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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=13-jan-2012&s=5153
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=13-jan-2012&s=5153
13-Jan-2012
Merv Conn Passes Away, Maryland – USAby Rob Howard |
 Washington-based veteran accordion entertainer Merv Conn died aged 91 on December 20th at the National Lutheran Home in Rockville, Maryland.Merv Conn was born Mervin Aaron Cohen on Febuary 19th 1920 in Washington DC. He took the Conn surname later as a musician. He began playing the accordion as a teenager, and started as a professional musician playing local events and on radio programs. His repertoire was enormous, and he could play just about any kind of gig - bar mitzvahs, Oktoberfest fetes, Washington Senators baseball games, weddings, dances, concerts on cruise ships, Christmas parties, etc. His fame was such that he performed private recitals for US Presidents Truman, Johnson and Nixon. From the mid 1940s, Merv Conn gave accordion lessons, and his students included President Richard M. Nixon’s daughters. At one point he employed five instructors who taught more than 300 students a week. During World War II, he worked as an auditor for the Treasury Department. It was there he met Rhoda Silverman, whom he married in 1942. She died 1989. Merv Conn is survived by two children, Robert Conn of Silver Spring and Maria Cohen of New York. AAA Historian Joan Grauman has written a very nice article for the Accordion USA News titled "Memories of Merv Conn". http://www.accordionusa.com/default.aspx#art948 Washington Post obituary: MervConn |