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• European Festival of Accordion Orchestras - Czech Republic
• Webb Concerto Selected for Klingenthal
• Viacheslav Semionov on tour in Austria
• Accordion workshop in Pontarlier - France
• Renzo Ruggieri Plays to over 4,000 - Italy
• Rocky River Bush Band in The Netherlands
• Black Bear Crossings Concerts - USA
• Accordion Competition in Haerbing - China
• City Mayors organize Concerts - Italy
• Celebrity Interviews
• Successful German Orchestra Tour to New Zealand
• Biondo Theatre Performance - Italy
• Gaudeamus Festival - Holland
• Folk Music CD Release - Denmark
• New Accordion Association Formed - China
• "Welcome to 1742" - Netherlands
• International Accordion Event in Baragiano - Italy
• First Anniversary Concert - Panama
• 100 accordionists needed, One Mile High! - USA
• First Birthday Meeting - Australia
• Mushroom Museum Performance - Germany
• SWAP Tours Sweden
• Città di Lanciano International Competition - Italy
• Whitby Folk Week - UK
• "Essential Extensions" - Norway
• Summer with Ivano Battiston - Italy

Contributed by Pavel Svarc

Accordion orchestras from all over the world are invited to The 1st European Festival of Accordion Orchestras, to be held in Prague´s Municipal House and National House Vinohrady from June 22nd to 25th, 2000. The festival will begin with an opening concert featuring accordionist L. Horák and The North Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra Teplice, followed by a "get acquainted" party.

Other events include the "Gala Accordion International", Accordion Youth International, competitions, performances, Festival Ball, presentation of the International Trophy and special awards and performances by prizewinners.

Guest accordionists include "Nürnberger Akkordeonorchester Willi Münch" (Germany), "Janet Dyremose & the Danske Harmonika Ensemble" (Denmark), "Landesjugendorchester Bayern" (Germany), "Charlotte Britt Hansen & Berkeroti Harmonika Orkestr" (Denmark) and "Orchestre d´Accordeon du Sundgau" (France).

Competition classes will include Light Accordion Bands, and junior and senior classical orchestra sections. The international jury includes Dr. J. Feld (Chairman), Professor J. Prucha, (Czech Republic), Professor Walter Maurer (Austria), J. Dyremose (Denmark) and S. Hippe (Germany).

For further information email: cta@iol.cz

Englishman John Webb's accordion composition "Concerto for classical accordion, clarinet and strings" has been selected for the final of the concerto category at the Klingenthal International Accordion Competition to be held in May next year. Owen Murray from the Royal Academy of Music premiered this piece on October 24th 1998.

Owen Murray will also premiere "Triplum" a new solo piece by Timothy Bowers on October 14th at a lunchtime concert at Manchester University.

For further information email: o.murray@RAM.AC.UK

Contributed by Dr Herbert Scheibenreif

Viacheslav Semionov will tour Austria with his wife Natalya (playing the domra) from November 8th to 14th. The tour will start at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz with a concert and seminar, and include performances in Vienna, Rottenmann, Neunkirchen and St. Paul (Carinthia).

In 1991 Viacheslav formed the duo with Natalya. They have given concerts in the USA, China and extensively throughout Europe.

Contributed by Frédéric Deschamps

Professor Michele Chabod (Pontarlier) invited Frédéric Deschamps to tutor an accordion workshop in Doubs from August 20th to 25th. Workshop participants were Michele's students many of whom have received numerous prizes in the national finals of the Hohner competitions. Her son Benoît Chabod, who is now a student of Frédéric Deschamps, has won numerous competitions including "Tremplin Prestige Hohner", a competition involving a French musette repertoire. This win led to a TV appearance on Pascal Sevran's "La Chance aux Chansons" show for Benoît. The program is scheduled to air in September.

Jazz musician Renzo Ruggieri performed at the "Four Palms' Arena" in Roseto degli Abruzzi during the 8th annual "Golden Rose", a summer festival featuring well-known national personalities such as Jo Di Tonno, Padre Nike and Annalisa Andreoli. Over 4000 people attended the event, which included a beauty pageant from the Miss Italia contest. Renzo took advantage of such a brilliant opportunity to promote the accordion in front of a vast audience, playing a medley of pieces by Piazzolla using a selection of timbres that are popular among teenagers (such as jungle, hip hop and underground) as well as jazz improvisation. His choice was appreciated by the crowd and rewarded by a storm of cheering!

Australian group "The Rocky River Bush Band" (which includes accordionist Pete Thornton) played recently at the "Cafe de Koevorder", Idskenhuizen and "Paddy O'Ryan's", Leeuwarden. Their program included traditional and contemporary Australian folk songs (which have a strong Irish influence), sea songs and shanties, and celtic music. This performance was part of their 3rd tour of Europe, which included concerts in Poland, France, England and Denmark.

The Rocky River Bush Band has performed at major festivals in Australia for the last 18 years and has two International tours to its credit. They will return to The Netherlands on September 3rd and 4th to play at Mulligans Irish Pub, Amsterdam and the Giethoorn Shanty Festival followed by a performance at "The Dubliner" in Apeldoorn.

ATG board member Dee Langley and Greg Dagoumas (AAA National Winner) teamed up to perform accordion duet classics and fun at "Black Bear Crossings" on August 27th in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their repertoire bounced from Bach to Blue Moon! They will perform again at the same venue on September 10th.

Two days later Dee Langley performed an all Russian folk concert with the Ethnic Dance Theatre Choir at the Institute of Arts in Minneapolis during the opening festivities of the Chagall exhibit.

Contributed by Li Cong

Over 100 accordionists competed in the 1999 Jiang Jie Cup Heilongjiang Province Accordion Competition, held from August 19th to 21st. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China and promoted accordion examinations in Heilongjiang Province.

The event was sponsored by Jiang Jie (leader of the Beijing Accordion & Piano School), who attended the competitions along with Wang San Li (President of the Heilongjiang Musician Society), Zhan Dan Hong (Secretary General & Vice President of the Heilongjiang Musician Society) and Sun De Lun (President of the Heilongjiang Accordion Association). The jury included Li Cong (President of the Shanghai Accordion Association) and Du Ning (PLA Art Conservatory).

Winners:

Adult: Chen Shu Yue, Youth: Lu Chun, Teenager A: Gou Liang, Teenager B: Liu Jing Yu, Children's: Zhao Yan

Contributed by Paolo Picchio

The Mayors of Sassello and Palo (Savona Province) organized two concerts recently, inspired by accordion enthusiast Pino Oxilia. The concerts featured Gianluca Pica (Anagni) who recently graduated at the Paris Conservatory and received a prize at the 4th Accordion World Trophy. He played pieces by Angelis, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Zubitsky and Galliano. Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, up and coming classical accordionist from Atessa (Chieti Province) and winner of several international competitions played pieces by Semionov, Musichini, Rossini and Pushkarenko. Emilio Cervetto (Genoa) presented a program featuring Galliano, Fancelli, Monti as well as other well-known composers.

The second concert featured Gianluca Campi (Genoa) a classical and variety accordionist who played music by Albéniz, Paganini and others. The concerts took place in beautiful churches and the musicians received gifts from the mayors at the end of each performance.

The "Celebrity Interview" with Faithe Deffner published last week in English is now on line in German, Italian, French and Chinese languages. The "Celebrity Interview" with Vladimir Zubitsky is now on line in French.

The next "Celebrity Interview" is with Giansandro Breccia, Director of the reed manufacturer, Salpa di Breccia e C. s.r.l. This is an ideal opportunity to have an expert answer your questions about reed manufacture and design. Questions close September 8th and the Interview will be published on September 14th.

Contributed by Wayne Knights

The Akkordeonorchester Hof from Germany (conducted by Gunther Zeilinger) returned home this week from a very successful tour to New Zealand, Fiji and Australia performing concerts in Christchurch, Wellington, New Plymouth, Dargaville and Auckland. The orchestra consists of 35 players ranging from 12 to 32 years old. Their final New Zealand concert was held at the Bruce Mason Theatre in Auckland to over 500 people who greeted them with rapturous applause. Their program included "Die Fledermaus" Overture, Starlight Express and Rhapsodie Andalusia as well as traditional German pieces.

Presentations were made to tour organizer Harley Jones, Heather Masefield and composer Gary Daverne who arranged a pop music medley titled "4 Hits" especially for the orchestra.

Contributed by Paolo Picchio

Well-known accordion and bandoneon player Massimiliano Pitocco played recently at the Biondo Theatre in Palermo, performing Paul Hindemith's concerto (Kammermusik no 1) with the theatre orchestra (conducted by F. La Licata).

In July Pitocco toured the USA, playing in Philadelphia and at Midlebury University. This was followed by a performance of "5 Tango Sensations" for bandoneon and string instruments (Astor Piazzolla) with Gidon Kremer (violin) and the "Kremerata Baltica" orchestra. Pitocco's busy concert schedule continued with concerts in Parma, playing pieces by Piazzolla and Ferrer with the Toscanini Orchestra.

More recently he toured with Milva and collaborated in a series of projects involving singer/songwriter Vinicio Capossela. This was followed by the Italian premiere of the "Concerto for accordion and strings" (V. Huuskonen) in Campo Imperatore with the "I Solisti Aquilani" Orchestra.

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

The Acco Land Duo will present a concert at the Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam on September 7th in "De IJsbreker" performing works by Berio, Zorn, Naito, Andriessen, Pagliarani and Ruiz. Following their concert, Claudio Jacomucci and Anne Landa will hold a special workshop "Contemporary Accordion Writing" for composers taking part in the Music Week. This festival is one of the most important events in the European contemporary music scene.

From September 21st to 25th Claudio Jacomucci will perform in the Opera "Outis" by Luciano Berio at the Scala Theater in Milan, Italy.

Danish group "Trunderup Spillemændene" (including accordionist Karin Jensen) recently released their new CD "Dansk Spillemandsmusik Vol 2" (Danish Folk Music). The CD is designed especially for dance teams and groups with no musicians and includes Danish dances for one pair, two pairs, one square, and a circle.

Tracks include "Højby Skyttemarch" (Højby Riflemen's March), "Sønderborg Dobbeltkvadrille", "Tre ting fra Fyn", "Gavells Ella" (hambo), "Gusta Mazurki" (Icelandic mazurka) and "Nysta Schottis" (by Swedish accordionist Rolf Backe).

For further information email: k-vium@vip.cybercity.dk

Contributed by Li Cong

The Qiqihaer City Accordion Association was formed in August this year. Over 40 local accordionists and teachers attended the first meeting, including Professor Sun De Lun (President of the Heilongjiang Accordion Association) who spoke at the event.

Association committee members include:
Chairman: Jing Chen Ji (leader of the Qiqihaer City Ensemble)
Vice Chairman: Professor Huang Li Fan (Vice Dean of Qiqihaer University Art College, Dean of the Music Department) Vice Chairman: Xue Ming (Dandinghe Art School)
Secretary general: Qing Zhao Zong

The Qiqihaer Accordion Association aims to promote accordion development in the Qiqihaer area.

Contributed by Wim Tuinman

Invitations said "Welcome to 1742" for an event organized by citizens of the Dutch village Bourtange, which took place in front of the medieval-looking background of the impressive Bourtange fortress on August 14th.

Bad weather did not dampen the excitement and enthusiasm of the day, which included solo and group performances by over 70 accordionists. Each player was given a can of gunpowder, which is a tradition in Bourtange because of the canons on the fortress.

Musicians from within Holland and abroad performed including "Willy Rocker and Helmut" and the "Sieler Handorgler" from East Friesland, Germany, Rik Cornelissen, Marie and Annie, Johan van der Berg, Bram and Trees Pruim, Henny Tuinman and 84 year old Mr Sterken from Staphorst, Netherlands.

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

"Fisarmoniae '99" will be held in Baragiano from September 2nd to 5th organized by The Italian Classical Accordion Association. "Fisarmoniae '99" is a journey into the contemporary musical scene featuring courses, conferences, concert lectures, instrumental techniques, new technologies, avant-garde movements, great soloists, orchestral training and more. Many well known accordionists will take part in the event including Eugenia Marini (President), Dario Flammini, Cesare Chiacchiaretta, Renzo Ruggieri, Paolo Picchio, Vincenzo Izzi, Giuseppe Tammone, Giancarlo di Giovanni and Monica d'Emidio. Gianni Coscia will take part in the jazz concert as a special guest.

Contributed by Carlos Burac

Panama group "Conjunto Plumas Negras" held a special anniversary concert recently in honor of their late leader and founder "Victorio Vergara" who passed away one year ago. The event, which featured songs from the group's upcoming album was televised throughout Panama.

Contributed by Kevin Friedrich

Anyone passing through the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado on September 12th is invited to join in the festivities for the annual Octoberfest Concert. Alice Aman will direct the Mammoth accordion orchestra in a variety of selections for this exciting outdoor concert which will be held at 3pm in Larimer Square, Downtown Denver.

All interested accordionists should contact Mike or Alice Aman at YMA - Monarch Accordions for further details and music lists phone: + 1 303 452-0716 or email: MAman55119@aol.com

Contributed by John Dickson

The Perth Accordion Club celebrated its first birthday on August 15th. The club now has over 150 members who enjoyed a great variety of music and TWO large birthday cakes! The club orchestra also performed at the event.

Contributed by Jürgen Bruch

The "Accordion Ensemble Caprice" (Germany) will entertain participants at the Conference of the German Society for Mycology (Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Mykologie, DGfM) on September 29th. The ensemble's performance will open the conference in the "Haus des Gastes" (mushroom museum) in Bad Laasphe.

Their program will include Divertimento No.14 (Mozart), Ouverture Caprice (Würthner), Säbeltanz (Khatschaturian) and March in B (Prokofjew).

For further information email: jbmusic@t-online.de

Contributed by Jan Lucas

Popular group "SWAP" which includes Karen Tweed (accordion), Ian Carr (guitar and vocals) and Swedish musicians Ola Backstrom and Carina Normansson (violin) will tour Sweden from September 17th to 20th. The group will perform in Brukarhuset, Stockholm, Folkmusikenshus, Rattvik and Sala. Their program will include "Polska efter Robert Landin", "Mobilen" and "Lill Mats".

SWAP, who have just released a new CD "Sic", plan to tour Sweden again in February 2000. For more information phone: +46 23 26 249

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

Many international competitors plan to attend the Città di Lanciano International Competition which will be held from October 14th to 17th in Lanciano, Italy, with prizemoney totaling 7 million Italian lira (US$4,500). The event, which is organized by Cesare Chiacchiaretta also includes an international jury comprising of Vladimir Zubitsky, Angel Luis Castaño, Jean Marc Fabiano, Peter Soave and Paolo Picchio.

For further information email: cesaremagnum@hotmail.com

Contributed by Bill Hodgson

The popular 34th annual Whitby Folk Week was held from August 21st to 27th in Whitby, Yorkshire, England. Thousands of people enjoyed many hours of official events comprising of dances, concerts, workshops and sessions as well as music stalls, craft fairs, group performances and children's events.

Several accomplished accordion, melodeon and concertina players performed and gave very useful workshops. These included Alistair Anderson, Damien Barber, Sara Daniels, Tim van Eyken, George Garside, Johnny Handle, Robert Harbron, John Kirkpatrick, Dave Mallinson, Chris Parkinson, Brian Peters, Chris Pollington, Lester Simpson and Simon Thoumire.

Next year's festival will be held from August 19th to 25th. For further information contact Whitby Folk Week, PO Box 44, Selby, North Yorkshire, YO8 9YP.

Contributed by Frode Haltli

Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, winner of the Rostrum award, has composed a new piece called "Essential Extensions" for accordion, saxophone and double bass which will soon be available at the Norwegian Music Information Centre (NMI).

Maja is also writing a piece for accordion, violin and cello called "Louange II". This piece is based on music commissioned for the St. Olavs Festival for organ and strings.

For further information email: m.s.k.ratkje@notam.uio.no

Contributed by Holda Paoletti-Kampl

It has been a busy summer for Ivano Battiston, accordion teacher at the "L.Cherubini" Conservatory in Florence with concerts in Arezzo, at the Crisilio Castle in Avola, in Padua for the local "Friends of Music" association, in Prato for a Tango Festival, in San Galgano (near Siena) with Mario Brunello and the Italian String Orchestra and in Bologna during a local festival. Ivano also participated in an accordion masterclass in Belluno with Patrizia Angeloni, at the "VII Alpini" army barracks near Belluno during the "Mountain Sounds and Chants Festival", with flute player David Bellugi in Castiglian della Pescaia (near Grosseto) and in Murlo (near Siena) with David Bellugi.

Ivano's varied program includes pieces by Bach, Rossini, Piazzolla, Shostakovich and Gubajdulina. For information on his future performances phone: +39 335/6055937