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Send us the latest accordion news from your country
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Editors note: What a great lot of news we have this week! It certainly seems that around this time of year there are many accordion competitions and festivals all over the world! We have a new site this week - the Nufringen Accordion Club from Germany have their own site. You can see it at: www.accordions.com/nufringen. You will see in the news titles a report from a good friend of mine - Jazz accordionist Grant "Yogi" Martin. He still can't believe the number of accordionists in China! I am helping with the timetabling and programme of the New Zealand Accordion Championships to be held in a few weeks, where we have no less than eight entries in the top class - the South Pacific Solo Championship. It will certainly be great to hear the talent of these accordionists in open international competition- as young as nine years of age!
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BON JOVI RECORDS WITH ACCORDIONIST Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association Accordionist William Schimmel has just recorded an album with pop star Jon Bon Jovi which is scheduled for release in June. In April, Schimmel performed on the Continuum Series in New York City's well known Merkin Hall, in a concert of Finnish music. He premiered "Bais - Chant on Tenth for Accordion and 'Cello" by Harri Suilamo, with cellist Kristina Cooper.
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"CUP OF BELGOROD - 97", RUSSIA Contributed by Tatiana Lanchtchikova From the 14th to the 20th of April the 3rd National Competition for Bayanists and Accordionists was held in Belgorod, a city in central Russia. 48 students under 18 years of age from 26 cities of Russia competed. The Jury consisted of famous teachers and performers of Russia: Professor Viatcheslav Semionov, Youry Dranga, Professor Loudmila Varavina, Oleg Sharov, and Mikhail Shvetsov. The "Cup of Belgorod" was awarded to Evgueni Kochetov from Voronezh. Accordionists of junior group:
Accordionists of senior group:
Bayanists of junior group:
Bayanists of senior group:
The next National Accordion Competition "Cup of Belgorod" will be held in 1999. Professor Viatcheslav Semionov was invited to be the Chairman of Jury.
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FORZANDO ACCORDION QUARTET IN END OF WAR CONCERT - HOLLAND Contributed by Hillebrand van der Veen Each year in Holland on the 4th of May, many concerts are held throughout the country in memory of those who died in World War II. This year the Forzando Accordion Quartet participated with a special program of many well known popular tunes such as Memory (from Cats - Webber/Eckelmann) and included original accordion music such as Libertango (Piazzolla) and classical music.
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Contributed by Tom Collins The Art Van Damme Story is now available on video with the Art Van Damme quintet. It is in three parts:
The cost of this highly sought after video is US$24.95 plus $3.00 shipping & handling (USA currency). Send cheque or money order to: DOTART MUSIC, 1129 N. 878th St., Scottsdale, AZ 85257, USA
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RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN JAZZ ACCORDION TAPE RELEASE Contributed by Tom Collins The St. Petersburg Musette Ensemble, has just released two audio tape cassettes, which are a crossover of Russian and American jazz, including French musette (a combination of popular, ethnic and jazz). Players include Vladimir Ushakov (piano accordion) Vladimir Bogomolov (button accordion) along with piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums accompaniment. For further information about this group, see the Accordion Yellow Pages Database
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SOMMERS DISCUSSES ACCORDION POPULARITY ON FOX TV Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association Joan Cochran Sommers who heads the Accordion Department at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri in Kansas City, was interviewed by the Fox network on April 20th for a TV report about the accordion's growing popularity. A student of hers, Dan McGhee also performed. They were invited to return for a two-hour interview from 7 to 9 am for "The Morning Show" on Fox TV next week.
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Contributed by Vladimir Besfamilnov On the 7th of May an accordion concert was held in the Concert Hall of the Ukraine National Philharmonia to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of World War II Victory day. The concert program consisted mainly of works by Professor Nikolay Rizol based on theme songs from the war. The ensemble of bayanists "Rodnjie Npevji", were among the performers.
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COTATI ACCORDION FESTIVAL - USA Contributed by Clifton Buck-Kauffman The Cotati Accordion Festival is pleased to announce that Kerry Christensen is scheduled to appear at the 7th annual festival on Saturday the 23rd of August. Kerry is recognised as the premier professional yodeller/accordionist in the USA and we are very pleased to be able to showcase this amazing talent at the Cotati Festival for the first time. For further information, see Future Events
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NEW ZEALAND JAZZ ACCORDIONIST IN CHINA Contributed by Grant "Yogi" Martin I have just returned from China, where I played concerts in Chengdu and Kunming. The Chengdu concert was part of the "First Accordion Festival of Sichuan Province" and a great success it was too. I was overwhelmed by the crowd response, I got so many flowers I caught Hay Fever. I then got squashed and tossed around by hundreds of autograph-hunters and took nearly 3 hours to get out of the car park! The next stop was Kunming, where another great concert was held and even MORE flowers!! The great Chen Zhong played three numbers on my Digital Titano with skill & verve and then we duetted at the end of the concert on an improvised version of some famous Chinese songs. On the way home I stopped in Bangkok and played in the beautiful Amari Watergate Hotel where I had some fabulous Italian food and am itching to return to play there in August on my way to China again.
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ART VAN DAMME TO HELP AAA STAR PROGRAM Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association "Launch a Star," the two-year program which American Accordionists' Association has initiated to find entertainer-accordionists whose career will be assisted with a CD, promotional brochure and an agent contact, has enlisted the aid of the great jazz accordionist Art Van Damme. Van Damme's exciting style did much to popularise the accordion over his long and colourful career.
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CONCERT TOUR OF VIATCHESLAV SEMIONOV Contributed by Tatiana Lanchtchikova Professor Viatcheslav Semionov has just returned from a concert to Norway, in the last two weeks of April. He played his own works as well as works by other composers in various cities of Norway, such as Oslo, Trondheim and Svolvar. Besides his solo concerts, Viatcheslav performed together with his wife Natasha (domra). They also took part in the "Composer's Week", which was held in Svolvar.
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"HUNTING TIGERS IN MOUNTAIN FOREST" ON CHILDREN'S DAY Contributed by Wu Shou Zhi On the 1st of June, "Children's Day", a concert will be held in the People Theater in Xiamen city (a city of Fujian province). This concert is sponsored by a private school "Ying-Cai School", of which all the performers are students and teachers of the school's Music Department. Ms. Wei Ling, an accordion teacher at the school, will play original Chinese accordion music including "Hunting Tigers in Mountain Forest". Her accordion students will play accordion music in an orchestra, including "A Little Dear is Dancing with a Doll". Among the orchestra members, the youngest student, who plays an 8 Bass accordion, is only three years old.
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"SLEEP DANCE" FEATURES ACCORDION IN CHOREOGRAPHY Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association Fresh from a successful run at the Joyce Theatre in New York, choreographer David Dorfman stepped into the 92nd Street Y on May the 4th as part of the Harkness Dance Center's "Sundays at Three" program. On the bill is a work titled "Sleep Story," a solo piece Dorfman created after visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Dorfman does his touching dance while playing a plaintive melody on a small accordion in a highly effective performance.
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Contributed by Vladimir Besfamilnov From the 23rd to the 27th of April the Regional Festival of Music was held in Poland, where a Quartet of Bayanists from Ukraine took part. They played concerts in the various cities of Poland, such as Siedlce, Lublin, Kielce, Lukov and Radzyn. Within the festival, a competition for performers of 8 to 20 years of age was held. Youry Kipin, an accordion student of the Luzk Musical College, won one of the categories. Also, many accordionists from Lithuanua participated.
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ACCORDION CARTOON BOOK RELEASE - USA Contributed by Tom Collins Art Metzler, renowned accordionist and cartoonist has just produced a marvellous book on accordion cartoons. This can be purchased by writing to: Art Metzler, 8100 9th St., North #208, St. Petersburg, FL 33702. The book sells for US$12.00 plus US$2.50 postage.
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US ARMY STROLLING STRINGS AND ACCORDION AT AAA BANQUET Contributed by Faithe Deffner, President of the American Accordionists' Association The American Accordionists' Association gala testimonial banquet will be enhanced by the music of the US Army Strolling Strings with their accordionist Manuel Bobenrieth. The 19-piece group, which performs regularly at the White House, will play in tribute to Maddalena Belfiore, Elsie Bennett, Carmen Carrozza, Lee (Pietro) Deiro, Aldo DeRossi, Anthony Ettore, Louis Iorio, Marcello Roviaro, all of whom are being honoured for 30 or more years of AAA service, at the organisation's Festival Banquet on July 12th, 1997 at the Sheraton City Centre Hotel in Washington, DC. Festival details and banquet reservations should be addressed to the American Accordionists' Association, P.O.Box 616, Mineola, NY 11501 USA.
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A SINGER IN LESHAN'S DAFU FESTIVAL Contributed by Wu Shou Zhi From the 25th of April to the 2nd of May, in Leshan city of the Sichuan province, the "Leshan's Dafu Festival" was held. (Dafu is a famous stone statue of Buddha of Leshan city, it is also the biggest stone statue in the world). The organisers managed a lot of wonderful art programs. Wang Zhengliang, an 18 year old accordion student in Sichuan Conservatory of Music, was invited to perform as an accordionist and a vocalist.
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CD REVIEW - JEAN-PIERRE DROUET, "LES VARIATIONS D'ULYSSE" Contributed by Paolo Picchio A new CD "Les Variations d'Ulysse" features music which is written for an eight piece ensemble which includes Pascal Contet on accordion. The composition is divided into 12 parts and was written by the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Drouet on commission by L'Opéra National of Paris for a choreography by Jean-Claude Gallotta. The talented and punctual Pascal Contet reconfirms his status as the leading figure of the contemporary accordion in France. The excellent choice of accordion sound and sonority is divinely combined with violin (Serge Garcia), cello (Jean-Philippe Audin), guitar (Claude Barthélémy), alto (Marie-Isabelle Bondu), clarinet (Xavier Charles), trumpet (Eric Glausserand) and percussions (Jean-Pierre Drouet).
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NEW CD RELEASE: "POLKA - A NEW DAWNING" - USA Contributed by John Custie Drewjo Productions has recently released a new CD/cassette entitled "POLKA - A new Dawning", featuring 12 original pieces written and arranged by John Custie, and 2 traditional polkas arranged by Custie. G.A. Scheinoha of the Polka News writes: "The CD represents the cutting edge of the medium in its wealth of new material blended with a couple of traditionals. 'Dancing Fingers Polka' and 'Accordion Frolics' prove Custie is a virtuoso of the instrument with almost effortless glissandos". The CD has also received rave reviews and much airtime from polka DJs all over the U.S.A. For further information contact John Custie directly at Drewjo Productions & Publishing Co., P.O. Box 1146, Selden, NY 11784, USA. CDs are available for US $15 + $2.50 S/H and cassettes for US $10 + $2.50 S/H. Sheet music for the 12 original tunes is also available for US $12.95 + $2.50 S/H.
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FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE IN USA NOW! Contributed by Vitaliy Bezrodnov "Moscow Nights" is an award-winning trio from Russia. Vitaliy Bezrodnov, Vadim Ustimov and Vitaly Sirotenko, play 2 Bayans, (Chromatic Accordions), contrabass balalaika and vocals. They also have numbers featuring folk spoons, folk flute and prima balalaika. They perform Russian and other ethnic folk music, dance and pop, as well as a wide range of classical pieces. Currently, they are touring throughout the summer of '97 with the tour called "Music in Mission". With backing from several charitable organisations, the bulk of the proceeds from the concerts goes directly to the orphans of St. Petersburg, Russia. The tour this year focuses primarily in and around the state of Colorado (USA). For more information e-mail: vitnet@iname.com
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EMAILS (ACCORDION TO THE EDITOR)
Subject: Text for your Weekly News
Are you interested in articles about concerts which have been?
This Sunday I'll be playing in an accordion quartet in a concert
of 2x 45 minutes.
Hillebrand van der Veen
Yes, please send me a write-up about it. I am definitely interested in having
news items about events that have just been (within two weeks is fine!)
Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you.
Wayne Knights
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Subject: Mistakes re Bezrodnov, Vitaliy
In transcribing from my original entry to the information section of
"accordionists and enthusiasts", I made an error in the original text that
I wrote, so that the information entry makes no sense. Can you please
rectify this problem as soon as posssible (gives new information)
Thanks
Thanks for letting me know the changes. I will ensure these are made and
uploaded onto the site this Friday. If you would like it changed earlier,
please let me know and I will do so.
Yours musically,
Wayne Knights
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