Joe Burke was RTÉ's Traditional Musician of the Year in 1970 and again 1997. In 1956 Joe Burke was a founding member of the Leitrim Ceili Band, and he first toured in the USA in 1961, living in New York from 1962 to 1965. During this time he formed a trio with fiddler Andy McGann and pianist Felix Dolan, with whom he recorded an LP, ‘A Tribute to Michael Coleman’, first released in 1966 on his own Shaskeen Label and would later record again with this trio, issuing ‘The Funny Reel’ LP on the Shanachie Label in 1979. Other musical collaborators over the years have included the great Belfast fiddler Sean Maguire, piper Michael Cooney, harpist Máire Ní Chathasaigh, fiddler Kevin Burke, pianist Charlie Lennon, and his wife Anne Conroy Burke, a guitarist and accordionist, whom he married in 1990. Joe Burke's first solo album, ‘Galway's Own’, was released in 1971 and he also toured extensively for the next two decades, including with groups sponsored by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. From 1988 to 1991 he lived in St.Louis, Missouri, and had a musical residency at John D. McGurk's pub as well as hosting radio programmes at two stations, one of them the ‘Ireland in America’ programme on KDHX. He represented Ireland in 1989 and 1992 at the International Accordion Festival in Montmagny, Quebec, Canada along with other accordion greats who included Cajun player Marc Savoy and jazz accordionist Art Van Damme. Joe Burke returned to live in Kilnadeema, Galway, in 1992, where he continued to teach and perform music. One of Ireland’s most admired accordionists and a legend of Irish traditional music, Joe Burke passed away on February 20th 2021 at the age of 81, and was widely mourned. |
Bachtopus Releases 4th Commission - USAby Christine Johnstone |
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 Bachtopus is excited to release the fourth commission from their 2020 Composers Commissioning Fund entitled “String of Garlands.” This piece was originally written by composer and accordionist Guy Klucevsek for accordion orchestra and then arranged for Bachtopus. This composition was written in memory of Anne Garland for her husband David and son Kenji. With a recording catalog spanning four decades, Guy Klucevsek remains one of the most highly respected USA accordionists. The Bachtopus Accordion Ensemble’s 2020 Composer Commissioning Fund is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). |
Historical Video: Alessandro Mugnoz Demonstrates the Harmoniflute - Italyby Harley Jones |
| Alessandro Mugnoz performs the first part of the "Notturnino" for harp and harmoniflute, composed by the distinguished teacher and composer Gaetano Nava (1802 - 1875) in the second half of the nineteenth century (Ricordi Editions, 1861). The harmoniflute, keyboard, bellows and free reeds instrument, is one of the nineteenth-century precursors of the current accordion. It can be considered almost a free reed (medieval) carrier organ of the century. 19th, halfway between the harmonium and the accordéon. Today unfortunately no longer in use, many of its features have been inherited from the so-called Indian Harmonium. The video was made on 26 September 2019 at the civic library of Castelfidardo. The instrument used is a harmoniflute Mayer-Marix, kept at the Accordion Museum Castelfidardo, Italy. View other historic videos on the youtube channel of Alessandro Mugnoz |
Online 2021 CIA Winter Congress Date Change - Internationalby Kimmo Mattila Secretary General, Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) |
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| The 145th Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) General Assembly of Delegates will be an online meeting - time at 15:00 CET (Central European Time). The new date is Sunday 14th March 2021. This time is selected, because it is suitable for 90% of our member organizations. Unfortunately, it’s a bit uncomfortable for certain countries and cities, like Los Angeles in USA (very early) or Seoul in South Korea (very late). Any time is a compromise, and in this case the New Zealand delegates agreed to wake up at 3 am. Thank you to the Kiwis! CIA Delegates are reminded to register online now at: http://accordions.com/cia/cia_winter_congress.php to receive the agenda and the video link. |
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Video: Gianni Mirizzi Performing “Palomita Blanca” Tango – Italyby Christine Johnstone |
 Video: Gianni Mirizzi performing one of his favourite pieces “Palomita Blanca”, an Argentinean tango vals (that comes from the fusion of tango with waltz), written in 1929 by Anselmo Aieta, bandoneon musician and composer.Giustozzi acccordions sponsor Gianni Mirizzi and there is an interview with Giampiero Giustozzi online at: 2017GiustozziAcc 00:00 Introduction 00:22 First verse 00:59 Second stanza 01:16 Chorus 01:45 First verse 02:02 Second stanza 02:23 Chorus 02:51 Elaborate refrain 03:11 Final |
Video: Alexander Bogdanov Plays to Walruses – Russiaby Christine Johnstone |
| Our news has published videos of accordionists playing to birds and cows, but never before have we published a video of an accordionist playing to a group of walruses. Alexander Bogdanov was on a boat in Russia’s Arctic when he saw the sea creatures near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. He brought out his accordion and played them Eugen Doga's famous waltz from the Soviet film "My Sweet and Tender Beast", quite an appropriate song choice considering his audience and they really seem to be enjoying the performance. |
Video: Neža Torkar Enjoying an Open-Air Performance - Germanyby Christine Johnstone |
| Video: Accordionist Neža Torkar is enjoying an open-air performance of some "good old favourites" with Sandra Štern (guitar and vocals) at the Ölmühle Eberstedt in Eberstedt, Germany. Enjoy! |
Future events |
Online Presentation: “The Accordion & The Singer” - USAby Rob Howard |
 The Brooklyn Accordion Club will host an online presentation entitled “The Accordion & The Singer: Accompanying, Arranging, Collaborating, and Programming” on February 28th 2021 at 2pm EST.In this presentation, tenor Raymond Storms and accordionist Denise Koncelik (picture right) will discuss collaborating with a vocalist and their program of “Love Songs for the Soul”, which was held on February 20th, 2021. This program included selections of operatic arias, pop songs, movie themes, and a tango. For details email: brooklynaccordionclub@gmail.com |
Cancelled: Annie Gong Performs at Lantern Festival, Auckland – New Zealandby Christine Johnstone |
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 This event has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown in Auckland.However, please enjoy the video above of clips by Annie Gong Cruise ship Guest Entertainer. Accordionist Annie Gong was interviewed by New Zealand Herald reporter Lincoln Tan this week regarding her performance at the Auckland Lantern Festival which will run from March 4th to 7th at the new waterfront venue of Captain Cook and Marsden Wharves at Ports of Auckland. Annie will be one of the headline acts at the festival's opening evening on March 4th at 5pm, and will also be performing for VIPs and invited guests later that night. Annie says “I am excited to be performing on home base, and I cannot wait to show and surprise New Zealanders with what I can do with the accordion I call 'my baby'. My biggest passion is to bring the accordion into the 20th century because I believe it is one of the most powerful and yet underrated musical instruments." |
Louise Jallu Quartet at Festival Jazz au Feminine, Bagneux - Franceby Christine Johnstone |
 The Louise Jallu Quartet will perform at the Festival Jazz au Feminine (Jazz for Women Festival) on March 14th, 2021 at the Victor Hugo Theater in Bagneux, France.The quartet includes Louise Jallu (bandoneon), Matthias Lévy (violin), Grégoire Letouvet (piano) and Alexandre Perrot (bass). The group will perform compositions and arrangements by Louise Jallu and Bernard Canava, including pieces from Louise’s debut album “Francesita” where she pays tribute to women condemned to live and die in the brothels of Argentina. For details email: louise.jallu@free.fr |
Online: “Flogging Molly” St. Patrick’s Day Celebration - Irelandby Christine Johnstone |
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| Seven piece Celtic punk band “Flogging Molly will perform their annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration concert online this year on March 17th, 2021. The concert will be part of a celebration at Whelan's Irish Pub in Dublin and will feature a day filled with good times, great whiskey, vivid stories, and music including Irish traditional songs and audience favourites. The event will be available to watch on-demand for all ticket purchasers up to 5 days after the initial broadcast. “Flogging Molly” includes Matt Hensley (accordion, concertina, vocals) along with players of a variety of instruments such as guitar, bodhran, violin, tin whistle, bass guitar, mandolin, banjo, drums, percussion and vocalists. See poster above for details. |
Postponed: 1st Hohner Conservatory "Kons-Camp 2021" - Germanyby Christine Johnstone |
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 The first Hohner Conservatory Kons-Camp 2021 weekend which was due to be held at the Hohner-Konservatorium Trossingen in March 2021 has been postponed.The new dates for this event are from April 30th to May 2nd, 2021. Participants must be 16 years of age or older and will get the opportunity to join with other students to play in an ensemble and orchestra, eat together, chat about music and get to know the music city of Trossingen. The deadline for registrations is now April 12th, 2021. For details email: info@hohner-konservatorium.de |
Applications Open: 20th Youth Delphic Games of Russiaby Arseniy Strokovskiy |
 The Perm region in Russia will host the Jubilee 20th Youth Delphic Games of Russia from May 21st to 26th, 2021.The Competition and Festival Programs of the Games will include 30 categories of classical, folk and contemporary art, which will include bayan/accordion. The Games will also mark the start of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city of Perm. From December 2020, Russian regions began hosting qualifying events, which determine the line-ups of regional teams. About 2,000 young artists between the ages of 10 and 25 are expected to take part in the Games. Download (in Russian language only), the regulations of the competition, as well as the program requirements for accordionists: 2021YouthDelphic.pdf |
Childrens Corner |
Video: Bayan quartet "The Melody of Good Hearts" - Russiaby Christine Johnstone |
| The bayan quartet "The Melody of Good Hearts" took part in the V District online competition of bayanists "Raimantau Mondara" 2021. Members Anastasia Popova, Elina Khabirova, Albert Galimov and Ainur Galibaev play the folk tune "Kaz Ropes" arranged by I. Safin in the age category: Up to 16 years. |
New and Updated Sites |
Updated Site: Exciting Renzo Ruggieri New Releases - Italyby Harley Jones |
 Video: Renzo Ruggieri has released his new work "Il Bosco Incantato" for accordion and string orchestra. The accordion soloist is Claudio Azzaro.Catalog: rrenzo517 - Il Bosco Incantato for free bass accordion Catalog: rrenzo524 - Il Bosco Incantato for free bass accordion and string orchestra (full score and individual parts). Renzo Ruggieri is pictured right with his new accordion by Bugari Armando, has also published an update of his very popular composition "Tango Italian" (ver. 1.3) for solo virtuoso accordion. Real value for only Euro 10 and ideal for competitions and concerts. Catalog: rrenzo503 Tango Italiano is also released in 5 versions: accordion & orchestra and accordion & string orchestra accordion & strings, rhythmic section accordion & rhythmic section added piano (full score and individual parts). Catalog: rrenzo522 |
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Updated Site: Antonio Spaccarotella - Italyby Harley Jones |
 Antonio Spaccarotella site information has been updated and new photos added. |
Updated Site: 2021 Accordion Examination Board of NZ (AEBNZ) - New Zealandby Heather Masefield Secretary, New Zealand Accordion Association |
 The Accordion Examination Board of New Zealand (AEBNZ) has updated its website with the 2021 examination dates and 2021 entry fees and entry forms. There is also a change to the grade 7 and grade 8 music lists. |
Updated: Russian Newsby Christine Johnstone |
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| The Accordion Russia News has been updated with important information on upcoming events. |
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