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Highlights |
All-Russian Variety Competition "Merry Accordion", Nizhny Novgorod - Russia
3rd Accordion Festival at Cremona Musica - Italy
Accordion on BBC TV, 21st July - UK
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
Accordionists Featured on Television Culture Channel - Russia
CNIMA Full Year Accordion Studies Information - France
Rebel Reed Summer Sessions 2020 – USA
Accordionists Entertain at 90th Birthday Celebrations in Brühl – Germany
Kallis Bengtsson Summer Evening Church Concerts - Sweden
Cancelled: Fairport Cropredy Convention - England
Martina Jembrišak “Ave Maria” Video - Croatia
Dr William Schimmel’s New CD: “Dragonfly”
Future events |
August Accordion Summer School Seminar – Czech Republic
"Milonga De Cuatro" Five Tango Sensations, Auckland – New Zealand
Melodeon Study Week at Halsway Manor, Somerset – UK
New and Updated Sites |
New Compositions for Accordion Orchestra Released by Gary Daverne
Help Desk, Information needed, Readers CommentsSubmit Your Question, CommentSUBMIT NOW |
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Highlights |
Official: 2020 Coupe Mondiale in Castro Marim Goes Ahead - Portugalby Kimmo Mattila Secretary General, Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) |
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 On Thursday 16 July at an online meeting of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) Executive Committee (picture below), CIA President Mirco presented the Covid-19 -situation in Portugal. He reported on Monday 13th July the video meeting of CIA, Mito Algarvio (CIA Portugal member and 2020 host) and Castro Marim municipality officials. After analyzing the corona pandemic situation, it was stated, that the Mito Algarvio and the Castro Marim municipality is ready to organise safely the 2020 Coupe Mondiale in October. There will be some restrictions and a certain security protocol must be followed, but such details are possible to organise safely. The travelling restrictions especially in Europe are mostly finished, although some countries are still closed. In the time to October, travelling is expected to become easier. Flight connections are steadily opening. The corona pandemic is changing continuously but fortunately mostly in a positive direction. Therefore, the CIA Executive Committee decided unanimously to warmly welcome competitors, jury and live audience to the 73rd Coupe Mondiale 2020 in Portugal! In the next week an interview with CIA President Mirco Patarini will announce further details. |
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All-Russian Variety Competition "Merry Accordion", Nizhny Novgorod - Russiaby Ivan Dyma, SaxAkkord Duo |
 The All-Russian Variety Competition "Merry Accordion" will be held in Nizhny Novgorod from December 3rd to 6th, 2020.The competition will include categories for soloists, groups and orchestras. Applications will open on September 1st, 2020 and close on November 1st, 2020. To participate in the qualifying round, entries must be received by the closing date to: vesakkordeon@gmail.com The competition jury will consist of Yuri Viktorovich Brusentsev (Chairman of the jury), Gennady Vasilyevich Mamaykov, Vitali Dmitriev, Eduard Akhanov and Venedikt Vladimirovich Veneun. Download Merry Accordion Rules and Entry form in Russian language here: 2020MerryAccordionRules.pdf |
3rd Accordion Festival at Cremona Musica - Italyby Christine Johnstone |
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| The third edition of Italy’s newest Accordion Festival is confirmed at Cremona, Northern Italy from September 25th to 27th, 2020. Safety rules for social distancing for everyone, exhibitors as well as visitors will be in place. Organisers have a hall for “The Accordion Show” which is dedicated to the accordion and other bellows-operated instruments and will include space for events, conferences, demonstrations, live music etc. For details email: info.turismo@comune.cremona.it |
Accordion on BBC TV, 21st July - UKby Christine Johnstone |
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| Broadcast 21st July. Text from the BBC site: YolanDa Brown and her house band, The Band Jaminals, entertain an audience of children - the Band Jammers - with live music and special guests! YolanDa gets everyone moving with the song Jumping On Our Toes, which uses short, sharp staccato notes. YolanDa encourages the Band Jammers to jump on their toes and make fun robot movements to the music. Joining YolanDa in this episode is awesome accordion player Martynas Levickis. Martynas explains how the accordion works – we look at the keys, the buttons and the squeezebox. Martynas shows the Band Jammers the woodblocks inside the accordion, which are like a musical instrument in their own right. A lucky Band Jammer gets to have a go playing the woodblocks before Martynas plays a game – YolanDa and the Band Jammers have to guess which song he’s playing on the woodblocks. The Fact Jam then further explores the accordion, and we learn that the world’s largest accordion is almost the size of an elephant! Martynas then performs The Tango on the accordion, before being invited by YolanDa and the Band Jammers to take part in the Big Band Jam at the end of the programme when they will get everyone moving with an energetic performance of Despacito. |
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
Kevin Friedrich Presents Sell Out “Mid Winter Melodies” Concert – New Zealandby Christine Johnstone |
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 The Lighthouse Function Center at the Dargaville Museum (New Zealand) was filled to capacity for a variety show featuring accordionist Kevin Friedrich. With New Zealand having been free of Covid 19 in the community for almost three months, large group events have been allowed to resume to pre-Covid levels, enabling a full house concert setting, something that is a rarity in today’s world. Kevin has hosted many such shows in his home town of Dargaville, and always attracts a sellout crowd who enjoy the variety of performances in many musical genres. This particular concert was offered as a thank you to all the Essential Service workers in numerous capacities as well as the friends, family and community as a whole for uniting together during the ever changing challenges faced in dealing with the global pandemic. The shows always feature the accordion in a variety of settings accompanied by guest artists. For this concert, Kevin was joined by Thomas Koloi (piano), Jone Yelcich, Ros Gilmour and Lynn Walters (Vocalists) and the popular local vocal sextet ‘Take Six’. A highlight of the afternoon was the unveiling of one of the newest additions to Kevin’s Accordion Gems accordion exhibition, a stunning Maga Ercole Dimascio Florentino double keyboard,160 bass accordion (picture above). Maga Ercole is one of the oldest continuing accordion companies from Stradella, Italy dating from 1895. Performing a work by New Zealand composer Gary Daverne, Kevin gave a glimpse into the century old history of this unique and beautifully designed instrument. Another feature of the show was a moving tribute to the late Dame Vera Lynn who recently passed away at age 103. Vera Lynn gave her life to supporting the armed forces and other causes such as Disabled Children and Breast Cancer and the cast and audience joined together for rousing performances of two of her signature pieces ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ and ‘We’ll Meet Again’. As is customary for the Dargaville shows, the concert concluded with a finale of New Zealand traditional pieces with audience participation. Kevin’s next scheduled accordion show is on November 29th when he will present his Christmas Extravaganza. |
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Accordionists Featured on Television Culture Channel - Russiaby Arseniy Strokovskiy |
  Video: The recording of the broadcast from 29th June, in Russian language.Russian television culture channel program The Observer featured accordionists in their program entitled “A Word about Harmonica” on June 29th, 2020, hosted by Yulia Pankratova. Guests included Friedrich Lips (picture left), People's Artist of Russia, Professor, Head of the Bayan and Accordion Department at the Russian Academy of Music. Gnesin; Maria Vlasova (picture right), musician, assistant professor of bayan and accordion of the Russian Academy of Music. Gnesin; Andrey Ustinov, musicologist, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Musical Review"; and Joseph Puritz, musician. |
CNIMA Full Year Accordion Studies Information - Franceby Christine Johnstone |
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| Video: Seong Hui, Korean student from 2015 to 2018 performs and talks about her time at CNIMA. CNIMA directed by Nathalie Boucheix and Jacques Mornet offers a full year accordion program (renewable as needed). This program is catered for “want-to-be” professionals and “in-the-making” international virtuosos. But it also accepts people from all level, all background and all ages, who are passionate about the instrument. The 20 hours a week program, is divided between individual accordion classes (2 to 3 per week) and group classes in harmony, music theory, accordion technique, chamber music etc The school gives the possibility to pass French national music conservatory diplomas (Certificat d'Etudes Musicales - CEM end Diplome d'Etudes Musicales - DEM), enabling students, through the intense studying, to accomplish in one year, what they would usually do in 4 years. Students can live full board at the school, or rent an apartment in the local village. Set in the beautiful volcano region of Auvergne the school is known for its family spirit and very affordable fees. Jacques Mornet's teaching approach has proved itself through time, with a unique success rate of 104 first international prizes in accordion competitions around the globe. Upcoming classes as follows: Accordion technique with Jacques Mornet and Nathalie Boucheix July 20th – 25th 2020 July 27th - August 1st 2020 August 3rd – 8th 2020 Accordion repertoire: July 20th -24th 2020 - Celtic music with Alain Pennec For further details email: cnima@orange.fr |
Rebel Reed Summer Sessions 2020 – USAby Christine Johnstone |
 Video: “Anniversary Song” performed by Dallas Vietty (accordion) and Michael Nikolidakis (guitar).Accordionist Dallas Vietty (picture left) will tutor the Rebel Reed summer classes which will be offered live on Zoom throughout July, August and September, 2020. Fun and engaging, these classes smoothly guide the student building music theory (melody, harmony and rhythm) and musicianship (ear training, singing, clapping). Dallas is an accordion player and teacher, who works from the approach that “music is a language that we need to: speak, hear, read and write." |
Accordionists Entertain at 90th Birthday Celebrations in Brühl – Germanyby Christine Johnstone |
 The Akkordeon-Orchester Wesseling duo of Anita Brandtstäter and Elena Taran entertained at the 90th birthday celebrations of the Kaiserbahnhof Brühl Restaurant in Brühl, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany last week.The duo gave a popular one hour varied program which included “Happy Birthday” (of course) as well as some sing-a-long tunes "Two Little Italians", "Caprifischer" and "Heimweh nach Köln". |
Kallis Bengtsson Summer Evening Church Concerts - Swedenby Christine Johnstone |
 Video: Kallis Bengtsson (picture left) has been performing Summer Evening Music Concerts during July at the Sandhult Church in Borås, Sweden. |
Cancelled: Fairport Cropredy Convention - Englandby Christine Johnstone |
 Video: Neckbelly/Gaffo's Ball performed by Sharon Shannon & Alan Connor 'In Galway' recording at O'Connors Bar Salthill.Popular accordionist Sharon Shannon (picture left) and her band were due to perform at the annual Fairport Cropredy Convention in Cropredy, Oxfordshire, England in August, however the 2020 event has been cancelled due to Covid-19. Organisers are currently organising the 2021 event and all tickets from 2020 will be honoured at the 2021 event. |
Martina Jembrišak “Ave Maria” Video - Croatiaby Christine Johnstone |
 Croatian accordionist Martina Jembrišak (picture right) has teamed up with Divna Šimatovic (guitar) to bring you this beautiful version of Ave Maria (Franz Schubert). |
Dr William Schimmel’s New CD: “Dragonfly”by Rita Davidson Barnea, Editor USA Accordion News |
 William Schimmel (accordion) and Peter Jarvis (percussion) have combined their talents to create a new CD, “Dragonfly”. The CD is a collection of duos, composed and improvised music for accordion, percussion, and voice. The digital release on NAXOS will be on September 6th, 2020.Dr William Schimmel is a leading accordionist, composer and academic, based in New York, USA, where he organizes the annual “Master Class and Concert Series (The Seminars)” sponsored by the American Accordionists' Association. He received a Merit Award from the AAA for his contributions spanning fifty years plus the "Accordionist of the Year" Award in 1988 and the CIA Merit Award in 2003. He has performed with many major symphony orchestras in the US, many chamber groups, as well as with rock), jazz, and avant-garde groups. Peter Jarvis is a percussionist, drummer, conductor, composer, music copyist, print music editor and college professor as well as the Director of New Music at William Paterson University. For further information: accordionbill@gmail.com Picture below: CD track list |
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Future events |
Stas Venglevski Performs World Premiere, Superior – USAby Christine Johnstone |
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  Stas Venglevski (picture left) will perform the world premiere of Josh Schmidt's composition "Eleven for Accordion" at the Hanni Strahl Concert Hall, Harrington Arts Center, A World of Accordions Museum (AWAM) in Superior, WI on July 19th. Josh Schmidt (picture right) has chosen Stas to present this world premier composition and he will be present at the concert.In addition to Schmidt’s compositions, Stas will perform his charmingly picturesque “Petting Zoo Suite”, several new compositions (and a few of our favorites), followed by “Taquito Militar”, a milonga by Mariano Mores, and “Rocky Top” by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The following day, July 20th, Stas will give a Tango Workshop from 2pm at the same venue. All attendees are requested to wear masks and social distancing will be in place along with disinfecting wipes and gloves. For details phone: 218-393-0245 |
August Accordion Summer School Seminar – Czech Republicby Christine Johnstone |
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| The Summer Accordion School Dobrany will hold a seminar with tutors Ladislav Horák and Petr Vacek in Dobrany, Czech Republic from 21st to 23rd August, 2020. See poster above for details. |
"Milonga De Cuatro" Five Tango Sensations, Auckland – New Zealandby Christine Johnstone |
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| Quartet "Milonga De Cuatro" (which includes accordionist Lian Jones) will perform "Five Tango Sensations" by Astor Piazzolla at a concert on August 30th, 2020 at the Nathan Homestead in Manurewa, Auckland at 5pm. Astor Piazzolla's "Five Tango Sensations" is a suite of works written in Tango Nuevo style and is a "work of tragic beauty". This is the last piece that the composer wrote and recorded in his life. The concert will also include other works by Piazzolla as well as music of Eduardo Rovira (Argentina). For details email: nataliameyta@yahoo.com |
Melodeon Study Week at Halsway Manor, Somerset – UKby Christine Johnstone |
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| Video: Petit Piment - Belle dans ton jardin - Ronde du Quercy Lucas Thébaut: accordion Arnaud Bibonne: vocals Léo Danais: drums Florian Huygebaert: percussion A melodeon study week will be held from October 12th to 16th at Halsway Manor, Halsway Lane, near Crowcombe, Somerset, UK. The event organisers welcome two of Europe’s most exciting exponents of the diatonic button accordion to teach this extended course for advanced, and advanced-intermediate level players. Benjamin Macke (Belgium) and Lucas Thébaut (France) are consummate performers and teachers, and this week offers a rare opportunity to study with them in the UK. This will be an intensive week of skills-based learning focusing on your development as a musician, discovering new ways to interpret and play, and to make the music your own. Halsway Manor has deliberately chosen two musicians with a lot in common, but also with quite different backgrounds and repertoire so you’ll benefit from contrasting approaches in their playing and teaching. You need to be open to trying new things, and to be prepared to work hard. It will be intensive but also an enjoyable and rewarding week, with time to relax in the evenings and enjoy informal sessions. The group, limited to approximately 20 students, will be split in two by the tutors at the start of the course; you’ll spend roughly the same amount of time with each tutor. This will be done according to ability level but there’s plenty of informal time to meet, chat and play with others. This course is for advanced and advanced-intermediate level players of the DG melodeon (If you also have a box in GC, bring it as well). For details email: office@halswaymanor.org.uk |
New and Updated Sites |
Stas Venglevski’s Twelve Hot Tango Compositions Released - USAby Harley Jones |
  Stas Venglevski has just released:Catalog vstas063 "Twelve Hot Tango Compositions For Solo Accordion" as a pdf book able to be emailed to you: 01. Busy Fingers Tango 02. Elephants Tango 03. Meg Tanguera 04. Invite Tango 05. Tango for Two 06. Lonely Dancer 07. Tango Pasadena 08. Tango Mobile 09. Ecstasy Tango 10. One Tulip 11. Yellow Roses 12. Meg Tango. View music sample pages online for each tango at Catalog vstas063 Price US$25 or Euro equivalent View CD's and mp3 albums and other compositions by Stas at: Stas Venglevski |
New Compositions for Accordion Orchestra Released by Gary Daverneby Harley Jones |
 Gary Daverne releases two new accordion orchestra compositions.ED0091a - Bob the Bandsman March for accordion ensemble/orchestra Score ED0091b - Bob the Bandsman March for accordion ensemble/orchestra all parts ED0092a - Hokianga Hornpipe Accordion ensemble/orchestra Score ED0092b - Hokianga Hornpipe Accordion ensemble/orchestra All Parts Free download of the score so the Conductor or the Music Director can view the complete score. |
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