N e w s   A r c h i v e   December   2000

• Sergei Voitenko performs at the "Arrasate Hiria" competition - Spain
• New compositions for accordion - St.Petersburg
• Konstantin Ischenko in concert in Poland - Poland
• III International Accordion Festival - Russia
• iberian Youth Trio Tours the Region - Russia
• XVI International Festival of accordion music - St.Petersburg
• VI international Malanin Festival - Russia

Sergei Voitenko performs at the "Arrasate Hiria" competition

Sergei Voitenko was invited to perform at the International Competition for Accordion Soloists "Arrasate Hiria" which was held in Mondragon (Spain) as a winner of the last competition. The concerts took place in the music school of Tolosa , the Culture Center "BITERI" of Hernani, Pablo Sarasate Conservatory of Irunea, the church of Aretxabaleta, San Juan Bautista Church of Arrasate from December 1st to 7th and will included two different programs , (one of which is to be performed for children).

The pieces for children include:
1. D.Scarlatti - Sonata A - dur
2. P. Makkonen - "The Flight Beyond the Time"
3. V.Novikov - "French Ballade"
4. S.Voitenko - "Three februarian sketch" (in 3 movements)
5. E. Derbenko - The Funny Suite on the theme of the Russian national fairy tale "The garfish's order, the my wish"
6. A. Piazzolla - Two tangos: "Oblivion", "Adios Nonino"
7. V. Semyonov - "Basqueriad"

The programme to be perform at the competition for the competitors and members of jury:
1. D. Shostakovich - Prelude and Fugue
2. D.Scarlatti - Sonata A - dur
3. S. Rackmaninov - Barcarolla
4. H.Frauendorf - "Danse of Shadows"
5. S.Slonimsky - Intermezzo in memory of J.Brahms
6. S.Voitenko - "Three Februarian Sketchs"
7. S.Berinsky - Partita "Also Sprach Zaratustra"
8. A.Piazzolla - "Adios Nonino"
9. V.Semyonov Basqueriad".

New compositions for accordion

Two world premieres of accordion music has been performed by Sergej Tchirkov at the 12th international Festival of New Music "Sound Ways" which was held in St.Petersburg recently.

"Drang" - this is the title of the first solo work for accordion, written by Dr. Professor John Palmer (Great Britain) , who teaches composition at the "HochShule fur Musik" in Stuttgart (Germany)

"This music is to be played with much Sturm und Drang character; impetuous, yearning, passionate, gestural, directional and always virtuoso-like. For this reason, rubato techniques are essential for the performance of this work and the performer is encouraged to emphasize - and exaggerate - much of the phrasing and articulations accordiong to her/his virtuosity and interpretation. The production of air sound from within the instrument should resemble the inhaling and exhaling typical of human breathing. The air sounds should strongly enhance the dramatic character of the music. Therefore, they are no less important that the notes." (John Palmer)

The other work has been composed by Michail Kroutik- a young violinist and composer from St.Petersburg. Michail is currently a student of the Rimskij -Korsakov Conservatoire where he studies composition with Professor Sergej Slonimski and violin with Professor Michail Shustin. M.Kroutik has also attended some seminars at which he had studied with Professor Paul Hainz Dittrich (Germany), Professor Gerard McBurney (Great Britain) and famous American composer John Cramb. The work for violin and accordion, entitled " 8 1/2" (otto e mezzo) was composed this year and is dedicated to Sergej Tchirkov. For more information on how to get the score of "8 1/2" or how to contact to composer, please, email to the Coordinator of this site.

Konstantin Ischenko in concert in Poland

Accordionist Konstantin Ischenko (winner of the numerous international competitions, including Coupe Mondiale '98 and Citta di Castelfirado'2000 ) will perform at the Music School of Chelm, Poland in the end of December. His program will include works by Bach, Di Marco, Zubitsky , Semionov, Galliano. Konstantin has also been invited to present a lecture and master classses, which are open for all listeners to attend.

III International Accordion Festival

The 3rd internartional accordion festival was held in Tcheliabinsk, Russia from November 8th to 13th. The event (which is annual) included performances by Alexander Dmitriev, Friedrich Lips, Radjap Shaihutdinov, Jean- Louis Noton, "Ural Duo" (which includes Natalia and Nikolai Ischenko), "St Petersburg Musette Ensemble", Juri Shishkin, Vitali Dmitriev, "Piazzolla -Studio", which consists of Friedrich Lips (accordion), Vladislav Igolinski (violin), Kirill Rodin (cello), Swiatoslav Lips (piano) and Nikolai Lgovski (percussion). The festival was opened with a concert by the "Malakhit" Folk Orchestra. In addtition, the conference which covered new topics, including teaching and performance of the accordion at the dawn of new century took place, during the festival. The organizer of the event is Nikolai Ischenko.

Siberian Youth Trio Tours the Region

The Siberian trio of Youth accordionists toured the region of Siberia from November 17th to 24th. The trio consists of the prizewinners of different regional competitions; Mikhail Fomochkin (14 years old) , Semion Shmelkov (16 years old) and Ivan Talanin (12 years old). Their program included works by Bach, Tchaikovski, Bizet, Khachaturyan, Piazzolla, Shalaev. All musicians are the students of Professor Alexander Kroupin, the leader of the accordion course , held in the Conservatoire of Novosibirsk. For further details email: fomirina@mail.ru

XVI International Festival of accordion music

The 16th annual International festival of music for accordion was held in St.Petersburg from November 3d to 5th , organized by Professor Alexander Dmitriev and the Cultural Commetee of St.Petersburg. The performers included Alexander Vasic (Yugoslavia), Juri Shishkin, Aidar Gainulin, Sergej Osokin, "Moscow Duo", "Ural Duo" (Russia), Konstantin Ischenko , Viktor Dukaltetenko, Sergej Tchirkov , Artem Kuznetsov (St.Petersburg), Sha Kan (China). The concerts took place at the Concert Hall of St.Petersburg before an audience of nearly 1,000 people. The organizing committee is thankful to all who made this celebration of accordion possible: Sergei Kolesnik, "Golden Age" - a recently opened restaurant in the very heart of St.Petersburg (at which the festival was opened with a press -conference) and other friends of accordion.

Full report which covers the history of the event is to be on-line soon.

VI international Malanin Festival

The 6th International festival and competition dedicated to the memory of the legendary Siberian bayanist Ivan Malanin will be held in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia from January 17th to 21st. Performers of any age are invited to participate in the competition and in the seminar dedicated to the problems of folk bellows instruments. All the concerts which are to take place during the event are open to everyone to attend. For further information about the festival and competition email: fomirina@mail.ru