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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=05-Jun-2015&lang=de&s=10421
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=05-Jun-2015&lang=de&s=10421
05-Jun-2015
by Joan Grauman Morse
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 The 2015 AAA Festival Luncheon Concert will feature the members of the Washington Metropolitan Accordion Society (WMAS). WMAS has met monthly in Northern Virginia since its founding in 2003. With the club’s constant encouragement, its terrific workshops, the guest artist concerts and performing opportunities, many of the members have blossomed into really fine musicians and performers. Performing at the Luncheon Concert will be the Potomac Accordion Ensemble under the direction of AAA Governing Board member Joan Grauman; accordionist Robert Ford accompanied by his daughter Rocio Ford on castanets; accordionist Mark Nejako with violinist Nick Sungenis; and accordionist/singer Ken Kunec. The Potomac Accordion Ensemble was founded in 2004 by its director, Joan Grauman. Originally, Joan formed the group to assist members of WMAS who just started to play the accordion or had just returned to the instrument after not playing for up to 45 years. The music and the camaraderie kept everyone coming back for more. Soon, the ensemble was being approached by the national accordion associations to perform at their events and banquets. Named after the beautiful Potomac River, the group has performed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania (including the 2010 AAA Festival in Harrisburg), all over Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland (including the 2012 AAA Festival in Baltimore). Performing in coffeehouses, for major music festivals, farmers’ markets and Christmas events, the eleven year-old ensemble is looking forward to and honored to be playing in Alexandria, Virginia for the 2015 AAA Festival! Robert and Rocio Ford were featured performers at the 2012 AAA Festival in Baltimore and thrilled the audience with their beautiful performance! Robert Ford was ten years old when he started playing the accordion at the Hohner Academy in La Paz, Bolivia. At 13 and 15 years old, he represented Bolivia at the Coupe Mondiale world accordion competitions in Venezuela (1972) and Sweden (1974). For the next several years, he played only sporadically as he moved back to the US, completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and then began to work fulltime. After moving to Virginia in 1998, Robert started to play the accordion regularly again. He has performed at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum, Gunston Arts Center in Arlington, VA, at WMAS meetings and other venues. Robert especially enjoys performing with his daughter Rocio. Rocio Ford, 15, began learning the castanets and Spanish dance when she was three years old under the tutelage of her mother, Carmen de Vicente, a master castanet virtuoso who played with numerous orchestras, pianists, guitarists and accordionists across Spain and the US. Rocio practices and performs with Requiebros Spanish Dance Group, a group of students from Carmen de Vicente’s Spanish Dance Academy in Arlington, VA. She has performed at various Spanish dance festivals and with her father at the 2012 AAA Festival and at several WMAS concerts. Rocio enjoys playing classical and Spanish music on the castanets and dancing Flamenco, Sevillanas, and various regional dances from Spain. The duo of Mark Nejako (accordion) and Nick Sungenis (violin) performed at the 2012 AAA Festival in Baltimore and at the 2014 WMAS Holiday Concert. It’s great to have this delightful duet team joining us for the Luncheon Concert! Mark Nejako grew up in Maryland and is a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins University with a Master of Science in Biotechnology and a Master of Business Administration. He began studying the accordion in 2009 with Frank Busso, Jr. in Alexandria, VA. Mark has performed in various accordion ensembles around the Washington, DC area, and most recently in the CIA World Accordion Orchestra VIII in Salzburg, Austria. Nick Sungenis was born on the West Coast but grew up in Maryland. He graduated from Howard Community College and from Providence College studying Philosophy. His thesis paper about music and eudaimonia was recently published in the fifth volume of an undergraduate humanities journal: Proto. Nick studied the violin from age eleven, has recorded in Nashville, and has played in various venues around the East Coast. Next year he plans to pursue graduate studies in the philosophy of music and to record original compositions. Ken Kunec is the WMAS concert emcee/resident comedian/singing accordionist and is enjoyed by all! Born and raised in Northeastern, Pennsylvania, Ken began piano lessons “just to keep his brother company”. He began studying the accordion at age ten with “Lefty”, a local popular accordionist and studied with him for three years. In high school, he began singing and playing popular and dance music at parties, weddings and taverns (chaperoned by his dad). He played solo and in pick-up bands with his accordion, and then switched to guitar, electric organ and rock music late in high school and through college. After finishing college, Ken moved to the Washington, DC area and began his career developing computer systems for the US government. A few years ago, at the urging of his wife, Ken picked up his accordion again. He plays for church functions, WMAS meetings and concerts, and venues all over Northern Virginia, “only for fun and only for free,” says Ken. Ken and his wife Teddy will be celebrating their 45 wedding anniversary this month. Hope to see everyone at the 2015 AAA Festival!! |