INTERNATIONAL ACCORDIONISTS WIN $15,000
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In an event of marathon proportions, 21 contestants signed up for the
Vivian Vivio Stolaruk International Entertainment Competition for Accordionists
that took place July 7 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan,
under the auspices of the American Accordionists Association, in
conjunction with the organizations five-day 2005 Accordion Festival.
Contestants from Canada, France, Poland and Russia, as well as Alabama,
California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Texas, Utah and Washington within the US, vied for the substantial prizes
in a competition which lasted nearly 10 hours and left judges and audiences
astounded at the high level of performance and musicianship.
Among the competing musicians were several past winners of the Coupe
Mondiale, the Klingenthal
International and other high caliber national and international competitions
as well as professional accordionists such as the soloist with the acclaimed
Quartetto Gelato, the soloist with TVs Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians
Show and others whose credits include accompanying famous singers and
instrumentalists in international performances. The event provided a concert
extravaganza for the more than 300 accordion aficionados who attended.
Accordionist
Julien Labro (picture left) won the impressive $10,000 first place prize.
Originally from France, Julien now lives in Dearborn where he is a student-protégé
of the internationally acclaimed accordion maestro Peter
Soave, who in his youth won numerous international competitions. Labros
victories include the 1996 Coupe Mondiale as well as many other competitions.
He received his Bachelors degree from Wayne State University in
Detroit where he won WSUs Concerto Competition in 2001, 2002 and
2003, received the Lawson Scholarship in 2002, the prestigious Presidential
Endowed Scholarship in 2003 and the Presser Scholarship in 2004. A member
of Pi Kappa Lambda Honorary Musical Fraternity, Julien was recognized
by the United States Achievement Academy as a Collegiate All-American
Scholar in 2003 and 2004.
Pictured left to right, Alexander
Poeleuv of Russia (second place), Philippe Bouvier of France (third
place) and Julien Labro of Dearborn, Michigan (first place), portrait
of the late Vivian Stolaruk, flanked by Steve Stolaruk and Competition
Co-Chair Faithe Deffner
Alexander Poeluev of Russia
won the second place prize of $3,000. A student of noted accordionist,
composer and educator Viatcheslav
A. Semionov, he graduated from the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow
in 2003. Poeluev is a two-time winner of Russias Piano and Button
Accordion Competition. In 2002, he won both the Coupe
Mondiale World Accordion Championship and the International Piano
Accordion Competition. Alexander recently completed his Master degree
under Semionov
Third Place prize, $2000, was won by Philippe Bouvier of France, who studies
with noted accordion educator Frederic
Deschamps, the chairman of the Music Committee of the Confederation
Internationale des Accordeonistes, the organization that sponsors the
annual Coupe Mondiale. Bouvier won the CIA Virtuoso Entertainment Competition
last year in Pontarlier, France and has been featured on many radio and
TV shows. The excellence displayed at this competition made it extremely
close. The scores of the three top contenders were separated by less than
one point. The overall performance quality of all competitors was so impressive
that the contest benefactor, Steve Stolaruk, announced additional prize
money, to give each of the other contestants a token prize of $250.
Left to right: Georgiy Shakhnevich, EvAnn
Dahl Hawley, Michal Vigneau, Jerome Richard, Philippe Bouvier, Julien
Labro, Brian Hubrich, Anthony Falco, Sammy Thomas, Vitaliy Pirog, Joseph
Tirpak, Anthony Rolando, Alexander Poeluev, Serge Osokin, Gregory Faihnshtein,
Alexander Sevastian. Missing from photo: Benjamin Lang, Peter Martin and
Marcin Wyrostek.
All contestants also received the American Accordionists Association
participation plaque which was distributed by President Linda Soley Reed.
Mr. Stolaruk conceived the 2005 Vivian Vivio Stolaruk Memorial Competition
in divine remembrance of his late wife, as part of the couples ongoing
effort to promote the multifaceted music of the accordion and to maximize
public enjoyment of this unique instrument. Stolaruk, in collaboration
with the American Accordionists Association, supports efforts to
reinforce and expand the positive image of the accordion and to encourage
young people to explore accordion music
The Stolaruks, both Steve and Vivian posthumously, received the coveted
CIA Honored Friends of the Accordion awards for their generous
support of such accordion activities. At the conclusion of the Competition,
the large audience gave Mr. Stolaruk a moving five-minute standing ovation
in appreciation of his generosity and dedication to the accordion community.
Maddalena Belfiore and Faithe
Deffner chaired the 2005 Vivian Vivio Stolaruk Memorial Competition
and CIA President Kevin Friedrich
was the Master of Ceremonies.
A distinguished panel of musicians judged
the 10-hour long competition. Left to right, they are Louis
Coppola, who was the first contestant to represent the USA at the
Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships in 1955 in Brighton, Great
Britain; Dick Contino, accordion showman who regularly performs from Las
Vegas to Atlantic City and headlines shows at many fairs and festivals
throughout America; Jeff Lisenby, USA representative at the Coupes Mondiale
in 1974 (Stockholm) and 1977 (Eindhoven, Netherlands), who is a Nashville
recording accordionist acclaimed for cutting-edge music as well as symphony
orchestra appearances; Michal Shapiro, currently involved with music programming
for Link TV, she is noted for the three-CD compilation Planet Squeezebox;
Accordion Music from Around the World which won the German Critics
Circle Award as well as an AAA
citation; Dave Westerskov, a performer and music educator who is responsible
for auditioning, casting and! booking all live show talent for Walt Disney
World Resort, the Disney Cruise Line and Tokyo Disney Resort.
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