Most accordion students through out the world have started their new semester in preparation to perform in the many concerts, competitions, festivals and seminars. For information on all annual competitions and festivals worldwide, have a look at the "Annual Competitions and Festivals" page.

Also check the Future Events section of the Accordion Yellow Pages for non-annual events. If you have an event to advertise, you can do so there for free!

Over the past month, we have had a few technical problems with the German Yellow Pages, which have now been corrected. We apologise for any inconvenience with this and thank you for your patience

Wayne Knights Webmaster

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl and Owen Murray, Professor of Accordion at the Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music in Marylebone Road, London has organised a Russian Festival beginning on January 25th which will include performances by students of Professor Owen Murray who is head of accordion studies. On January 27th accordionist Ian Watson will premiere Sonata for accordion (Fragments and Elegies) by Lubicia Cekovska. Following this Ingrid Kvale (accordion) and Robin Michael (cello) will perform "In Croce for cello and accordion" by Sofia Gubaidulina.

On the 26th accordionist Phuong Nguyen will perform "Ibuki", a new work for accordion and piano by Noriko Motomatsu.

Contributed by Hillebrand van der Veen

On Sunday, January 24th the Amsterdam Accordion Club "Forzando" will hold its first concert of the new year at "Buurthuis de Rietwijker", Amsterdam Noord. Four orchestras will perform a variety of music, Accompanied by vocalist Anne Wirix including "The Holy City" and "Du sollst die Kaiser meiner Seele sein".

Following this, over 45 orchestra members will combine to perform music especially written for this occasion. They will also perform a variety of songs from operettas accompanied by Anne Wirix.

For further information email: H.J.Veen@net.HCC.nl

Contributed by Clifton Buck-Kauffman

The ninth Cotati Accordion Festival (CAF) will be held on August 28th and 29th, in La Plaza Park, Cotati. Festival organisers would like to encourage accordionists and bands with an accordionist to consider performing at the event. All musical genres and traditions are welcome and they pride themselves on the variety of acts presented. All performers are paid, set length varies from 15 minutes to 55 minutes.

For further information email: cotatikid@earthlink.net

Contributed by Christine Pauly

French accordionist Danielle Pauly is currently preparing for several tours during 1999. In early March, she will be in Frankfurt, Germany, for the MusikMesse. Danielle will present demonstrations for the firm "Accordéons de France Maugein", the French accordion maker who are celebrating their 80th anniversary this year (1919-1999).

Following this Danielle will tour England from March 19th to 27th. For further information on this tour phone Bert Santilly: + 44 1223 861261

From April 9th to 13th, Danielle will attend The Paris Music Salon with "Maugein", then travel to the USA for a concert tour of the east coast in June.

Contributed by Billie Hockett

The 1999 Twice Upon A Squeezebox concert will be held in Arlington, Massachusetts, on February 12th featuring Alistair Anderson (concertina), Niall Vallely (concertina) and Sandy Brechin (accordion). This event is the second in a series of annual concerts on these instruments. Recently there has been a dramatic resurgence in the popularity of the accordion and concertina.

Niall Vallely (concertina player in the Irish band, Nomos) is currently working with Nomos on their third CD and also on a solo album.

Sandy Brechin, in addition to leading his own band, is a member of Seelyhoo, one of the hottest young bands of Scotland. He is wonderfully different, making the accordion come alive, frenetic, and sexy.

Alistair Anderson has been a supporter of traditional music in Northumberland, Scotland, and Ireland for nearly 30 years. He plays the concertina and Northumbrian pipes, and has performed on TV and radio, with over 30 tours of North America and 6 to Australia. He has recorded with artists ranging from Kate Bush to the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra. His recent composition for quartet and concertina was first performed last December.

For further information email: bhockett@music-for-robin.org

Contributed by Tania Lukic-Marx and Martin Frey

An International Accordion Week will be held at the Music Conservatory Biel, from March 8th to 12th in conjunction with "Chain", an association of European Music High Schools.

Leading European accordionists will both teach and give concerts at the event including Teodoro Anzellotti (Biel), Edwin Buchholz (Dortmund), Professors Alexander Dmitriev (St Petersburg), Bogdan Dowlasz (Lodz), Ivan Koval (Weimar), Matti Rantanen (Helsinki) and Egbert Spelde (Enschede) and Maurizio Spiridigliozzi (Luxembourg).

Notable composers who have written music for the accordion have been invited to attend the event to assist with interpretation and give lessons - an exciting opportunity for the participants. Workshops will also be held on aspects of the accordion and musicologists will give lectures. There will also be two concerts each day, in which tutors and students will take part.

For further information email: konservatorium@konsi-biel.ch

Finnish accordionist Mika Väyrynen will perform "Concierto and Tres Tangos" (Astor Piazzolla) with the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Atso Almila on February 4th. During the first week of March they will be recording these pieces for a new CD, which will be released by Finlandia Records (division of Warner Co) and later by Warner Japan.

On February 18th Mika will perform for the first time with the new quartet "Tango for Four" in Kanneltalo, Helsinki.

For further information email: mika.vayrynen@pp.inet.fi

Australian accordionist John MacDonald recently released his 36th album and currently has five albums released overseas. His recordings are primarily popular Scottish melodies.

John will be honoured twice in 1999 by accordionists in both Australia and New Zealand. In May John will be "Guest of Honour" at the Australian International Accordion Championships in Sydney and the following week he will be special guest at the 1999 South Pacific Accordion Championships and Festival in Auckland, New Zealand.

For further information phone: + 1 909-885-1357

Contributed by Uli Ebner

The Schlüchttal Accordion Orchestra (SAO) has been invited to Brussels where they will represent the federal state of Baden-Wuertemberg musically at a Tourism Expo at the end of May. They would like to contact an accordion club in the Brussels area for another performance or even just to get to know some other musicians. Interested clubs please email: uli.ebner@t-online.de

Contributed by David Batty

Leyland Accordion club member, Walter Perrie performed on the "Discworld" television show in December. Walter also performed recently with guest accordionist Steve Roxton at the Leyland club's first birthday celebrations. The club currently has guest artists booked until March 2000

Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists Association

In the ongoing search for "America's Hottest Accordionist," press kits were issued to the top 250 newspaper entertainment editors, syndicated writers and wire services. As a result of this aggressive media contact, a number of papers have either covered the search for the "Hottest Accordionist", or completed interviews for upcoming features.

The search is to find the super entertainer who plays accordion, for a career-launching campaign which will include guest appearances, promotional opportunities, etc., aimed at popularising the winner and the accordion.

The following article appeared this week in the Lifeline section of "USA TODAY":

SQUEEZE PLAY: The Lawrence Welk Resort in Branson, Missouri, and the American Accordionists' Association are searching for the "hippest, sauciest" accordionist in the USA. Five finalists (selected from videotaped entries that must be sent by February 10) will get to show their stuff March 25th in Branson. For details, call 800-505-9355 or check the Web site for www.accordions.com

Contributed by Lucio Raggiunti

The 26th meeting of the Canadian Accordion Club will take place on February 7th at the Ramada Inn Hotel. Guest soloists include Norma Fortino, Sylvia Carter and Pauline Perl.

Heinz Siemens will contribute accordion news, videos, audio recordings, sheet music, as well as a wide variety of accordion publications to entertain the members. In addition, chairperson Sylvia Carter will supply "tasty" donuts too!!!

For further information email: lucio@netcom.ca

Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists Association

Myron Floren who is recuperating from a series of health problems which now seem fully resolved has said "I'm getting better every day and looking forward to returning to work in a few months." Myron recently had a heart valve replacement, which he originally had replaced more than a decade ago (10 year replacement is not uncommon for this procedure). In his appearances, Floren has often joked with audiences about the pig's valve he sports.

Myron Floren's doctors are pleased with his recovery progress and the famous accordionist vows to be back at the job in a few months, although he says, "I may do a few less than the 150 concerts I have been playing in recent years."

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

An interesting musical event aimed at promoting local musical groups took place in Roseto degli Abruzzi on December 11th. The evening was dedicated to Lucio Battisti, a very famous Italian songwriter who recently passed away. Renzo Ruggieri made a successful guest appearance, the only accordionist in a concert devoted mainly to Rock and Pop music. The local magazine "Qui Roseto" wrote in their review "Mr Ruggieri, with his piece "Carnevale" and the interpretation of Battisti's "Emozioni" added a moving touch to the evening."

Contributed by Kevin Friedrich

A new CD out called "Dinorock Dreamosaurus" is for children, the latest musical adventure of "Dinorock", produced by Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer which features the accordion in the musical score. "The Tina Titanosaurus Tango" is played by "Gypsy Strings" (including accordionist Zoltan Racz). The CD is distributed by Rounder Records.

Contributed by Günther Stoll

On February 7th a competition for accordion ensembles (groups from 2 to 5 players) will be held at the Gottfried Müller School, Filderstadt from 10.00am to 1pm. The jury will include Fritz Dobler and Brent McCall.

For further information email Herbert Haase: hhaase@metronet.de

Contributed by Gary Blair

The annual Celtic Connections Festival is currently underway in Glasgow and will run for two weeks until January 29th. This festival is now one of the biggest Celtic Festivals in the world, with thousands of people expected to attend musical events held throughout Glasgow and in the main venue, the Royal Concert Hall. Accordion performances will be given by Freeland Barbour, Kepa Junkera, Maria Kalanaemi, Sharon Shannon, Donald Shaw (Capercaillie), Karen Tweed and Ceilidh bands.

In addition accordion master classes will be held with Freeland Barbour, Maria Kalanemi, Sharon Shannon and Karen Tweed.

Contributed by Jean-Claude Pouly

The "Totschna" Quartet which includes Oleg Lips on accordion and vocals will perform at the "Atelier Hinterruti" Horgen, Zurich on January 31st. Their repertoire is a mix of Russian and Swiss Folklore which promises to be a stimulating musical cocktail. Oleg Lips also teaches the Accordion at the ACM (Academy of Contemporary Music) in Zurich, Switzerland. For further information phone: +41 1 725 88 54

Melodia Ltd (who specialise in manufacturing bayan accordions) have offered to create a joint venture with any Italian or German accordion manufacturing companies.

Melodia Ltd will present production and office rooms, materials and equipment for manufacturing all elements, such as bellows, resonators, voices etc. They would like to be contacted by Italian or German companies with design ideas and material for production of this design

For further information email Dmitry Suhanov: pulsar@tula.n

www.accordions.com/accordioninfo. Manufacturer of Accordions and Accordion Accessories

www.accordions.com/uralduo Nikolay & Natalia Istchenko are the Ural Bayan Duo