Joan
Cochran Sommers established the accordion degree program at the
University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music in 1961.
It is one of the most comprehensive accordion programs in the world
where both performance majors, secondaries, and non-music majors
may use the accordion to earn Baccalaureate through Doctorate degrees.
Professor Sommers has been honored numerous times by the American
Accordionists' Ass'n., the Accordionists
& Teachers Guild, Int'l, the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, as
well as other musical organizations for her ongoing dedication
and contributions to the field of music. She earned the right
to represent the USA in the Coupe Mondiale in both 1955 and 1956,
which undoubtedly developed her interest in worldwide accordion
activities. As a performer, she uses the piano accordion, but
she teaches all types of systems. Many of her students play both
chromatic and keyboard instruments.
Courses for Study Courses Professor Sommers designed and teaches at the Conservatory
of Music are:
|
Applied Private
Accordion |
|
Accordion Orchestra |
|
Accordion Chamber
Music |
|
Accordion Arranging
|
|
Accordion Literature |
|
Accordion History
|
|
Accordion Techniques
(a specially designed course for non-accordionists majoring
in music education or music therapy) |
There is always a great emphasis on sight-reading as well as
orchestra and chamber music since Professor Sommers believes the
skills developed in those areas prepare the performer for the
professional world of music.
Her
students have won numerous top awards, including the US Championship
competitions in both the AAA
and the ATG, and have been candidates to the Coupe Mondiale
many different times over a long period of time. Some of the most
outstanding accordion professionals, both men and women, have
been her students and have earned music degrees at the UMKC Conservatory
of Music.
UMKC Accordion Orchestra
Accordion
orchestras under her direction have won innumerable First Place
Awards in many competitions and have traveled on concert tours throughout
the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Russia,
Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Austria and, most recently, Italy. She has performed with other
groups under her direction in Greenland, Nova Scotia, Canada, Japan,
Taiwan, The Philippines, Guam, Okinawa, and Korea. Professor Sommers
has taught and adjudicated in many other countries, including Poland,
France, the Netherlands, and the People's Republic of China, as
well as throughout the United States.
Joan Cochran Sommers serves as Assistant Dean in the Conservatory
of Music as well as Professor of Music. She has held elective
and appointed offices in both national and international accordion
organizations and is the newly-elected president of the Accordionists
& Teachers Guild, Int'l., a post that she also held in previous
years.
Contact Information
E-mail: joansommers@kc.rr.com
Telephone:
+1-913-722-5625 (home)
Copyright 1999
Catherine E. Sommers - UILab