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Highlights |
30th Anniversary of the Accordion Class at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki – Finland
Cavagnolo Moves to New Factory, Beynost - France
Norvic Concordia’s New CD, Norwich – UK
New Book: ‘The Giulietti Sound’, Tilburg – Netherlands
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
Viennese Accordion Chamber Ensemble in Concert, Perchtoldsdorf – Austria
Claudio Jacomucci at the Music Academy, Cracow – Poland
Future events |
Lidia Kaminska Concert, Philadelphia – USA
Rafal Luc at the Purcell Room, London – UK
‘Tribute to Teiji Ito’, New York – USA
‘La Damigiana’ to see and hear near Ancona – Italy
Stockport Air Raid Shelters, England – UK
Ferran Martinez Concert, Barcelona – Spain
New and Updated Sites |
New Music - ‘Temptation', 'Anton Young'
New Music - 'Cool March', 'Fantasia Gitana'
Coupe Mondiale 2009 Website Updated
CD Reviews |
Help Desk, Information needed, Readers CommentsSubmit Your Question, CommentSUBMIT NOW |
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Highlights |
Accordion USA Welcomes new Editorby Kevin Friedrich |
 The United States National Accordion News welcomes Rita Davidson from New Jersey as the new editor/producer.Rita is an accomplished accordionist and music teacher. She teaches PreK to Grade 5 vocal music in the West Orange, NJ public schools where she uses her accordion in her music classes and programs every day! She is an honors graduate of the University of Connecticut and is on the Governing Board of the American Accordionists' Association. Rita has been attending Accordion Festivals in the past few years where she judges and also gives workshops and concerts on the Life and Music of Eugene Ettore, with whom she studied for many years. She also has a Klezmer group which entertains throughout the metropolitan area. To coincide with the transition in editors, we have also taken the opportunity to update the format of the site, allowing for easier production and updating, such as that now found on this main Accordions Worldwide International News pages. This new site design and system has been introduced to coincide with Rita's first publication that went online on December 1st 2008. To submit news for publication in January, please contact Rita Davidson at: Ritabelll@aol.com or by cell phone: 201-675-4861. |
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30th Anniversary of the Accordion Class at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki – Finlandby Claudio Jacomucci |
  Italian accordionist Claudio Jacomucci recently participated in a series of celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the accordion course at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. This very famous educational institution has over the last 30 years made an important contribution to the educational standards of the accordion in Finland and Scandanavia. Accordion Lecturers are Helka Kymäläinen and Matti Rantanen and part-time teachers Mika Väyrynen, Marjut Tynkkynen and Heidi Velamo. A full report: The Sibelius Academy is now one of the largest and most important music institutes in Europe. It is well-known for its teachers, worldwide-known concert performers, for its creative programs and for the commitment to the fostering of Finland's musical culture and cultural heritage. In 1978, some years after Mogens Ellegaard started his accordion course at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Matti Rantanen, virtuoso and pioneer of the modern accordion in Finland, arrived at the Sibelius Academy. Since then, he has formed dozens of good musicians who have become famous performers and pedagogues. Matti Rantanen represents a real reference for the evolution of the Finnish accordion school. Thanks to his work, the contemporary accordion literature in Finland has the highest number of new original works for accordion. Almost every composer in Finland has wrote a piece for (or with) accordion. Chamber music and concertos with orchestra are very frequent and very often they involve quite famous musicians, orchestra and conductors. It is also for this reason that Finland is the country where the accordion has one of the best reputations within the classical music world, even-though its folk tradition is still very much alive. The pedagogic research and work is also very advanced. Students begin their studies with teachers who are specialized in pedagogy and they finish their academic career with teaching practice monitored by their pedagogic teachers. There are many young musicians who dedicate their work to the accordion choosing different orientations: folk revival, jazz, rock, contemporary music, musical theatre, to the latest experiments in micro-tonal music. Nowadays, the accordion course has the following teacher’s equipe: Matti Rantanen (main course), Helka Kymalaien, Heidi Velamo, Marjut Tynkkynen, Veli Kujala and Mika Vayrynen. To celebrate the 30th anniversary, the academy organized concerts, lectures and master-classes. From November 5th to 7th in Kallio-Kuninkala’s Villa, placed in a suggestive landscape of wood and lakes (very close to Jean Sibelius’ home), Claudio Jacomucci has held a master class for the students of the academy. Lars Holm was holding a workshop for accordion groups and ensembles. On November 6th, at Stoa Theatre in Helsinki, Claudio Jacomucci and Kathleen Delaney presented their last multimedia work ‘Cool Memories’ (dedicated to the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard) for dancer, accordion, text, video and electronics. Claudio has also presented his recent composition for accordion solo ‘Wonderlands’ and ‘Infernal Circles’. On November 8th, at the Academy, a series of lectures were led by Terhi Romu, who has presented her recent ‘Colour Buttons’ (the accordion version of the famous pedagogic books that teach to play an instrument with the use of colours), followed by Anne-Marie Sillanpaa, Vesa Kupairinen and Hanna Markkula, who spoke about the physiotherapy and musicians, and Pasi Hirvonen with a lecture on Scarlatti’s accordion interpretation. At the concert hall of the Academy, Ari Lehtonen (winner of Arrasate Contest 2007) played a concert with works by Bach, Louie, Nisula, Franck and Gubaidulina. The evening ended with a solo concert by Claudio Jacomucci, playing works by Ravel, Jacomucci and Taktakishvili. On November 9th, some students of the accordion class, presented a concert with transcriptions and arrangements by composers like Ligeti, Saint-Saens, Ciaikovsky, Stravinsky, Kokkonen, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Rimski-Korsakov. The last concert was held by Matti Rantanen and by some of the best students of this current course: Sofia Ahjoniemi, Vincent Lhermet, Terhi Sjoblom, Harri Kuusijarvi, Naiara de la Puente, Jukka Ojala, Janne Valkeajoki, Niko Maenalanen. The program went through important stages of the Finnish accordion repertoire: ‘Sinistro’ (for accordion and guitar) was the first work to be commissioned by Matti Rantanen to Jukka Tiensuu in 1977; students played works by Heininen, Vilagi, Lievonen, including ‘Jeux d’anches’, by Magnus Lindberg. Matti has then ended the concert with a premiere of the work ‘Angel of Dusk’, by the famous composer E. Rautavaara, for accordion, piano, double-bass and percussion. |
Cavagnolo Moves to New Factory, Beynost - Franceby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
 On December 8th, the Cavagnolo accordion factory moves to a new premises not far from its previous base, still in the town of Beynost, in the Rhone-Alpes region of central France. The new address is: Z.I. des Baterses, Allée des petites Combes, 01704 Beynost. The new factory will have same telephone, fax and email address. |
Norvic Concordia’s New CD, Norwich – UKby Rob Howard |
 Norvic Concordia is the name of a Norfolk, England, based accordion quintet, led by Peter Ayers, who also arranges their music and plays bass accordion within the group. The quintet’s new CD ‘Simply Accordion’ contains a varied selection of light music. A review by UK accordionist Bert Santilly comments: “The result is a quite remarkable CD that has an entertaining and varied programme of music. The music is very well arranged and the playing is of a very high order. It should be part of any serious accordionist`s library”.The tracks include: ‘Old Comrades’, ‘In Party Mood’, ‘Chanson de Matin’, ‘The Phantom Melody’, ‘Tanguisimo’, ‘Chiquilin de Bachin’, ‘Extasis’, ‘Misty’, ‘Canadian Capers’, ‘Longing’, ‘Heart of Paris’, ‘Spring in Tuscany’, ‘Evensong’, ‘Standchen’, ‘March From A Little Suite’, ‘The Grasshoppers` Dance’, ‘Manha do Carnaval’, and ‘Lazzarella’. For further information email: peter@norvicconcordia.co.uk |
New Book: ‘The Giulietti Sound’, Tilburg – Netherlandsby Steve Navoyosky |
 An illustrated 95 page hardback book titled ‘The Giulietti Sound’, written by Sander Neijnens and published in The Netherlands, tells the story about the development of Giulietti accordions, and about how the unique Giulietti sound has been developed. It contains interviews with the people who built the instruments in Castelfidardo, Italy, as well as with people who have played Giulietti accordions for many years, and with some of those who knew Julio Giulietti (1910-1996). There are versions of this book in English and Dutch available. The book also contains a CD with twelve pieces played on the Giulietti accordion, ranging from 1965 to 2005, featuring tracks played by Leon Sash, Bill Cosby, Karen Street, John Torcello, Joseph Macerollo, Guy Klucevsek, and Todd Hildreth. 'The Giulietti sound' book was launched on October 19th in Tilburg, Netherlands. At the launch there were performances, from British accordionist Karen Street, who has played a Giulietti accordion since the 1970s, and by four by members of the Demian Ensemble. For further information email: giulietti@letterbeeld.nl |
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
First Composition for Accordion and Symphonic Orchestra – Macedoniaby Anica Karakutovska |
 On November 24th at the Faculty of Music, Skopje, young Macedonian composer Elizabeta Ilievska presented her final exam of composition from the undergraduate composition program. In front of a commission consisting of 5 eminent professors and large audience she introduced her last work ‘Capriccio’ for solo accordion and symphonic orchestra. This is first time a composer from Macedonia has written a composition for accordion and symphonic orchestra.Elizabeta graduated with the highest mark and received great critical acclaim for this work. We are all looking forward to listening to the first live performance of ‘Caprricio’ soon. In 2005 Elizabeta graduated as a Theory major at UKIM FM and continued her studies as Composition major. Currently she is on post graduate studies for Polyphonic Composition. We wish her a lot of new written compositions, and definitely to continue with successful writing for our mutual favorite instrument – accordion! |
Viennese Accordion Chamber Ensemble in Concert, Perchtoldsdorf – Austriaby Herbert Scheibenreif |
 For the 20th time, the Viennese Accordion Chamber Ensemble, directed by Werner Weibert, celebrated its annual festival concert in the cultural center of Perchtoldsdorf, near Vienna, on Friday, November 14th. Their program included works by Alessandro Marcello, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Peter Iljitsch Tchaikovsky, Antonin Dvorák, Sergej Rachmaninov, Astor Piazzolla and Johann Strauss. After a very fine performance of Gustav Peter’s ‘Memory of Circus Renz’ (solo on the xylophone by Bernhard Winkler), the concert was closed with some famous songs, very popular and well acclaimed by the public. |
Claudio Jacomucci at the Music Academy, Cracow – Polandby Claudio Jacomucci |
  Accordionist Claudio Jacomucci (Italy) and Italian-based US dancer Kathleen Delaney performed recently at the Music Academy in Cracow. The Music Academy of Cracow and the accordion class of Janusz Pater together organized, with the collaboration of Pigini Accordions and the Italian Cultural Institute in Cracow, a master-class for the students of the academy, led by Claudio Jacomucci. He gave a lecture titled ‘The concert-accordion: the Italian situation in teaching, performing and manufacturing’, and - together with dancer Kathleen Delaney - presented their last multimedia performance ‘Cool Memories’ for dancer, accordion, text, video and electronics, dedicated to Jean Baudrillard. The program of the concert included his recent compositions ‘Wonderlands’ and ‘Infernal Circles’ for accordion and pre-recorded sounds. Many young and talented accordionists attended the master-class, including some from Warsaw’s Conservatory. Cracow is a wonderful town, rich of historical, cultural and architectonic beauties. It’s also the town of Pope John-Paul 2nd, and of...the Motion Trio! |
Future events |
Music Flea Market, Linz – Austriaby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
| For the last time for this year, on December 6th the Music Flea Market takes place in Hamoderstraße 2, Linz, from 9am-6pm. On sale will be accordions, electric pianos, brass and stringed instruments. Most instruments are new, and available at competitive prices. For further information email: michael.schahpar@liwest.at |
Lidia Kaminska Concert, Philadelphia – USAby Rob Howard |
 US-based Polish accordionist Lidia Kaminska is in concert on December 7th, 3pm, at the Trinity Center for Urban Life, 2212 Spruce St, Philadelphia.Lidia Kaminska has performed extensively in both the U.S. and Europe. Her chamber music, concerto, and solo performances explore the complex and expressive range of the accordion as a classical instrument, and her repertoire includes a broad range of classical, contemporary, and avant-garde music. Kaminska conceived her first CD, ‘Breaking Boundaries’, as part of her mission to present the accordion as a serious classical instrument; Philadelphia Magazine claims “she transforms the accordion into a massive force — more pipe organ than squeezebox — and burns through [classical repertoire] with virtuosic speed and technique.” |
Rafal Luc at the Purcell Room, London – UKby Rob Howard |
 Polish accordionist Rafal Luc, now a student of Professor Owen Murray at the Royal Academy of Music in London, performs in concert on January 6th at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre. His programme includes: ‘De Profundis’ – Gubaidulina, ‘Air’ – Abrahamsen, selected movements from ‘Musica Ricercata’ – Ligeti (London Premiere), and ‘Squeezy’ - Giles Swayne (world premiere). For further information email: rafal_luc@op.pl |
‘Tribute to Teiji Ito’, New York – USAby Guy Klucevsek |
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 An evening dedicated to the late Japanese composer Teiji Ito (1935-82), recognised as a founding composer of the experimental new music scene in New York, takes place on December 12th, 7.30pm, at the Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street at First Avenue, NYC. The presenter is John Zorn, and featuring accordionist Guy Klucevsek, flautist/saxophonist Steve Gorn, and other musicians. The program will include ’The Coach with the Six Insides’, ‘Lifelines’, ‘Meditation on Violence’, ‘Arabesque for Kenneth Anger’, ‘Moonplay’, ‘Watermill’, and music from ‘King Ubu’. For further information email: gklucevsek@si.rr.com |
‘La Damigiana’ to see and hear near Ancona – Italyby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
| The Italian folk group ‘La Damigiana’ was formed in 1999. Apart from the diatonic button accordion, all their instruments are self-constructed, including tambourine, triangle, segone, carcavella, raganella, castanets, and bull horn. The group has a large repertoire of local songs and tunes, and here are their next appearances: December 8th, 4 to 8pm - the center of Chiaravelle, including the distribution of local wine and local speciality cake Cambellone December 21st, 4 to 8pm - Chiaravelle, in collaboration with Binci Erino and his “animal friends” January 5th, from 3.30 pm to 9.30 pm - in Monte San Vito ‘La Pasquella Per La Campagna Con Quelli Di Rifondazione Comunista’ January 6th – ‘LaA Befana A Montecarotto Ce La Pasquella’, organized by La Macina C/O Gastona Pietrucci 0731 4263 January 6th, 8.30am to 1pm – Rontichelli, ‘La Pasquella Con Le Vacche E Biroccio’, and later for lunch at the ‘Rocca Del Paese’ January 11th, from 9 am – 7 pm, organised by the folk group ‘Vincanto’, in Monsano ‘La Pasquella’ January 23rd and 24th, from 8pm-midnight , in Ostra Vetere, dinner ‘Festa Della Merla’ For further information email: posta@ladamigiana.com |
Stockport Air Raid Shelters, England – UKby Rob Howard |
 Accordionists John Jones and Rob Howard lead group sing-along sessions of well-known World War Two songs at the Stockport Air Raid Shelters on December 11th, 15th and 18th, from 7pm. The music comes at the end of guided tours of the underground shelters. In December 1940 and early 1941, up to 7,000 people spent the nights in the Shelters, which are situated underneath the town centre of Stockport, to escape the nightly bombing raids from the Luftwaffe. Accordionists were a regular and very welcome form of entertainment in the Shelters. For further information email: robaccord5@hotmail.com |
Ferran Martinez Concert, Barcelona – Spainby Rob Howard |
 Spanish accordionist Ferran Martinez is in concert on December 12th, 5pm, at the Centre Civic, Barcelona. His program includes music by JS Bach, Albeniz, Oudrid, Piazzolla and J. Strauss.For further information email: fmc_martinez@yahoo.com |
New and Updated Sites |
Formal Biography and Updated Contact Informationby Mika Väyrynen |
| Renowned Finnish accordionist Mika Väyrynen's site has been redesigned to include a formal biography, list of commissioned works, recordings, photo gallery, sound files of performances on both accordion and bandoneon, solo and in various combinations with other instruments, as well as updated contact information. |
New Music - ‘Temptation', 'Anton Young'by Vassily Glubochenko |
| Vassily Glubochenko - accordionist as well as a composer, arranger, and scientist, release 3 new works for accordion available for purchase online, ‘Temptation', 'Anton Young' and 'Grandfather's Krutch'. Samples of these music are available on the site. The music is in eSheet format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card. |
New Music - 'Cool March', 'Fantasia Gitana'by Franco Cambareri |
| Franco Cambareri - accordionist, composer, producer, releases 4 new works for accordion available for purchase online. 'Cool March', 'Fantasia Gitana', 'Musette De Paris' and 'Valse D’Amour' . Samples of this music are available on the site. The music is in eSheet format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card. |
Coupe Mondiale 2009 Website Updatedby Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) |
| The Coupe Mondiale international accordion competition run by the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA), has had the website has updated with all the rules and regulations for the 2009 Coupe Mondiale to be held in Auckland City, New Zealand, 25 to 29 August. For the first time, the Coupe Mondiale now has a Digital Accordion Category with rules that are different than what might be expected. |
CD Reviews |
Terreby Frank Farmer |
 Renzo Ruggieri is an accordionist well known for his jazz improvisations; the planning of his work however is rarely improvised.CD Reviews Index. |
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