Editors Note

This week has been an exciting one in Europe with the Frankfurt Musikmesse (Germany) in "full swing"! A number of Accordions Worldwide clients have attended this event entertaining attendees at various popular stands. We hope to include full coverage of this event in our next edition of the Weekly News.

Wayne Knights Webmaster

The Accordion Competition "Konfrontacje" was held in Czestochowa from February 24th to 28th. The event began with a concert entitled "Accordion - half fun, half serious" at the Hotel Grand. Performers included Piotr Biazik (accordion) with Michal Walczak (guitar), Tomasz Kiepura (bass), Dariusz Herman (piano) and Mariusz Migas (percussion).

The following day a Youth Concert was held at the Youth Home of Culture with performances by Piotr Biazik (accordion), Krzysztof Niedzwiedzki (guitar), Tomasz Kiepura (bass) and Mariusz Migas (percussion). Other performers included the Marcin Janiszewski Quartet (includes accordionist Marcin Janiszewski), Trio "Ars Harmonica", "The Golec u'Orkiestra" (includes accordionist Wojciech Golec), Raimondas Sviackevicius (Lithuania), Frederic Baldo (France) and "The Medium" group (includes accordionist Natalia Kurlowicz).

The competition jury included Professors Walter Maurer (Austria), Ricardas Sviackevicius (Lithuania), Tibor Racz (Slovakia), Joachim Pichura (Poland) and Bogdan Dowlasz (Poland) plus Ewa Grabowska, Zbigniew Luc and Jerzy Kozlowski (Poland). Competitors from Ukraine, Slovakia, Belorus, Lithuania and Poland took part in the event.

A Gala Winners concert was held on the final day, with a prizegiving and ceremonial closing of the festival. Accordion soloists included Joachim Pichura, Jerzy Madrawski and Jakub Mietla.

Results:

Category "A"
1st place - Michal Kubarski
Category "B"
1st place - Katarzyna Lisowska
Category "C"
1st place - Rafal Luc
Category "D" (International)
1st place - Jakub Mietla - Poland

Contributed by Larry Demian

The Radisson Hotel LAX in Los Angeles, California will host the 48th Annual Music Festival of the Accordion Federation of North America from August 21st to 23rd. The event consists of solo, duet, trio, & band competitions for the accordion. Most categories require the performer to be a student of an accordion school that is a member of the association.

A Pageant Dinner Banquet during which trophies for Royal Court Category Winners will be awarded will be held on the Friday evening. Participants will dressed formally and the Accordion & Piano King and Queen will be Crowned along with their courts of Princes & Princesses, Dukes & Duchesses, Counts & Countesses, and Lords & Ladies.

The festival will finish with a Saturday Night Concert featuring top category winners. For further details email: afna@musician.org

Contributed by Kevin Friedrich

Almost 3,000 accordionists from all over Finland took part in an annual overnight cruise on the Silja Europa from Turku, Finland to Sweden and back featuring non stop accordion music of many styles, including Finnish Folk Music and dancing, Cajun, Tex Mex, Jazz, accordion orchestras and ensembles, trade show displays of instruments, recordings and music and an accordion competition. Accordion music was found all over the boat, including in the restaurants, hallways, bars, theatres, conference rooms, restaurants, and even over the intercom and on the TV.

The standing room only audience watched the competition held at the Moulin Rouge Theater, which serves as a selection process for a final competition to be held at the summer Ikaalinen Accordion Festival where finalists will compete in a televised show performing with a backing band and professional stage lighting. The following accordionists were selected to perform in the final competition to be held in July:

Silver Accordion (Hopeinen Harmonikka) children under 10 years, Taneli Järvenpää, Hermanni Morander, Meeri Koskinen, Vilma Avikainen, Aino Kivikallio, Liisa Niinistö, Saara Wasama.

Golden Accordion (Kultainen Harmonikka), without age limit, Elisa Inkinen, Tomi Karttunen, Henna-Maija Kuki, Janne Mäkinen, Satu Sarkoranta and Jonna Pirttijoki.

Among the thousands of accordionists were delegates from the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA) Winter Congress, who also held meetings on board and were able to participate in all the activities as the giant cruise liner made its way through the ice sheet which stretched almost all the way to Sweden. Congratulations to Minna Kulmala from the Ikaalinen Accordion Festival and Kimmo Mattila of the Finnish Accordion Institute and Finnish Accordion Association for the tremendous success of this floating accordion festival.

Contributed by Raimo Vertainen

Trio Fratres will entertain in the Emile Bustani Auditorium as part of the Al Bustan Festival in Beirut on March 16th. The festival will be held over a five week period and this year is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The trio's program will include works by Finnish composers such as Tiensuu and Rechberger plus pieces by Arvo Part, Igor Stravinsky etc. In addition the trio will give a lecture in the Beirut Conservatory.

On March 22nd, Trio Fratres will travel to Austria to perform in the Porgy & Bess Club as part of the Vienna Accordion Festival. Their program will feature "In Rock!" with music by popular rock bands Uriah Heep and Van Halen. The trio will be joined by their own sound and lightning engineer.

March Accordion Workshop - Italy

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

On March 29th and 30th a workshop will be held at the Convitto Nazionale "Regina Margherita" in Anagni (province of Frosinone) organized by the A.P.M. Music Center. Held by Gianluca Pica, the workshop is aimed at the preparation of exams and important international competitions such as the Coupe Mondiale, the World Trophy, Klingenthal, Castelfidardo, Arrasate and others. This is one of a series of workshops held between November 2002 and May 2003.

The 29th Accordion and Fiddle Championships were held on March 1st in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh. The event was well supported with competitors taking part in Scottish music and classical accordion classes. Accordion adjudicators included Iain MacPhail and Alasdair McCuish.

Winner of the Scottish Open solo and also the dance band section was Tom Orr from Lanark. Gary Blair junior (son of the well known Scottish accordionist) also achieved excellent results with several first places. Paul Chamberlain won the classical accordion sections for Polka, Open Solo, and Musette (playing one of his own compositions - "Neva").

The event finished with a Winners Concert (which was recorded by Radio Scotland for future broadcasts) followed by a popular ceilidh, with dance music by the "Ian Muir Sound".

Paul Chamberlain will perform in concert at the Galashiels Clef Club, in the Scottish Borders on March 15th. For details email: Theaccordionist@aol.com

Accordionist Toni Pecanov will perform at the Universal Hall in Skopje on April 27th with the Cammern orchester "Macedonian Youth". Their program will include works by Astor Piazzolla. For details email: tpecanov@freemail.org.mk

Composer Alan Bern's music will be performed live with the Eliza Miller Dance Company at Danspace in New York from March 20th to 23rd, with accordionists Alan Bern & Guy Klucevsek (March 20th to 22nd), and Will Holshouser (March 23rd). The music includes selections from the Guy Klucevsek and Alan Bern recording, "Accordance" (Winter & Winter), as well as a new score commissioned from Bern especially for the Miller Dance Company.

Viennese Accordion Festival Continues with 3rd Successful Week - Austria

Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif Manager of Friedrich Lips Productions

The Viennese Accordion Festival continued this week with the French quartet "Zakarya" playing jazz-rock mixed with elements of Jewish music from Eastern Europe.

One of the highlights of the whole festival was Astor Piazzolla's tango operetta "Maria de Buenos Aires" (libretto by Horacio Ferrer) performed by Primavera del Tango, the brilliant ensemble from Germany. This work is written for 2 singers (Franziska Dannheim and Pedro de Castro), a narrator (Pedro Andrade) and an instrumental ensemble. Argentinean Milonga, Afroamerican rhythms, Cuban habanera and European dance rhythms join with the incomparable sound of the tango.

Global Kryner transformed the classical sound of the famous "Original Oberkrainer" into a serious genre of world music. After last year's success, Polish group "Motion Trio" showed again its tremendous musicianship. In spite of (or even thanks to) their studies of classical music Janusz Wojtarowicz, Pawel Baranek and Marcin Galazyn are also very familiar with jazz, folk and heavy metal so that even world-famous artists like Bobby McFerrin want to cooperate with this trio.

Finally Italian accordionist Gianni Coscia joined clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi for some moments of sublime beauty and irony remembering not only Federico Fellini's composer Nino Rota but also Italian waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and tarantellas.

Contributed by Kevin Friedrich

Finnish superstar accordionist Mika Väyrynen was the guest soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra at the famed Finlandia Concert Hall in two concerts on March 12 and 13th. Performing under the direction of Okko Kamu (winner of the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting competition) Mika performed "Chamber Music V" for Accordion and Strings by Aulis Sallinen.

Mika, who won the Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships in 1989, received his Doctoral Degree from the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki) where he now teaches, and has performed both as a soloist and as a guest artist with major orchestras around the world.

Chemainus Accordion Fest 2003 - Canada

Contributed by Sheila Miller Bower

The Chemainus Accordion Fest 2003 will be held at the Waterwheel Park and the Senior Centre in Downtown Chemainus, Vancouver Island, Chemainus, British Columbia from August 15th to 17th. The event will include three days of free outdoor entertainment, concerts, workshops, dancing, strolling musicians, and tradeshows. For details email: smillerbower@telus.net

Renzo Ruggieri was recently involved in the theatre season "Scena d'autunno" (Autumn Stage) organized by the Spazio Tre theatre association. Ruggieri gave a first performance at the Sala San Carlo in Teramo with actors Carlo Orsini and Mauro Di Girolamo, who introduced with him a screening of Orson Wells' "Othello". The second performance took place at the same theatre, where he teamed up with creative cellist Enrico Melozzi for a concert totally based on improvisation which greatly impressed the audience.

Melozzi is one of the most remarkable composers on the Italian scene and Ruggieri had already worked with him for the recording of the soundtrack of "Esercizi di magia", a film by Marco Chiarini soon to be released.

Contributed by Ron Bennett

Accordionist Gary Blair (Scotland) recently completed a successful 7 day concert tour in the South of England. Gary was greeted at every event with enthusiastic & capacity audiences with some venues selling out many weeks in advance. Concerts were held at accordion clubs in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, Uxbridge, Middlesex, Wimborne, Dorset, Ovingdean, East Sussex, Harlow, Essex, Cranleigh, Surrey and Brighton.

Gary was accompanied by a tempting selection of the current "Best of British" accordion talent such as Harry Hussey, George Syrett, Romano Viazzoni and David Lukins. Gary's third and latest CD "Still Steamin" was on sale for the first time during the tour and was in popular demand.

Gary's next southern tour "The Gary Blair Roadshow 2004" has already been planned for early February next year with eight confirmed events already. For details email: accordionfriends@aol.com

A "Puro Conjunto Party" was held at Guero's Taco Bar in Austin, Texas on March 13th. Entertainers included Michael Guerra (accordion), Conjunto Los Pinkys (includes accordionists Isidro Samilpa, Chencho Flores and Bradley Jaye Williams), Chon Martinez Y Vicente Alonzo, Johnny Degollado (accordionist and songwriter who will be inducted into the Tejano-Conjunto Hall of Fame in San Antonio this year), Mexican Roots Trio (accordionist Joel Guzman), Lala Llanos (accordion), Rosie Garza (accordion) and Susan Torres (accordion).

On March 15th the Taco Bar will feature "The Gulf Coast Playboys", which features accordionist Bradley Jaye Williams. The group play traditional cajun, swamp pop and Tex-Mex music. For details email: bradley@thegulfcoastplayboys.com

Contributed by Hillebrand van der Veen

The Amsterdam Accordion Club Forzando will hold a "Voorspeeldag" (series of mini concerts) on March 23rd in the little village of Watergang (north Amsterdam). The event is designed so that accordionists get the opportunity to perform and gain stage experience. Each participant will present a 15 minute program. An accordion teacher from one of the music schools will give constructive advice on the music presented to help players develop their skills.

The Forzando Quintet will also present works such as "Balkan Impressionen" and "The Comedians" (Kabalevsky). Following this, a "play-in" will be held for all participants plus an orchestra will be formed, with music in several levels will be studied and played - "Just for fun". For further details email: H.J.Veen@net.HCC.nl

Contributed by Mario Bruneau

On February 17th, 2003 in Montreal, Enrico Ricciuti (Councillor for ADAM - L'Association Des Accordéonistes de Montréal) died suddenly of cancer. Trained in Castelfidardo, Italy, he served Quebec's accordion community for over 15 years. In his shop "L'Atelier de l'accordéon" in Greenfield Park, Montreal, he repaired and re-conditioned many accordions. A talented accordion builder, the diatonic accordions he built were considered mechanically perfect and a pleasure to play. Everyone's friend, his happiness will be missed by all of us.

Auckland accordionist Stephanie Poole will perform "Bone-Flower", composed by New Zealander Juliet Palmer at the University Music Theatre in Auckland on March 16th. The piece is scored for soprano, viola, bass clarinet, free bass accordion, vibraphone and timpani. The concert is entitled "The American Connexion - Exploring the vibrant relationship between NZ composers and the American musical scene".

The program also includes works by Matthew Suttor, Reuben de Lautour, Miriama Young, Ross Harris, Anne Lockwood and Aaron Copland. Performers include Thomas Hecht (piano), Glenese Blake (soprano), Andrew Uren (bass clarinet) and Phil Dadson (piano). For booking information phone:
+64 9 300-3700

Los Extranjeros, which includes Victor Prieto (accordion) and Clay Ross (guitar) are performing a variety of tango and jazz at the "Allioli", "Bar Tabac" and "Barbes" in Brooklyn, New York throughout March. For details email: victorprieto@hotmail.com

www.cyberlink.bc.ca/~kiotac Information on the Kimberley International Old Time Accordion Championships held from July 7th to 13th in Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada

www.accordions.com/marconi/info.htm Updated information Marconi snc accordion bellows manufacturers based in Italy

Bill Wilkinson would like information on a 120 bass Castelli Chromatic accordion, made in Italy. Email: wwilkinson@optushome.com.au

Connie Spangler would like information on Tone Crest accordions. Email: connie.spangler@doc.state.ok.us