From April 25th -29th, in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, the 3rd
International Accordion Competition and Festival "AccoHoliday"
will be held.
This international event is organized by Yan Tabachnik (picture left),
the President of the 'Major League Masters of World Accordion' pictured
here with Tania
Lukic-Marx, AATA
President which is a member.
The
two Competition classes program requirements are:
Category A - Classical
First round (up to 20 minutes)
1. Polyphonic cycle for an organ or keyboard instrument (including
fugue for at least 3 voices)
2. Piece of music created before 1800.
3. Concert virtuoso piece.
Second round (up to 30 minutes)
Free concert program, including lengthy original cyclic piece (wholly).
Category B - Entertainment
First round (up to 20 minutes)
Free concert program, with pieces interpreting folk and popular themes,
and pieces containing jazz elements.
Second round (up to 20 minutes)
Free concert program, containing virtuoso, folk, popular and jazz
compositions.
For both categories, pieces will not be repeated in the first and
second round.
There is no competition entry fee. Accommodation for the competitors
is provided by the organizer.
A
full-length article on Dr. William
Schimmel and his rich, diverse musical life is the featured article
in the March issue of The Juilliard Journal, a monthly newspaper that
features articles and events concerning the students, faculty and
alumnus of The Juilliard School. Full
Article
Dr. Schimmel
just completed performing in the recent production of 'Juno', an opera/musical
by Marc Blitzstein at City Center in New York - as part of the Encore
Series. It was done in a semi-staged concert format.
Juno was originally premiered in 1959 on Broadway and ran for a relatively
short time. Perhaps Blitzstein's eclectic score was ahead of its time.
Or perhaps the subject matter concerning Independence in Ireland was
too controversial - or it's tragic ending. It's not a happy ending
musical. There is talk of a revival. It has a prominent accordion
part. This recent version was wonderfully received.
The
Viennese Accordion Festival 2008 brought 220 artistes from 30 countries
worldwide to Vienna.
From small beginnings this event keeps growing each year and is now
one of the major annual accordion events offering an incredible diversity
of music, from February 23rd until March 24th.
The
event included, stars like diatonic player Riccardo Tesi from Italy
or bandoneonist Luis di Matteo from Uruguay.
The
Magic Afternoon on five Sundays at the 'Dschungl' Children's Theatre
provided an opportunity for children and teenagers to get to know
our exciting instrument.
The
Silent film Matinee with accordion accompaniment at the Filmcasino
and the Literatursalon at the Stadttheater Walfischgasse were further
highlights of this cross-genre festival which was closed by three
galas on three following days: Dobrek Bistro (Austria picture above
left), Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas (USA picture right), Alessandro
Kramer Trio (Brazil picture left) and Danças Ocultas (Portugal
picture above right).
Strumenti & Musica Spring Festival, Spoleto -
Italy
Contributed by Davide Fabrizi
The
Italian accordionists who will represent Italy in the next Coupe
Mondiale will be together in Spoleto, Umbria, for three days full
of events and concerts. The Strumenti & Musica Spring Festival,
from May 22nd to 25th, will involve some of the world's best accordionists.
The event is organized by the non-profit making organisation Italian
Accordion Culture (IAC), together with Ars Spoletium Recording and
Publishing, and the magazine Strumenti & Musica.
Competitions take place in the Sala Pegasus, and the main venue for
concerts will be the Teatro Nuovo. Other features of the festival
include a workshop by Jazz accordionist Renzo
Ruggeri, and concert performances by Mirco
Patarini, Renzo
Ruggieri, the Beltango
Quintet (Serbia), Alexander
'Sasha' Selivanov (Russia), and by the accordionists due to participate
in the 2009 Coupe Mondiale in Glasgow, Scotland this October.
On
March 21st well-known musician Aidar Gainullin performed with the
Symphonic Orchestra of Cinematographies of Russia during the 21st
awards ceremony of the national film-prize 'NIKA' (Russian 'Oscar').
Aidar Gainullin was conferred the distinction of an 'Academician of
Cinema Arts'.
From March 22nd to 29th Aidar Gainullin adjudicated at the international
competition of young artistes in Moscow for the first time. The adjudicators'
panel included such musicians as Friedrich
Lips, Alexander
Dmitriev, Andrey Ledenev, Vladimir Murza, Sergei Osokin (Russia),
Christiane Bonnay (Monaco) and Grzegorz Stopa (Poland).
Last weekend, from March 28th to 30th, UNAC-Unión de Acordeonistas
(www.unac.es) of Spain, organised the First Accordion Meeting in Navas
de Riofrio, Segovia, coordinated by Raquel
Ruiz.
Many
accordionists from all over Spain attended this meeting. From Pamplona,
Madrid, Segovia, San Sebastian, Cuenca, Huesca, Zaragoza, Murcia,
Albacete, etc.
The program during the weekend included activities such as a Classical
Accordion Concert (works by Aho, Lindberg, Camarero, Buxtehude, Rueda,
Schmidt and Gubaidulina), and a Chamber Music workshop, conducted
by Victor Fernandez. In this workshop the participants made the first
world recording of Cesar Camarero´s 'Cantus' for 12 accordions,
and the group also worked on Steve Reich´s works.
The
meeting included very interesting lectures by David del Puerto (National
Prize of composition 2005) - 'Minimal music, Steve Reich and other
tendencies', Carlos Claveria (sound engineer) -'Recording technical
matters for musicians', Cesar Camarero (National Prize of music 2006)
- 'The accordion in my music'.
UNAC President Angel
Luis Castaño and Vice-President Joxan
Goikoetxea attended this meeting, where all participants shared
an incredible weekend full of musical and personal experiences.
Castletown
Accordion Orchestra, from the Republic of Ireland, once again travelled
to the European Accordion Festival held in Prague from March 20th
to 23rd. They entered 2 sections, the Junior (which they won in 2006)
and the Light Music Section. They were placed 2nd out of 9 in the
Junior, and in the Light Music Section, they were placed 5th out of
9. This was the first time they had entered this section. The orchestras
placed above them were of a very high standard and the majority of
them also competed in the Adult Classical section.
Whilst in Prague, they were invited to play at the Irish Embassy.
This was an immense honour for the Orchestra. The College of Music
in Prague, the American Embassy and the Luxembourg Embassy were all
within earshot and enjoyed the performance immensely. They also played
at the opening concert in Liben Castle and the gala concert, held
in the beautiful surroundings of the church of St. Simon and Judas,
home of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. They also played in the church
of St. Salvator. After the festival finished, the orchestra travelled
down to Southern Bohemia, to the beautiful city of Krumlov, where
they played in the local convent, which has been converted into a
beautiful 5 star hotel.
Helsinki
based accordionist Mika
Väyrynen will give a series of Master Classes at the Fontys
Conservatory in Tilburg, Netherlands on April 3rd and 4th. A teacher
at the famed Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, Mika has taught
Master Classes in many countries, in addition to his vast concert
activities which see him performing worldwide both as a soloist and
with Symphony Orchestra.
On April 11th, Mika
will perform 'Prophecy' Concerto for accordion and Symphony Orchestra,
by Erkki-Sven Tüür, when he appears with the Orchestra de
Bretagne in France under the direction of Olari Elts. Immediately
following the performance, Mika will be recording this outstanding
new work, which he gave the world premiere of last October with the
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, also under the direction of Olari Elts.
Shona
Kipling (picture right) and Karen Tweed (picture left), two of the
British folk and Irish music scene's outstanding piano accordionists,
join forces to play together on the following dates:
April 9th, 7.30pm - Elvet Methodist Church, 8 Old Elvet, Durham DH1
3HL
April 15th, 8pm - concert and set dancing, The Northwick Arms, High
Street, Ketton, near Stamford PE9 3TA
April 18th, 7.30pm - Denholm Meet, West Side, Denholm, Borders
TD9 8LX
April 19th, 7.30pm - Carlops Village Hall, Peebleshire EH26 9NF
Tom & Jerry's Spring Fling Polka Dance takes place at Tom &
Jerry's Ballroom, Gilman, Wisconsin, on April 12th, 8pm until midnight.
The Polish Connection will provide music.
Accordionists Colin Milner and Harry Kipling are starting a new accordion
club, known as the North Yorks Accordion Club, at Bradley's Coffee
Shop & Wine Bar, 13 High St, Market Weighton, York, North Yorkshire
YO43 3AQ. The first meeting takes place on Wednesday April 9th, at
7.30pm, and all accordionists, friends & enthusiasts are very
welcome! Refreshments and car parking are available.
The All Ireland Accordion Festival, organised by the Irish Accordion
Association, takes place in the Venue Theatre, Ratoath, County Meath,
on April 12th and 13th. The festival includes solo, duet, ensemble
and orchestral sections, and is organised by Yvonne and John Chilton.
The adjudicator is Ian Watson, from London.
Accordionists
Ksenia Sidorova and Milos Milivojevic with the Brooks Quartet, conducted
by Christopher Austin, are in concert on Friday April 11th, 6pm, in
the Duke's Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
This concert focuses on the exquisite music of Danish composer Hans
Abrahamsen. His music for accordion, string quartet and solo piano
will be performed alongside the evocative 'Winternacht' for mixed
ensemble.
March
The program includes 'Air', 'Three Little Nocturnes', Six movements
from 'Ten Studies for Piano', and 'Winternacht'.
The
colourful French band Roger Morand & Bandzydeco, whose repertoire
includes Cajun, Zydeco, Blues, Rock and Créole, appear as follows:
May 8th, 8pm - Salle de la Barasse, Marseille
July 11th, 8pm - Cahors Blues Festival, Prayssac
July 12th, 8pm - Country Roque Festival, Laroque d'Antéron
July 19th, 7pm - Festival du Lézard Vert
The United States National
Accordion News has been updated to the April edition. The Feature
Review in April offers a summary of the recent National Accordion
Association Convention held in Texas.
MusicForAccordion.com
(MFA) Celebrates 1,000th eSheet Publication. The e-sheet music publication
section is celebrating a major milestone publishing its 1,000th
piece of music. MusicForAccordion.com has developed into an extensive
and popular online store containing accordion music of all levels
and styles available as downloadable .pdf files emailed to the client
who pay using the secure bank server credit card payment system.
English
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Russian 
3rd
International Accordion Competition and Festival "AccoHoliday"
- Ukraine
The
two Competition classes program requirements are:
A
full-length article on Dr. 
The
Viennese Accordion Festival 2008 brought 220 artistes from 30 countries
worldwide to Vienna.
The
event included, stars like diatonic player Riccardo Tesi from Italy
or bandoneonist Luis di Matteo from Uruguay.
The
Magic Afternoon on five Sundays at the 'Dschungl' Children's Theatre
provided an opportunity for children and teenagers to get to know
our exciting instrument.
The
Silent film Matinee with accordion accompaniment at the Filmcasino
and the Literatursalon at the Stadttheater Walfischgasse were further
highlights of this cross-genre festival which was closed by three
galas on three following days: Dobrek Bistro (Austria picture above
left), Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas (USA picture right), Alessandro
Kramer Trio (Brazil picture left) and Danças Ocultas (Portugal
picture above right).
The
Italian accordionists who will represent Italy in the next 
On
March 21st well-known musician Aidar Gainullin performed with the
Symphonic Orchestra of Cinematographies of Russia during the 21st
awards ceremony of the national film-prize 'NIKA' (Russian 'Oscar').
Aidar Gainullin was conferred the distinction of an 'Academician of
Cinema Arts'.
First
Accordion Meeting/Recording, UNAC - Spain
Many
accordionists from all over Spain attended this meeting. From Pamplona,
Madrid, Segovia, San Sebastian, Cuenca, Huesca, Zaragoza, Murcia,
Albacete, etc.
The
meeting included very interesting lectures by David del Puerto (National
Prize of composition 2005) - 'Minimal music, Steve Reich and other
tendencies', Carlos Claveria (sound engineer) -'Recording technical
matters for musicians', Cesar Camarero (National Prize of music 2006)
- 'The accordion in my music'.
Castletown
Accordion Orchestra, from the Republic of Ireland, once again travelled
to the European Accordion Festival held in Prague from March 20th
to 23rd. They entered 2 sections, the Junior (which they won in 2006)
and the Light Music Section. They were placed 2nd out of 9 in the
Junior, and in the Light Music Section, they were placed 5th out of
9. This was the first time they had entered this section. The orchestras
placed above them were of a very high standard and the majority of
them also competed in the Adult Classical section.
Helsinki
based accordionist 
Shona
Kipling (picture right) and Karen Tweed (picture left), two of the
British folk and Irish music scene's outstanding piano accordionists,
join forces to play together on the following dates:
Tom
& Jerry's Polka Dance, Wisconsin - USA
Accordionists
Ksenia Sidorova and Milos Milivojevic with the Brooks Quartet, conducted
by Christopher Austin, are in concert on Friday April 11th, 6pm, in
the Duke's Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
The
colourful French band Roger Morand & Bandzydeco, whose repertoire
includes Cajun, Zydeco, Blues, Rock and Créole, appear as follows: