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Winter Accordion
Festival, Kokkola - Finland
Information
supplied by Raimo Vertainen
 The
seventh Kokkola Winter Accordion Festival in Finland will be held from the 19th
to 27th February 2005. This innovative festival, set in the winter scenery on
the coast of west Finland offers a huge program. The artistic level is very high
and multi-faceted, offering music, movies, church concerts, lectures and sport.
The Winter Accordion Festival has grown to a very prominent position amongst
the festival scene in Finland. The Finnish media and Radio Broadcasting Company
also are involved.
The
highlights of the festival are:
-
Richard Galliano and Michel Portal, who are to perform as a duo on the 25th of
February.
- Mika Väyrynen
with the Osthrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, a famous string orchestra in Finland.
- Matti Rantanen will perform chamber music
- Hugo Noth performing a baroque-music
concert with the cellist Lauri Pulakka.
- A folk music evening with Kepa Junkera,
from Spain.
- The famous Fratres-trio is to play a concert 'Fratres in Rock!'
- The screening of the classic German movie 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari',
with accompaniment from cellist Roi Ruottinen and Veli Kujala on accordion.
-
Workshops with Hugo Noth, Kepa Junkera and Matti Rantanen.
For
further information email raimo.vertainen@pp.inet.fi
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Award winning
Composer, Jesus Rueda, writes music for Angel
Luis Castaño - Spain
Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl
This
year's highest prize for the arts awarded by the government of Spain has been
given to Spain's great composer Jesus Rueda. Rueda's reputation lies mainly in
his symphonic works, and he is also considered as today's best Spanish composer
of works for the piano.
 Both
Angel Luis Castaño and Jesus Rueda
are founding members of 'Musica Presente'. Rueda has always been impressed by
the playing of Castaño, and has openly expressed his wish to write for
him. When the prestigious prize was officially announced last week, Rueda was
writing his '12 Inventions for Accordion' solo. It is now finished and Castaño
will premiere it next February in Madrid.
Castaño has explicitly
asked Rueda to write music that can be played by young accordionists, since the
concert repertoire for this kind of level of difficulty for accordion solo is
still inadequate. In order to write something 'easy(ier)', Rueda has to really
know about accordion profoundly (as many composers have said, it is more difficult
to write something easy to play that is also effective in its performance), and
these pieces have been created in close collaboration with Castaño. They
also can be performed as separate pieces. Now, the accordion repertoire is that
bit richer, and these pieces can be performed as concert pieces, as well as providing
teaching materials for students.
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'The Unforgivable Sin' Premiere, New York - USA
Contributed
by Kevin Friedrich
A
new film by Micki Goodman will be shown at the Tenri Cultural Institute, New York,
on Friday December 10th - 'The Unforgivable Sin'. The film is in four parts: Evidence
- Falling From Grace - Parousia - And What Is This Thing Called Accordion? It
celebrates 25 years of theatre, dance and performance art collaborations of Micki
Goodman and Dr William Schimmel.
'The Unforgivable Sin' mark's Micki's
film making debut, and is edited by Deborah Magosci, also an accordionist. It
is not a documentary. It has its own non-linear plot. Part 4 focuses in on Dr
Schimmel and his accordion philosophies; Part 3 focuses in on the term Parousia,
meaning presence; Part 2 focuses in on the constant sense of struggle, conflict
and non-resolve; and Part 1 defines the plight of Dr Schimmel in his accordion
quest - and the price he has to pay for it.
 After
the screening, there will be a reception in honor of the film, the holiday seasons
and the 25th wedding anniversary of Micki Goodman and Dr William Schimmel. Since
seating is limited, invitations were necessary, but some space remains for those
who would like to see the film. For reservations or further information email
billschimmel@billschimmel.com
On
December 3rd and 4th, Dr Schimmel will perform the New York premiere of Howard
Shore's 'Lord of the Rings Symphony' with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Howard
Shore will be present and will speak before the Friday night performance. The
concerts will take place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New
Jersey.
A week later, on December 13th, Kamala Sankram will perform Dr
William Schimmel's 'Punk Prelude and Fugue in G Minor' at the Cornelia St Café
in New York. Kamala, who is also an opera singer, sitar player and clinical psychologist,
teaches at New School University and is a Doctoral candidate, soon to receive
the Neupauer Conservatory Order of the Shield Diploma, under the tutelage of Dr
William Schimmel.
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Successful
Accordion Festival, Besçanon - France
Contributed
by Holda Paoletti-Kampl
 On
November 27th and 28th, the 14th Rencontre Internationale de Besçanon took
place, attracting large numbers of enthusiasts to its concerts and dances. The
opening event was a Bal Musette, with music by Christophe Demerson (pictured),
attracting over 700 dancers.
The concert guest artistes included Samuel
Garcia and his Orchestra (France), Alexandra Paris (France), Paris-Moscow
Duo (Domi Emorine et Roman Jbanov, France - Russia), Joao Frade (Portugal),
Corinne and Fabienne Chapuis (Switzerland), Jacqueline Résimont (Belgium),
Amélie Castel (France), Simon Gachet-Mauroz (France), Jean Ribeiro (France),
Céline Sanfaute (France), and André Coutisson (France).
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Commemorative
Concerts at the Stockport Air Raid Shelters, England - UK
Contributed
by Rob
Howard
 Accordionists
Rob
Howard and John Jones will perform their annual concerts of sing along war
songs and Christmas carols at the Stockport Air Raid Shelters on December 9th
and 16th, from 7.30pm onwards. These concerts take place in the very atmospheric
underground Air Raid Shelters, a labyrinth of fully equipped tunnels that spread
underneath the town center of Stockport, and begin at the end of organised guided
tours for groups of about thirty people.
The singing and accordion playing
recreates the way people regularly entertained each other during the Second World
War. The period known as the Blitz began on December 22nd 1940, with massive German
air raids on the Manchester area, and up to 7,000 people each night went down
into the Stockport Air Raid Shelters until late 1941. Accordionists were a frequent
and welcome entertainment.
For further information email robaccord5@hotmail.com
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Accordionist to Perform
Piazzolla Concerto with Orchestra, Pennsylvania - USA
Contributed
by Kevin Friedrich
 American
concert accordionist Henry Doktorski will perform as soloist with the Butler County
Symphony Orchestra on Saturday February 12th 2005 in a performance of 'Tres Tangos'
by the Argentinian-born composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992). During the concert,
Doktorski will also accompany the young Pittsburgh lyric soprano, Beth Ackelson,
in a performance of 'If We Only Have Love' by the Belgian singer/song writer Jacques
Brel (1929-1978). Elisabeth Heath-Charles, the music director and conductor of
the orchestra, will conduct the concert.
Doktorski
said, "I look forward to performing as soloist with the Butler County Symphony
Orchestra. Piazzolla is one of my favorite composers. This work, 'Tres Tangos'
(originally written for bandoneon, a type of button-accordion especially popular
in South America), perfectly adapts to the piano accordion. The three movements
are titled 'Allegro Tranquillo', 'Moderato', and Allegro Molto Marcato'. The second
movement begins with a haunting and lyrical accordion solo." The
city of Butler, Pennsylvania, is located about thirty miles north of Pittsburgh.
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Successes for Royal
Academy of Music accordion students in England - UK
 Contributed
by Professor Owen Murray, Royal
Academy of Music, London
On
16th November, Borut Zagoranski reached the final round of the prestigious 'Wigmore
Award'. This competition, open to all instruments and voice, was held at the Royal
Academy of Music. The final will be held at the famous Wigmore Hall, London, on
4th February 2005. Last year, Milos Milivojevic was in the final. To have an accordionist
in the final of this competition two years in succession is a remarkable achievement.
Of the six finalists, two play piano and the others accordion, cello, flute and
guitar.
 On
25th November, Milos Milivojevic (right pictured) gave a recital at the University
of London at an award ceremony attended by
HRH
The Princess Royal. Milos has enjoyed great success since his London debut in
the Park Lane Concert Series held in the Royal Festival Hall, Purcell Room, earlier
this year. His performance, which included Berio's Sequenza, Lindberg's Jeux d'anches
and Rose Luisante by Anthony Gilbert, dedicated to Milos, was widely acclaimed
by the critics - "…a hurricane of imaginative invention", Hilary
Finch, The Times.
Milos will give a recital with cellist Naomi Williams
at the Wigmore Hall on February 28th. Recent performances have included the Oxford
Chamber Music Festival and Cheltenham International Festival. Yura Chubarenko
played with the Lontano Ensemble in a BBC invitation concert broadcast on Rado
3 on 6th November. It was the premiere of 'Torque' by Elena Kats-Chernin. The
piece, for solo piano, accordion and small ensemble, was conducted by Odaline
de la Martinez. Borut Zagoranski, Milos Milivojevic and Yura Chubarenko study
with Owen Murray.
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Cao Xiao-Qing and
the Students' Concert - China
Contributed
by Lian Jones of Accordion
House
 Professor
Cao Xiao-Qing, of the China Central
Conservatory of Music, will perform with seven of his accordion students at a
special concert at Floor 1 Concert Hall, the Practice Building at the Central
Conservatory of Music at 3pm on the 4th of December. As a former student of Professor
Elspeth Moser, Professor Cao had won the Baden-Baden Accordion Competition in
Germany in 1997, and in the same year, also won the Citta
di Castelfidardo International Accordion Competition.
He is the co
founder of the accordion course at the Central Conservatory. It was a major victory
for the accordionists in China after over a decade of hard pressuring to be able
to achieve this. Finally the accordion is fully been recognized by the top ranked
music academy in China. The members of the 1st Accordion Class are all high achievers
in top level competitions. Xu Xiaonan has won the 15 years and under section at
the Citta di Castelfidardo festival this year.
Dai Yu has won the 18 and
under at Citta di Castelfidardo
2004. Zhang Weiyi was the winner of the 18 years and under section at 2001 Citta
di Castelfidardo. Wu Qiang was the champion at the 2001 Golden Cup National Accordion
Competitions. The concert program includes 'The Gothic Suite', 'Sonata no.1' (1st
and 4th Movements), and a Chinese piece 'Above Liberated Zone'.
For more
information email: xiaoqingcao922@hotmail.com
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Calexico Concert Dates
- USA
The
Hispanic-influenced Mariachi-rock band Calexico, featuring Joey Burns on accordion,
are to make several concert appearances in early December. Calexico's line up
includes accordion, trumpet, guitar, steel guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Founded
in 1996, they have four CDs to their credit, and on recordings they are augmented
by a variety of other instrumentalists including extra accordionists.
The
December concert dates include:-
7th - Bowey Ballroom, New York
8th
- Maxwell's, Hoken, New Jersey
9th - Boston
10th - Philadelphia
11th
- Connecticut
For
further information email casadecalexico@yahoo.com
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On
the 28th of November the Perth Accordion Club hosted the launch of a new CD released
by Trio Alegra and titled 'The Magic of Piccini'. The group consists of Eddie
Staszak (accordion) Laura Mitchell (violin) and Corinne Brokken (double bass).
West Australian virtuoso accordionist Peter Piccini composed all of the music
for the CD. Peter and his wife were honoured guests at the concert. The Perth
Accordion club made a presentation to Peter in recognition of the contribution
he has made to the accordion in Western Australia over a period spanning many
years.
Nowadays
Michail Bronner belongs amongst the most well-known composers in Moscow. After
'Dream Garden' (1998) for bayan and violoncello, and 'Judas Passion' (1999) for
bayan and chamber orchestra, he composed a concert for bayan, piano and symphony
orchestra called 'Catuf' ("so it is written", a quotation from the Bible).
This work is dedicated to Friedrich and Svjatoslav Lips who played the first performance
of this most significant work in Moscow's Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory
during the festival 'Moscow Autumn' on November 16th.