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Highlights |
Daily Reports Online 7-10 August for 2010 Harbin International - Chinaby Harley Jones |
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Daily Reports of the Harbin 2010 China Summer International Accordion Art Week, August 7th to 10th, 2010, will be online on the Harbin 2010 website from tomorrow. This major international accordion festival including competitions has had enormous support from its sponsors and the organizing team headed by Professor Wang Hongyu who is the Head of Keyboard department, Music College, Harbin Normal University. Read the Daily Reports on the Harbin 2010 website from tomorrow. |
70th Anniversary ATG Festival, California - USAby Kevin Friedrich |
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![]() Held for the first time in California, in honor of ATG President Emeritus the late Anthony Galla-Rini, the festival featured meetings, concerts, national and international competitions, trade show and social events such as Gala Banquets, Receptions and the new after-hours Bootleg Lounge Jam Sessions. Numerous workshops were held on topics such as ‘The Life of Galla-Rini’ (Esther Lanting), ‘Music Notation Software’ (Liz Finch), ‘World of French Musette’ (Bernard Metais), Book Release – ‘What is an Accordion?’ (Mary Tokarski & Karen Malan-Uribe), ‘Music of the Professional Musician’ (Gordon Kohl), Film Documentary: screening of ‘Behind the Bellows’ (Steve Mobia), ‘Understanding and Playing Balkan Rhythms’ (Dee Langley), ‘Bass Patterns’ (Betty Jo Simon), ‘50s & 60s Music’ (Bruce Gassman) and ‘Developing Technique’ (Alexander Sevastian). The 3rd edition of the Anthony Galla-Rini International Competition for Classical Accordion was won by Gao Yi Cheng from China, a student of Chen Jun. Performing a series of three rounds, the competition was of such a high standard that the judges and ATG unanimously decided to award a previously unannounced 4th prize, with results as follows: 1st: Gao Yi Cheng – China ($5,000) 2nd: Martynas Livickis – Lithuania ($3,000) 3rd: Jelena Milojevic – Serbia/Canada ($1500) 4th: Michael Bridge – Canada ($500) Featured guest artists included CIA World Champions Alexander Sevastian (Coupe Mondiale) and Cory Pesaturo (International Competition for Digital Accordion). Alexander was also the winner of the first edition of the Anthony Galla-Rini International competition for Classical Accordion held in 2001. Other guest artists included the Accordion Chamber Ensemble (MD Joe Smiell, Jr.), The Great Morgani, Patricia Bartell, Ron Borelli, Steve Albini Duo, Stas Venglevski, Lionel Reekie (New Zealand), Peter Di Bono Trio, Bruce Gassman, William Cosby, Betty Jo Simon, AbsolutAccord, and Amy Jo Sawyer. Two Festival Orchestras were presented in concert, including the Galla-Rini Festival Orchestra conducted by Esther Lanting, which performed at both the ATG Festival and at the Great America Theme Park, and the ATG Executive and Friends Orchestra, conducted by Joan Cochran Sommers. Hailed as a tremendous success by all who attended, ATG President Dee Langley announced that plans are already well underway for the 71st ATG Competition and Festival to be held in Orlando, Florida from July 19th to 23rd 2011. Details will be available soon on the ATG Website at www.accordions.com/atg |
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Italian Final of the Roland V-Accordion Festival - Italyby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
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![]() On the second and third place Simon Mannarino and Gianluigi Cardelli classified themselves. The evening was held in the amphitheater on the waterfront of Soverato and has been followed with great participation by the public. In the highly qualified jury were: Renzo Ruggieri, internationally renowned professional accordionist (president of the jury), Gianluca Bibiana, composer and arranger, Antonio Spaccarotella, one of the best accordionists of the new generation, Piero Chianura, active music journalist and director of the magazin Insound, Danilo Paolonicola, accordionist winner of many national and international awards, and Joseph Scigliano, professional accordionist. The evening was conducted by Rino Rhodium. This year has also introduced the junior category won by Alexei of Saints from the province of Teramo being awarded with a V-Accordion FR-1. George Albanian instead received a FR-7X, flagship of the new series of V-Accordion. Appointment in Rome on 15 and 16 October at the Auditorium Parco della Musica for the international final, with the hope that Italian winners may prevail even then. |
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All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil, Cavan – Republic of Irelandby Rob Howard |
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The 2010 All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is a large scale festival of Irish culture, taking place in Cavan Town, County Cavan in the Irish Republic from August 15th to 22nd. Organised by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCE), the All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil involves hundreds of solo, do, groups and bands in its competitions for the top prizes in its Irish music, song and dance categories. The competitions take place on August 20th to 22nd. The festival, which includes concerts, dances, workshops and playing sessions, always attracts large numbers of spectators and participants, including many visitors from around the world. One of the concerts is ‘A Tribute to Paddy O’Brien’, in which various accordionists pay homage to the buton accordionist Paddy O’Brien now living in the USA. This takes place on August 20th, 9pm, at the Cavan Crystal Hotel. Solo competitions are held for the following instruments: fiddle; 2-row accordion; concert flute; whistle; piano accordion; concertina; uilleann pipes; harp; mouth organ; banjo; mandolin; piano; old-style melodeon; bodhrán; war pipes; miscellaneous such as 3 and 5- row button accordion, piccolo, (chromatic) harmonica and other stringed instruments; céilí band drums; accompaniment – confined to piano, harp, guitar and bouzouki-type instruments; solo traditional singing in Irish and English; whistling; lilting; newly composed ballads and amhráin nua-cheaptha (newly composed songs in Irish). For further information email: eolas@comhaltas.ie |
2010 Harbin Summer International Accordion Art Week - Chinaby Harley Jones |
![]() International accordion artists performing include Yuri Shishkin, Grayson Masefield and the French Bayan Accordion Duo. Yuri Shishkin and Vladimir Zubitsky also present accordion seminars. There will be accordion competitions spread over the 4 days event and there is an exhibition of accordions from various countries. Guests and Jury include (alpahbetical order): Raymond Bodell, Andrey Chugunov, Li Cong, Xu Dawei, Sun Delun, Frederic Deschamps, Kevin Friedrich, Zhang Guoping, Wang Hongyu, Harley Jones, Chen Jun, Jiang Jie, Alexander Kapitan, Andreas Nebl, Gennady Nizovskiy, Boris Pankov, Viatcheslav Semenenko, Viatcheslav Semionov, Yuri Shishkin, Wang Shusheng, Radomir Tomic, Li Wei Ming, Lui Wenlin, Cao Xiao-Qing, Chen Yiming, Wang Yuping, Vladimir Zubitsky. The Harbin 2010 chief organiser of the event is Professor Wang Hongyu, the Head of Keyboard department, Music College, Harbin Normal University. |
Jacques Pellarin’s New CD ‘Sound of Philadelphia’, Paris - Franceby Rob Howard |
![]() His music is vivid, changing and surprising, awakening the once whispered suggestion that the French introduced jazz to America. This is a stellar record filled with emotion that reaches parts of the soul where much music fails to go.”. Track listing: ‘Laguna de Perlas’, ‘Blues Sur Nacre’, ‘The Groove Maker’, ‘Junior Valse’, ‘Free Tango’, ‘Jamais Dire Jamais’, ‘Patchinko’, ‘Koloriages’, ‘Accordeason’, ‘Recuerdos de La Macha’, ‘A Perdre Haleine’, ‘Sotaviento’ Jacques Pellarin, originally a classical accordionist well known for his long collaboration with accordionist Jean-Luc Brunetti as the ‘Baikal Duo’, now performs an eclectic repertoire that derives from traditional musette, but has jazz, tango, Latin, swing, and other international influences. For further information email: jacques.pellarin@wanadoo.fr |
Reports for Concerts, Masterclasses, Competitions, Festivals, etc. |
Last Chance to View Primus Ikaalinen VI Accordion Competition Onlineby Kevin Friedrich |
![]() To see the show, simply visit: http://areena.yle.fi/video/1114364 and when the video loads, click the play arrow on the screen. For more information about this and the Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival, please visit the Sata-Häme Soi website. |
‘Jump at the Sun’ - the John Kirkpatrick Tune Book, East Sussex – UKby Rob Howard |
![]() John Kirkpatrick has long been widely recognised as the British folk scene’s leading player of the 3-row British chromatic button accordion, 1 and 2 row melodeons, and Anglo concertina. He is also well known as a folk singer and composer, and has a particular interest in English folk songs and country dance music, and Morris dance music. Most of his compositions are based in the English folk dance or Morris genres, and all have been worked out on diatonic instruments, but are playable on almost any kind of instrument. With 138 titles, this superb book has all John Kirkpatrick’s tunes, with chords, notes, and discography. They range in difficulty from easy to ‘challenging’, and some have found their way into the folk tradition – especially the title tune, the bouncy and well known jig ‘Jump at the Sun’. The inside covers are full of photos from his career dating back to the late 1960s. The tunes rejoice under such colourful titles as ‘The Dance of the Demon Daffodils’, ‘The Three Piece Suite’, ‘Leaping Jack’, ‘Living in Sin’, March Hare Mazurka’, ‘Pepper in the Brandy’, ‘Puddleglum's Misery’, ‘Accordionism’, ‘Jump At The Sun’, ‘Unchristmas’, and ‘Fishing on a Bicycle’. There are also arrangements, with variations, of a few traditional tunes such as ‘Bobby Shafto Gone Bonkers’ and the ‘Devil Among the Tailors’. For further information email: john.kirkpatrick2@virgin.net |
Lorraine Parnell Accordion Academy Concert, Auckland - New Zealandby Heather Masefield |
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On Sunday July 25th at the Hawkins Theatre in Papakura, Auckland, a concert titled ‘Accordiana’ was held by the Lorraine Parnell Accordion Academy. Following on from the 3rd placing of ‘Noteable Soundz’ in the Ensemble category at the 2009 Coupe Mondiale, the group had reformed with four players: Martin Meyer, Daniel Robinson, Bradley Williams and Tamba Young. They were also the basis for another group of nine players called ‘Noteable Soundz Plus’, led by teacher Lorraine Parnell. In support, with entertaining vaudeville acts, were soloists and duettists Cherise Barry, Amanda Aschebrock, James Curach, Ellie Archer, Chanelle Carron, Josh Helm, Daniel Klinac, Ella Klinac, Patrick Liu and the Cordaires Ensemble. |
National competition "City of the Sun" - Siracusa/Italyby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
The competition was open to all instruments. The young accordionist Thomas Arena could convinced the jury with his performance and repertoire of original literature for accordion and was proclaimed winner of the event. |
Kyiv Duo at Stockport Accordion Club, Cheshire – UKby Rob Howard |
![]() Their programme included ‘Morning Mood’, ‘Anitra’s Dance’, ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ (from ‘Peer Gynt’, E. Grieg); ‘Summer’ (from the ‘Four Seasons’, A. Vivaldi), ‘Adagio’ (Albinoni), ‘Carmen-Fantasy’ (G. Bizet/arr. F. Waksman), ‘Kozachok’ (Ukrainian traditional dance), ‘Czardas’ (V. Monti), ‘Dancing Violinist’ (D. Kramer), ‘Ave Maria’ (A. Piazzolla), ‘Bossa-Nova’ (V. Vlasov), ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ (N. Rimsky-Korsakov), ‘Romanian Spring Hora’ (Traditional), and ‘Rassipuha’ (V. Gridin). The concert opened with sets from the Stockport AC Band (MD Derek Stubbs) and Orchestra (MD Brian Jenkins), followed by John Trigg, Chris Green and Derek Pritchard playing as a trio. |
Future events |
João Gentil Concert, Figueira – Portugalby Rob Howard |
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João Gentil performs with guitarist Ni Ferreirinha at the Casino Figueira, in the district of Coimbra, on August 1st, 9pm until 11.30pm. Their program includes music by Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf, Astor Piazzolla, Richard Galliano, Carlos Gardel, and others. |
James Crabb at the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland – UKby Rob Howard |
![]() Born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1967, James Crabb has been Professor of Classical Accordion at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen since 1995, and held a guest professorship at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, from 1995-2002. He has also given master-classes at music institutions including the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Rotterdam Conservatorium and Toronto University. For further information email: info@jamescrabb.com |
Jana Bezpalcová Concert, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou – Czech Republicby Rob Howard |
![]() Accompanied by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Olomouc, conducted by Leoš Svárovský, vocalist Radka Fišarová will perform her favourite compositions, mostly chansons from the repertoire of Édith Piaf, Charles Aznavour and Mireille Mathieu. The orchestra will be augmented by Jana Bezpalcová – accordion, and Vlastimil Bicík – piano. Jana Bezpalcová, born 1979, studied at Hude Conservatory and VŠMU (College of Musical Arts) Bratislava with professors Lubomír Žovic and Rajmund Kákoni. She competed successfully in many national and international contests, and regularly performs concerts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany. For further information email: janabezpalcova@janabezpalcova.com |
Knockagh Accordion Band Concert, Northern Ireland – UKby Rob Howard |
The Knockagh Accordion Band perform in concert at Jordanstown Loughshore Park, Newtownabbey, Antrim BT37 0PY, Northern Ireland, on August 1st, 3pm until 4pm. |
Gianni Mirizzi in Concert, Pescasseroli - Italyby Rob Howard |
![]() Gianni Mirizzi was many years ago inspired by Pino do Modugno to take the accordion seriously, and studied in Rome with Giancarlo Caporilli, entering many contests and winning numerous prizes. His international appearances include performing at ‘Accordions International 2009’ at Seacroft, UK, and for MusicTech at the Musikmesse Frankfurt, Germany. |
Summer Band Concert, Northern Ireland - UKby Rob Howard |
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The East Antrim Seniors Accordion Orchestra perform in concert on August 15th, 4pm, at Dixon Park, Larne, Northern Ireland. Formed in 2006 the East Antrim Seniors Accordion Orchestra consists mainly of adult and former adult students of East Antrim Accordion School. They play for fun with the music consisting of light entertaining pieces. At the All Ireland Accordion Championships held in Virginia, Co Cavan, on March 27th 2010 the EASO were placed first in the Late Starters Orchestral Section and the Orchestral Entertainment Section. For further information email: asrz33@dsl.pipex.com |
Accordion Summer Course, La Roche – Switzerlandby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
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After the success of the 2009 Accordion summer course in France, a new course is proposed to all ages, all levels (from beginner to advanced) and for all accordion styles, August 16th to 20th, in La Raoche, Switzerland. The applications deadline is May 30th 2010. The course teachers include Fanny Vicens, Marie-Andrée Joerger, Vincent Lhermet, and Sylvain Tissot. Course content: Individual tuition, approach to chamber music in small groups focusing on one specific theme (the fugue, contemporary music, tango, folk music…), accordion ensemble. The course is also suitable for English, German, Italian and Finnish speakers. For further information email: sylvain77@bluewin.ch |
Ksenija Sidorova Recitals, Morcote, Wädenswil, Burgdorf - Switzerlandby Rob Howard |
![]() ![]() August 26th - with Milos Karadaglic (guitar) in Chiesa Santa Maria del Sasso, Morcote 29th, 11am - with Milos Karadaglic (guitar) in Wädenswil 30th, 7.30pm - solo recital in Burgdorf Ksenija Sidorova, born in Latvia, is now London-based, having studied at the Royal Academy of Music, with Professor Owen Murray. She has won international competitions in Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Italy, and has performed with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, and UK recitals in the Colston Hall (Bristol), the Spitalfields Festival, and at London’s Wigmore Hall. For further information email: ksenijasidorova@yahoo.co.uk |
Elimo Calatafimi Segesta play in Castelfidardo - Italyby Holda Paoletti-Kampl |
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CD Reviews |
Musical Safariby Joan C. Sommers |
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New and Updated Sites |
August 2010 Diatonic News will be Online 1st Augustby Werner Weibert |
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August 2010 Diatonic News will be Online 1st August |
August Accordion USA News will be Online 1st Augustby Rita Barnea |
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Donald E Grzanna releases new musicby |
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Herbert Scheibenreif Production releases new musicsby Herbert Scheibenreif |
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Donald E Grzanna releases new musicby |
![]() 'Bastille Waltz' catalog:grza138 and 'Waltz In C', catalog:grza139. Samples of the music are available online. The music are in eSheet format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card. |
Help Desk, Information needed, Readers CommentsSubmit Your Question, CommentNEW FEATURE! TRY IT NOW |
Sheet music for Tzigane Overtour and Saber Dance???by | Modify | Delete |
Good day, I hope you can help me. I am not so young any more but still play the Piano accordion. I cannot find the sheet music of Tzigane Overture and the Saber Dance in South Africa and will really appreciate if you know where I can get it from. Thank you - Manie Coetzee mwcohei@mweb.co.za |
Date/type/style/manufacturerby | Modify | Delete |
I recently acquired a samll accordeon. the only marking I see on it are Adolphus Professional Accordeon, Made in Germany. How/where can I get more info on Adolphus and this instrument? |
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