AMERICAN ACCORDIONISTS’ ASSOCIATION Newsletterameraccord.com/artwork/2015/August/AAANewsletterJuly2015.pdf · .the accordion translated her sentiments into a special language. She

AMERICAN ACCORDIONISTS’ ASSOCIATION

A bi-monthly publication of the American Accordionists’ Association Julu-August 2015

Welcome to the July 2015 edition of the AAA Newsletter. As the final preparations are being made for our annual AAA Festival, we

remind you to make plans to attend this exciting event to be held in Alexan-dria, VA, featuring renowned American and International guests, a competitionheld in honor of the late Faithe Deffner with an unprecedented cash prize of-fering, workshops, concerts, a Festival Orchestra and numerous social events.

We invite and encourage you to submit your news items for publication inthe future issues of this Newsletter. Our membership is involved in a varietyof activities, and we know our readers would love to hear about these things.At any one moment, our members are performing on Broadway, at the WhiteHouse, in concert both here and abroad, producing fesitvals, undertaking various Internationalprojects, working on commissions and many other accordion happenings. We thank you in advancefor keeping our readers informed.

As always, my thanks to immediate Past President Linda Reed and Rita Davidson for their kindassistance with the AAA Newsletter both in the final production and with providing importantnews items for publication.

Items for the September Newsletter can be sent to me at [email protected] or to the of-ficial AAA e-mail address at: [email protected] Please include ‘AAA Newsletter’ inthe subject box, so that we don’t miss any items that come in. Text should be sent within the e-mail or as a Word file attachment. Pictures should be sent as a high quality .jpg file, and the largerthe file size the better. We can always reduce/crop the picture if necessary, however we are unableto increase the quality from smaller pictures. The deadline for the September Newsletter will bethe 15th of August 2015.

I look forward to seeing you all in Alexandria.Sincerely,Kevin Friedrich – AAA Newsletter Editor

From the Editor

The AAA would like to welcome Paul Ra-munni as a new member of their Board of Di-rectors. Paul is the Director of The NewEngland Accordion Museum.

As the world commemorates servicemen andwomen around the world on the occasion of the70th Anniversary of the end of WWII, and the100th Anniversary of Gallipoli in WWI, Paulhas shared some stories relating to the accor-dion’s involvement in war times. First Paultells us how he became interested in collectinginstruments, before presenting three instrumentspecific stories.

The New England Accordion Museumopened its doors in the Fall of 2011 in Canaan,Connecticut. How it came to be is, in itself, aninteresting story. I learned to play the accordionfrom age 10 to 17 while growing up on LongIsland. I was part of an accordion band and, aswas the custom back then, participated in manycompetitions and contests. However, I remem-ber being one of the more reluctant players whodid not like the stress of the competitions andthe practice that was required to do well. But Imust admit, as I look back, the challenges I

faced in learning how to play in front of an au-dience and disciplining myself to practicehelped prepare me for my eventual career as aCPA.

Fast forward some 42 years to 2008 when Iwoke up one morning with the inexplicableurge to start playing the accordion again. To this

Accordions and Their Stories - A Living Legacy

continued on page 2

Newsletter

Paul RamunniNew England Accordion Museum

AAA Festival 2016July 6-10, 2016

Adams Mark Hotel120 Church Street •Buffalo, NY 14202

ComplimentaryExcursion

to Niagara FallsFor AAA Hotel

Registered Guests Only

A bi-monthly publication of the American Accordionists’ Association - page 2 July-August 2015

day I cannot figure out what caused me to suddenly desire to playagain, but the process had begun. I found an accordion collector thatvery same day in the middle of Vermont (of all places) where wewere vacationing. He had about 125 accordions in his collection andI began looking for one that would suit my needs.

In the middle of the room, stacked on the floor and separated fromall of the other accordions, was a pile of small concertinas, about 20or so all together. They were brown, rusty and dirty looking. I askedabout them, and the owner told me that he had just purchased themfrom a well-known collector. These, he said, came from the Naziprison camps of WW II. As I stood there looking at them, an eeriefeeling came over me as it was the beginning of my reason for col-lecting accordions. I started to realize then that there was somethingvery special and unique about the accordion. It has participated inthe development of our culture for approximately 200 years. It cameacross the prairies as the West was settled. It was portable and ac-companied people wherever they went and they usually took it outto be played in happy times as well as trying times as during war,armed conflicts, and in God forsaken places like concentrationcamps.

In a word, the accordion has become part of our Country’s DNA.It has a legacy to share, not only for America, but for many of theworld’s cultures. That alone is reason enough for us to work hard atpreserving that legacy as we move it forward into the 21st century.

Our collection at NEAM has over 400 accordions, some of whichwere involved in the major wars that have occurred in the last 200years. We have a flutina that I purchased from a person who be-lieves that it was owned by someone who was at Bull Run duringthe Civil war. It came in a very sturdy compact oak carrying box.Reportedly, the soldiers at that time would take an instrument suchas this with them into battle and would play it at night as they sataround the campfire. It offered support and comfort to the troops asa reminder of home and better times. But the instrument wouldoften change hands and sides in the conflict if the owner was killedin battle, as surviving soldiers would find it and keep it.

Not long ago, I received a donation of a small wooden button boxfrom a friend in Great Britain. The accordion came from his friend’sfamily and was owned by someone who fought in the trenches ofWWI. The story goes that this person played for the troops whilethey waited for the order to attack or prepare to fend off an assault.Mustard gas was the weapon of choice in that war and whenever thealert came that there was an attack imminent, the soldiers would lit-erally drop whatever was in their hands and rush to put on their gasmasks. This small, brown and very plain looking accordion wasdropped and gassed at least two dozen times. The owner had towork the bellows after the gas attack while his mask was still on toget rid of any gas that had settled in the unit while on the ground.But it survived, as did the owner, and both were still in good work-ing order after each attack.

I remember the story being told to me of a Jewish boy, Alex Ros-ner, the youngest child rescued by Oskar Schindler during the Holo-caust. Before coming under Schindler's protection, Alex was sent toAuschwitz and he had his accordion with him. The Nazi guardskept him alive because Alex was forced to entertain them with hismusic. Schindler stayed in close touch with Alex and his parentsthroughout the remainder of his life. His accordion was a smallTraviata and is on display at the Holocaust Museum on Long Island.I have heard a number of these war time stories where people werekept alive just so they could play accordion music for their captors.

The following three stories came to me via family members of thepeople who owned and played their accordions during WW II.

I. The first story was from a chief Navy mechanic on a USS air-craft carrier. His job was to keep the planes mechanically runningwhen they returned damaged from missions. Tom played an accor-dion and had it on board with him. Interestingly, his shop and crew

Accordions and Their Stories, cont’d. from page 1

continued on page 3

were in a very large cavernous area below the main upper flightdeck. The crippled aircraft would be lowered by elevator down tohis secondary deck to be worked on. But sometimes at night whenthings were quiet, he would play his accordion in that lower deckarea. The acoustics were amazing. The sound of his playing wouldpermeate the entire ship. Tom soon realized that his playing wasprobably the last time some of the fliers would ever hear music thatreminded them of home. He played for them….it was his way of en-couraging them.

II. The nextstory is aboutWalter Mack-iewicz, a tankdriver for GeneralPatton’s 10th ar-mored division.Walter played anaccordion butdidn’t have one ashis unit movedinto Germany inthe latter stages ofthe war. They were shelling a German town when a building took ahit on its main side wall. The wall collapsed and exposed a deskwith a full sized Hohner piano accordion sitting on top of it. Walterstopped the tank and ran through the firefight to get the accordion.He managed to get it into the tank and later played it for the troopswhenever they stopped for rest. His family sent me a “souvenir” thatWalter picked up for his meritorious service. He was hit with frag-ments of a shell fired from a German “88” howitzer. The surgeonstook the shrapnel out of Walter and gave it to him. He did receive apurple heart for it too.

III. This last story is about a young girl named Barbara O’Connell.I believe she grew up in the middle of the USA and learned how toplay the accordion as a youngster. From all accounts, she was a stel-lar player. Around 1935, she asked her Dad if he would buy her aprofessional accordion. Now, her father made something like $20 aweek in those days. Even though the Great Depression was in full

swing, he agreedto order her theaccordion. It wasa full size specialorder Chiusarolimade in Castlefi-dardo, Italy. It cost$750. For thatamount of money,in those days, aperson could havebought a smallhouse or certainly

one of the best cars on the road. So, the whole family went to workto raise the money. After WW II broke out, Barbara announced toher family that she wanted to join the USO and travel to Europe toentertain the troops. She was only 19 years old at the time. And shedid just that. She entertained well over 200,000 troops while on tour.She learned, like Tom the Navy mechanic, that her accordion washer second voice. She could speak to people while playing music….the accordion translated her sentiments into a special language. Shehad to memorize all kinds of songs to play for not only Americansoldiers but for troops from our allies coming from other countries.Oftentimes she would choose “God Bless America” as her last song.It was her way of sending them off encouraged and blessed.

These are just some of the stories we’ve been collecting here at


NEAM. While we are always on a search and rescue mission forthe accordions themselves, we are especially looking to record thestories “behind the boxes.” These tell us of the personal sacrificeand good that accordionists have done over the years with theirmusical talents. Simply put, I have come to believe that only peo-ple who have a real heart for other people play these wonderful in-struments. I say that because you don’t play it for yourself, youplay it for the people who will hear you. It becomes your secondvoice and you are simply inviting people to enjoy your gift. This isthe kind of legacy that’s worth saving.

For more information about the New England Accordion Mu-seum, please contact Paul Ramunni, Director, 860-833-1374, e-mail: [email protected] or visit:www.thenewenglandaccordionmuseum.com. ■

Accordions Stories, cont’d. from page 2

Accordions Around the World in NYCThe annual ‘Accor-

dions Around theWorld’ celebrationwill begin on July 1,in the heart of NewYork City when theWednesday weeklyseries in Bryant Parkkicks off from 6 –8:00. Listeners are in-vited to take a cross-cultural musicaljourney from Franceto Colombia, from theBalkans to Louisiana,from Cumbia to Jazz,and more with accor-dions, harmoniums,concertinas and ban-doneons.

After the lastweekly edition on Au-gust 26, the series willfinish on Friday Au-gust 28 when for the first time, Bryant Park presents a festival ofbands playing World Music, with each band having at least one ac-cordionist.

The AAA celebrated a night of the accordion in Bryant Park aspart of the concert series during their recent 75th Anniversary Cel-ebrations held in New York City.

Bryant Park issituated behindthe New YorkPublic Libraryin midtownManhattan, be-tween 40th and42nd Streets &Fifth and SixthAvenues. For aschedule of theaccordion per-formancesplease visit:

http://www.bryantpark.org/plan-your-visit/accordion.html ■

Meet Counting Crows Accordionist,Charlie Gillingham

Counting Crows are following up their critically-acclaimed seventhalbum, Somewhere Under Wonderland, with the US leg of their 2015worldwide tour after the band returns from sold-out shows throughoutEurope, Australia, and Canada. The multi-platinum band will begin thedomestic run of the Somewhere Under Wonderland tour in Miami, FLon July 30, continuing on through Chicago, New York, Seattle, Los An-geles, and other major cities, before wrapping in Oklahoma City, OK onOctober 11. Joining as the tour’s special guests will be Citizen Cope,known for his trademark mix of soul, folk, and R&B during his com-manding live shows, and Outlaw Road Show favorite Hollis Brown.

“We had a blast last summer playing Somewhere Under Wonderlandfor US audiences before the record was even released. I cannot wait tofinally play all these songs in America now that the album is out,” saidAdam Duritz.

Counting Crows is an Americanrock band from Berkeley, Califor-nia, formed in 1991. The band con-sists of Adam Duritz (lead vocals,piano), David Bryson (guitar), Char-lie Gillingham (accordion, key-boards), Dan Vickrey (lead guitar),David Immerglück (guitar, banjo,mandolin), Jim Bogios (drums) andMillard Powers (bass).

Counting Crows gained popularityfollowing the release of its debutalbum, August and Everything After(1993), which featured the hit single"Mr. Jones". They have sold morethan 20 million albums worldwideand received a 2004 AcademyAward nomination fortheir song "Accidentally inLove", which was in-cluded in the film Shrek 2.

Accordionist in thegroup Charlie Gillinghamwas born in Torrance, Cal-ifornia and joined thegroup in 1992 soon after itformed. Gillingham at-tended Richard HenryDana Junior High in SanPedro, California, and alsoattended Miraleste HighSchool in Rancho PalosVerdes his sophomore,junior and senior years. Hewas a member of Slip Stream, Clark, Kent, and the Reporters, MidnightRadio, Zip Code Revue, and played keyboards on Train's 1998 debutalbum.

In 2004, Gillingham was nominated for an Oscar as co-composer ofthe song "Accidentally in Love". He was put forward in the categoryAcademy Award for Best Original Song with his fellow songwritersAdam Duritz, Jim Bogios, David Immerglück, Matt Malley, DavidBryson and Dan Vickrey. The track was used in the film Shrek 2.

Gillingham studied philosophy and artificial intelligence at Universityof California, Berkeley. Before entering the music industry, he workedas a software engineer in the field of artificial intelligence.

To hear Counting Crows on their upcoming USA tour, please visithttp://countingcrows.com/tour-dates/ ■

Dan Vickrey and Charlie Gillingham of Counting Crows

Charlie Willingham


AAA America’s Hottest Accordion WinnerAmerica’s “Hottest Accordion” winner, Dwayne (Dop-

sie) Rubin has just released a new album ‘Dopsie’s GotIt’. Dwayne hails from one of the most influential Zydecofamilies in the world and plays a unique, high energy styleof Zydeco. Although inspired by tradition, he has devel-oped his own high energy style that defies existing stereo-types and blazes a refreshingly distinct path for 21stcentury Zydeco music. This singer/songwriter and accor-dionist has performed all over the world since debutinghis band, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, atage 19.

Dwayne, born March 3, 1979 in Lafayette, Louisiana,was the last of eight children. Dwayne attributes his mu-sical abilities to his father, Rockin' Dopise, Sr., a pioneerof Zydeco music. As a small child, Dwayne was inter-ested in the washboard, but quickly realized he had an eyefor the accordion. He has played the accordion since ageseven and states, "This is my calling - Zydeco music is inmy blood and it is my heart and soul."

"Dwayne takes the instruments and traditions of zydecoto new levels infusing blues, soul and funk with a drivingrub-board rhythm. The Zydeco Hellraisers’ sound is re-lentless, pulsating and funky, easily appealing to fans ofall genres.” – Toledo City Paper

As a tribute to his late father, Rockin’ Dopsie, Sr.,Dwayne will record an album of his Dad’s greatest Zy-deco hits. Dwayne and the Hellraisers have just released“Dopsie’s Got It”, a follow up to "Up In Flames", theirsecond album to be prenominated for a Grammy Award.The Louisiana native writes both the lyrics and music forhis songs and describes the upcoming album as soulful with atouch of blues and old time zydeco feel. The new album will re-ceive additional air time on Sirius XM satellite radio. The bandplans to promote their album on their upcoming tours. 2015 willmark their 7th summer promotional tour in Europe, adding to the70+ international festivals they have performed in the last twoyears.

The energy, true talent, and exuberance that Dwayne Dopsieand the Zydeco Hellraisers emit from stage makes it obvious thatthere is no competition for this band. Not only has Dwayne’sband mastered Zydeco music, they also add a bit of rhythm andblues, funk, rock and roll, reggae and pop to their performances,making them a very versatile choice for any audience.

This Indie artist was named “The Hottest Accordionist” inAmerica in 1999, in the competition 'Search for the Hottest Ac-cordionist' hosted by the American Accordionist’s Association inBranson, MO. He won over the judges with his ability to bothwork the crowd and pump out musical harmony in grandiosefashion. Dwayne doesn’t confine himself to the stage; he interactswith the crowd, blurring the barrier between performer and audi-ence. Audiences jump to their feet energized by Dwayne’s musi-cal innovation, charismatic performance and sheer, raw talent.His ability to capture the imagination, heart and soul of his audi-ence makes Dwayne one of today’s most dynamic performers.

Upcoming shows include:

July 25, 2015PA Blues Festival

Lake Harmony, PA

August 7, 2015Gadsden Amphitheatre

Gadsden, AL

August 8, 2015Bradfordville Blues Club

Tallahassee, FL

August 14, 2015Driver's Appreciation Day

Hubbard,Ohio

August 16, 2015Salem Jazz and Soul Festival

Salem, MA

Please visit www.Dwayne-Dopsie.com for more informa-tion on his recordings andupcoming appearances.

Above - Dwayne DopsieAt left: Dwayne’s Latest CD

Carrozza Scholarship Competition & Memorial Concert October 2-4, 2015Double Tree by Hilton inTarrytown, NY

October 2nd AAA Open Meeting 7:30 p.m. • October 3rd Carrozza Scholarship Competition October 4th Memorial Concert and Dinner 1:00 p.m. - Entertaiment Throughout


continued on page 6

Accordionist Richard Galliano, guitarist VictorJuris, pianist John Nelson, bassist George Mrazand drummer Mauricio Zottarelli recently per-formed in New York City as part of the Jazz atthe Lincoln Center annual event. World-renowned Galliano appeared at Dizzy’s ClubCoca-Cola in New York City to present musicfrom his "Sentimentale" album, from June 26-29, 2015.

Though his career has included unprecedentedaccordion performances of Vivaldi and Bach,and a revival of the French folk style bal-musette, Galliano clearly feels at home playingjazz. He has worked with jazz greats since the1970s, from Ron Carter and Kurt Elling to TootsThielemans, and he continues to work with someof the most interesting musicians around. Along-side a veteran group of jazz musicians, the ac-cordion virtuoso will apply his unique sound tothe music of Chick Corea, Duke Ellington, Ho-race Silver, and John Coltrane, as well as classicBrazilian composers like Ivan Lins, Joåo Doatoand Abel Silva.

Galliano is a regular visitor to New York, ap-pearing at various Jazz venues around the city.He was drawn to music at an early age, startingwith the accordion at 4, influenced by his fatherLuciano, an accordionist originally from Italy,living in Nice.

After a long and intense period of study (hetook up lessons on the trombone, harmony, andcounterpoint at the Academy of Music in Nice),at 14, in a search to expand his ideas on the accor-dion, he began listening to jazz and heard recordsby the trumpet player Clifford Brown. "I copied all the chorusesof Clifford Brown, impressed by his tone and his drive, his way ofphrasing over the thunderous playing of Max Roach". Fascinatedby this new world, Richard was amazed that the accordion hadnever been part of this musical adventure. In this period, Gallianowon twice International Accordion Competitions, which tookplace in Spain (1966) and France (1967). In the Spanish competi-tion, the participants Test Piece was the work "Chaconne" by theIsraeli accordionist Yehuda Oppenheimer. Galliano and Oppen-heimer kept up their musical collaboration and personal friendship

until Oppenheimer's death in 2012.Some later collaborations include Astor Piazzolla, George Mraz,

Brigitte Fontaine, Al Foster, Juliette Greco, Charles Aznavour,Ron Carter, Chet Baker, Enrico Rava, Martial Solal, Miroslav Vi-touš, Trilok Gurtu, Jan Garbarek, Michel Petrucciani, Michel Por-tal, Eddy Louiss, Biréli Lagrène, Sylvain Luc, RenaudGarcia-Fons, Ivan Paduart, Anouar Brahem, Wynton Marsalis, andToots Thielemans. He was a key member of Claude Nougaro'sband for several years as a pianist and accordionist.

For more information and upcoming tour dates, please visit:http://www.richardgalliano.com/anglais/english.htm ■

Correspondent Larry Padidus from Spokane, reports that accor-dionist Patricia Bartell recently joined Eckart Preu for an acclaimedperformance with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra on the stage ofthe Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. In keeping with Preu’s in-terest in expanding the repertoire, they collaborated in performingthe Concerto for Bandoneon, subtitled “Aconcagua” (1979) by Ar-gentine composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), who is credited forbringing the tango into the realms of both jazz and concert music.

Padidus says: “Bartell’s appearance onstage brought the audi-ence immediately to its feet, and occasioned a burst of whistlingand shouting unusual in that auditorium. The Spokane musician isplainly a star, and the reasons are not hard to find. Her mastery ofher instrument is absolute, which enables her to use the accordionas a resonator for her soul, able to reach across the gap betweenher and her listeners to make their thoughts and feelings vibrate in

tune with hers. “Piazzolla’s concerto asks less of the orchestra than of the soloist.

Still, the job of synchronizing with the soloist in his tricky, ever-shifting rhythms is far from easy, and the symphony distinguished it-self by mirroring Bartell’s kaleidoscopic range of color and moodprecisely. Most memorable was the second movement, in which sheengaged in intimate dialogue with concertmaster Mateusz Wolski,principal cello John Marshall and harp Earecka Tregenza Moody.

“The audience did not want Bartell to leave the stage without anencore, which she graciously supplied with an improvisation sobrilliant that one felt that the whole orchestra was still playing.”

Patricia was born in La Paz, Bolivia. She lived her first five yearsin an orphanage before being adopted by a family in Montana. Sheis a graduate of Whitworth University with a B.A. in Music Educa-tion and Accordion Performance. Patricia teaches accordion and

Richard Galliano in NYC

Richard Galliano - “Sentimentale”

Patricia Bartell with the Spokane Symphony


piano full time in Spokane, Washington. Her passion isnot only in teaching students but also training up newteachers and mentoring them. Ms. Bartell is a member ofTango Volcado (Argentine Tango Quartet), leads a radicalyoung accordion band called, “The Portatos,” and is theUSA adjudicator for the Trophée Mondial – a prestigiousinternational accordion championship.

Having started the journey of music at the age of eight,Patricia excelled quickly and began teaching at the age ofsixteen. During her senior year in high school, thanks tothe encouragement of her band and choir teacher, AliciaLipscomb, she quickly found that playing and teachingmusic was what she wanted to pursue as a career. Patriciastudied accordion in France under world-renownedteacher Frédéric Deschamps and studied piano with Dr. Ju-dith Schoepflin of Whitworth University and KendallFeeney of the Golandsky Institute, the preeminent centerfor the Taubman Technique Approach. Her performances,whether individual, ensemble, or with other classical artistsboth in the USA and Europe, continue to receive high re-views. She has performed in numerous international com-petitions, claiming many International titles.

Currently, Patricia is helping develop the new HOHNERCertified Simply Music Accordion Program. Simply Musicis the largest playing-based music education institution inthe world. Founded by Australian Educator, Neil Moore,Simply Music has grown into a worldwide organizationdedicated to developing innovative programs, promising aworld where everyone plays. ■

Patricia Bartell, cont’d. from p. 5

Above, the Martin Woldson Theaterat the Fox in Spokane, WA

At left, Eckart Preu, Musical Direc-tor of the Spokane Symphony,

congratulates Paricia Bartell for anoutstanding performance of

Piazzolla’s “Aconcagua”.

Dr. William Schimmel’s Theatre NewsAcclaimed accordionist Dr. William Schimmel is currently per-

forming in ‘An American in Paris’ at the Palace Theatre on Broad-way in New York.

In addition to his performances, he also developed and realizedthe accordion part to give the show that distinct Parisian flavoralong with the Gershwin Score. The show has been nominated for12 Tony awards and a cast album will be released on the Master-works label in a few days.

In addition, William Schimmel’s new CD, ‘Theatre of the Accor-dion’ will be released in July 2015 on Roven Records. Dr. Schim-mel continues to expand the range of the accordion repertoire as heplays his versions of Der Rosenkavalier, Carnival of Venice, Can-dide Overture and even Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.

Schimmel has performed on CDs with everyone from Sting to theScent of a Woman and the Billboard No. 1 CD, The Tango Project.On this new CD, he is joined by musical legend and nine-timeGrammy winner Wynton Marsalis on St Louis Blues and MahlerNinth. Roven Records reports that this CD breaks all boundariesand more, and is a true crossover: it will appeal to classical listeners,jazz listeners and the millions of people worldwide who play the ac-cordion.

William Schimmel is a virtuoso accordionist, author, philosopherand composer. He is one of the principle architects in the tango re-vival in America, the resurgence of the accordion and the philoso-phy of Musical Reality (composition with pre-existing music). Hereceived his diploma from the Neupauer Conservatory of Music andhis BM, MS and DMA degrees from the Juilliard School. He hastaught at the Juilliard School, Brooklyn College CUNY, UpsalaCollege, New School University, Neupauer Conservatory (dean)and has lectured on accordion related subjects at Princeton, Colum-bia, Brandeis, University of Missouri, Duke University, Manhattan

School ofMusic, theGraduateCenterCUNY,Santa ClaraUniversity,TheJanacekConserva-tory in Os-trava, CzechRepublicand at Mi-crosoft.

Dr.Schimmelhas per-formed withvirtuallyevery major symphony orchestra in America including a longstand-ing relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as virtuallyevery chamber music group in New York including EnsembleSospeso and the Odeon Jazz Ensemble. Pop star colleagues rangefrom Sting to Tom Waits, who has made the legendary statement:“Bill Schimmel doesn't play the accordion, he is the accordion”. Heis founder of the Tango Project, which, in addition to his hit record-ings with them, has appeared with Al Pacino in the film: Scent of aWoman, for which Pacino won an Oscar. The Tango Project alsowon the Stereo Review Album of the Year Award, received aGrammy nomination and rose to number I on the Billboard Classi-

continued on page 7

cal Charts. He can be heard in other films includingTrue Lies, Kun Dun and many others includingfilms that he both scored and performed and a seriesof films for the Nature Conservancy which havewon numerous prizes in documentary categories.

He is an authority on the music of Kurt Weill, hav-ing recorded all of Weill's music that employs theaccordion. He is a prolific composer with manycommissions from concert music to Broadway andoff-Broadway. He has written countless accordionpieces for himself and others including a test piecefor the Coupe Mondiale, the accordions' most presti-gious world competition. His Portrait No. I for or-chestra was conducted by the late LeopoldStockowski.

For further information on these CDs and upcom-ing activities, please contact:[email protected] ■


Dr. William Schimmel’s Theatre News, cont’d. from p.6

AAA SeminarsAs the AAA Seminars celebrate their 21st year, organizers are

please to announce that they are continuing to be supported bysome of their same loyal participants who have been there fromthe very beginning: Dr Robert Young Mc Mahan, Micki Good-man Schimmel and Paul Stein - along with Will Holshouser, Ben-jamin Ickies, John Foti, Art Bailey, Doug Makofka, Erica MarieMancini and many others.

Host and Moderator Dr. William Schimmel reports that mostmembers or the Brooklyn Accordion Club will be participating -this includes Mayumi Miyaoka, Peter Flint, Denise Koncelik anda performing group called Bachtopus.

In addition to accordionists, we will have a theremin player(Elizabeth Brown), a sho player (Michael Dames), a trombonist,violinist, concert pianist, harpist, guitarist and a few special guestswho will appear un-announced.

We will have many world premieres: Dr. Mc Mahan, Dave Sol-dier, David First, David Stoler, Elizabeth Brown, Normali Fenn,Peter Flint, Milica Paranosic, Gene Pritsker, Dan Cooper, PeterJarvis, Art Bailey and myself - My new CD: "The Theatre of theAccordion" will be unveiled at this time as well.

Our initial intent of the Seminars starting with the first one backin 1994 was: to build a strong artistic accordion community in theNew York Area, a community of artists that could communicateon an equal level to the rest of New York’s diverse artistic com-munity. All of our workshops and performances will bear this inmind.

We also did surveys - in the past and now - asking participantsand would be participants what they really felt they needed at theSeminars. The response was almost unanimous: a sense of be-longing to something that could prepare them intellectually aswell as practically for just about any musical situation in a com-petitive music world - not just the accordion world. And we main-tain that philosophy as our goal to this very day.

The Seminars are not just a series of workshops and concerts.It’s an experience, a total immersion into a weekend where judge-ments are suspended, competition comes to a halt and the steadyflow of ideas can almost make one’s head spin.

We urge you to attend this years Seminars: Chock full O’Learnin - August 7-9 at the Tenri Cultural Center in New YorkCity. You won’t forget it!

For further information: www.ameraccord.com or e-mail:[email protected] ■

The Passing of Anthony J. Carrozza(April 6, 1931 - May 9, 2015)

Anthony Carrozza ofChappaqua, NY passedaway peacefully on May 9,2015 surrounded by family.He was born April 6, 1931to Joseph and Mary Car-rozza and was a lifelongparishioner of St. Mary andSt. John Church in Chap-paqua. He is survived by hisloving and devoted wife of58 years, Domenica(Mimma) Carrozza neeRaso, brother Patrick Car-rozza and loving sister, Jean(Antonio) Ciccone, devotednephews and nieces: Joseph (Ethel) Ciccone & children; Carmen(Nancy) Ciccone and children; Carmen (Adriana) Carrozza Jr. andchildren; Marianne (Larry) Carrozza-Smith and Mark (Karen) Car-rozza & children. He is predeceased by his brother Carmen Carrozza;an infant sister Giovanna; and sister-in-laws Jean and Connie Car-rozza.

Anthony graduated from the Horace Greeley High School in Chap-paqua, NY in 1951 and pursued his love of cars by working at theFord dealer in Pleasantville, NY. He then served in the US Army for2 years and upon his discharge he followed his musical talent withthe accordion and piano.

As a professional accordionist he performed at many different func-tions and went on to open the Carrozza Music Studio in Mamaroneckwhere he taught music. He was on the Board of the American Accor-dionists’ Association.

In the 60’s he formed and conducted the Carrozza Accordion Or-chestra made up of young accordion enthusiasts – teenagers andyoung adults - and they competed in AAA orchestra competitions,were champions many times and gave many concert performances,including Carnegie Hall.

Upon his retirement, Anthony Carrozza continued giving privatepiano and accordion lessons until his Parkinson’s disease put a halt tomany things in his life. He deeply loved his family and was verymuch a family man.

Anthony leaves behind many dear cousins and paisani locally andin Italy. He will be truly missed by all. ■


CT Association Hosts Young Musicians’ ConcertAAA member, Anita Siarkowski, reports that the CAA

(CT Accordion Association) featured young musicians assoloists and in concert on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at Vasi'sRestaurant in Waterbury, Connecticut where several accor-dion soloists performed, in addition to other musicians inthe Youth Festival Orchestra directed by Mary Tokarski andthe Youth Jazz Ensemble conducted by Don Gerundo. Theturnout for this event was terrific, as were the reactions andresponses to the young musicians' presentations. Withoutexception, all of them were very professional in appearanceand decorum. The talent of each and every one of these fineyoung people is a wonderful testament to today's youth andthe music world!

As an unexpected bonus, everyone there was in for apleasant surprise... Waterbury native, 92 year old accordionlegend, Anthony Mecca, appeared on the scene with his son,Bill Mecca and sister, Kay Mecca Rocco - a thrill for all tosee! Just two days before, Anthony Mecca was featured inhis hometown newspaper, The Waterbury Republican Ameri-can.

Per Marilyn O'Neil, Co President of CAA (Connecticut Accor-dion Association) and member of AAA (American Accordionists'Association)'s Board of Directors: "Five years ago, I developed aprogram called The Youth Involvement Program, which pairsyoung accordionists with peers who play other instruments fromthe festival's host city. They came together at the AAA Festival,formed a jazz ensemble, then performed for festival attendeesand the general public. The non accordionist youth learn aboutthe accordion, about the potential for both solo and accompani-ment in jazz and classical genres.”

The conductor for this year's jazz ensemble, which will be heldin Alexandria, VA from July 8-12, 2015, is Waterbury's own BobVitale of Vitale Realty in Waterbury CT. Bob owned his ownmusic studio in Waterbury during the heyday of the accordion.On a national level, we are in the midst of a huge effort to rein-troduce the accordion to a very willing young audience. TheAAA's annual Festival, held in various major cities along theEastern part of the USA, now proudly offers - in addition to solocompetition, opportunities to participate in a Youth Festival Or-chestra led by Mary Tokarski, President of AAA and Co-Presi-dent of CAA - in existence since April of 2004. Several CAAmembers serve on the AAA Board of Directors. Immediate PastPresident of AAA, Linda Soley Reed also serves as Conductor of

the CAA Orchestra.Marilyn O'Neil went on to say..

"Today's youth are fascinated by theaccordion because it's different fromwhat they're used to. Whenever wefeature it to young crowds, we consis-tently get requests for where they cango to learn how to play. This instru-ment is new, different, with the capa-bility of producing various sounds -both acoustic and digital. And let's notforget the portability factor! It's a wayfor kids to be seen as innovative, cre-ative.....a far cry from still another gui-tar. That having been said, it's worth itfor me, Marilyn O'Neil, to tell you thatJohn Lennon also playedaccordion.....along with numerousother fine rock musicians."

According to Mary Tokarski, the ac-cordion translates to the 21st Century: "Accordions are heard inmore commercials, movies and live events now than ever before!The sound is unique, easily supports a solo sound, or the need fora fuller, orchestral effect. The accordion is being integrated withall sorts of instruments in groups that are creating "today'smusic". Jarred and the Mill is one fine example from Mesa, Ari-zona. Is there a new generation ready to embrace it? You bet!Young people are attracted to the instrument in droves. Thesound creates excitement and its versatility is so much fun to ex-periment with and create new music for - both acoustically andelectronically with the new midi-enabled accordions. We trulylook forward to what the young people of today have to offer theaccordion!"

Bob Siarkowski, CAA Advisory Board, AAA member, Propri-etor of Bob's Music Center in Plantsville, Connecticut stated: "Asa lifelong accordion instructor and professional accordionist, Ihave seen more and more people who are interested in the accor-dion over the past few years. A month doesn't go by that my tele-phone rings and I hear, "I'd like to take accordion lessons, rent orbuy an accordion!" The accordion is regaining its popularity fromthe past. A lot of young people are taking lessons today, which isa wonderful sign for the future of the accordion."

continued on page 9

Above, Mary Tokarski conducts the Jr. Festival OrchestraBelow, Don Gerundo conducts the Jazz Ensemble


CAA Hosts Young Musicians, cont’d. from p. 10AAA member and CAA Advisory Board member, Anita

Siarkowski was introduced tothe accordion at age 9. "Decadeslater, I still perform professionally on a regular basis until today -with ongoing requests to entertain for ethnic festivities, seasonalgigs, strolls down memory lane, birthdays, anniversaries, re-unions, organizational functions, etc. I dress for the occasion tomatch my repertoire, and am often referred to as "The AccordionChameleon"!”

“The future of the accordion...The accordion has so potential. Itis very unique, being the only portable, self-contained (no needto plug in) musical instrument that you can play the melody, har-mony, rhythm and accompaniment all at the same time! It is veryversatile. Most musical instruments have only one sound. The ac-cordion duplicates several instruments (why we can have all ac-cordion orchestras), and can adapt to all types of music. It is theinternational instrument. There is no country in the world wherethe accordion is not played. The future of the accordion is wherethe action is, with today's youth - as demonstrated at CAA'sGathering just days ago! The accordion is here to stay!" ■

UMKC Chamber Accordion Ensembleto perform in Chicago

The University of Missouri - Kansas City (UMKC) ChamberAccordion Ensemble are preparing for an upcoming performancein Lisle, IL (Chicago) as part of the upcoming 75th Anniversaryof the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG)Festival.

All players are alumni of the University of Missouri - Kansas

City, and former members of the renowned UMKC AccordionOrchestra. The players make their living in various careers, buteach have remained devoted to promoting the accordion and itsvaried repertoire, which includes transcriptions, commissionsand other original works.

The eight member UMKC Chamber Accordion Ensembleunder the direction of Joan C. Sommers, has recently performedin Chicago, San Francisco and Kansas City. In addition, theyhave participated in the USA contributions to World AccordionDay, when videos of their past performances were broadcast dur-ing the live presentation.

This year, the UMKC Chamber Accordion Ensemble will bejoined by Macedonian violin soloist, Filip Lazovski, a violinistwith the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, who will be featuredas soloist on Por una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel (arr. J. C. Som-mers) and as a member of the ensemble on Hans Boll’s Immor-tal. The ensemble will also perform Danse Bacchanale bySaint-Saens (arr. J. C. Sommers) and Gigue by Gretry, Decadeby John Darnall with Jeff Lisenby as soloist and Blue Swan andFuga a new composition by Stas Venglevski. For more informa-tion please contact: [email protected] ■

Celebration in Honor of Dr. Willard ‘Bill’ Palmer

A World of Ac-cordions Museumwill host the an-nual Palmer Festi-val from July16-18, 2015 in Su-perior, WI. Theweekend eventwill feature work-shops, concertsand guided toursof the Museum fa-cilities and is heldin honor of the lateDr. Willard ‘Bill’Palmer.

The name of“Bill” Palmer iscertainly the USA’s most influential in music pedagogy, criticaleditions, and performance.

The American musician, composer, scholar and music educa-tor, Willard (Bill) A. Palmer was a child prodigy. At 13, heplayed the piano on the radio. He studied both piano and accor-dion which were to form the basis of his musical endeavors.

After the war, Willard A. Palmer and his former student, BillHughes joined forces. They can be credited with the high pointin accordion performance in the USA. Palmer collaborated withHughes in producing a series of accordion method books whichhave had worldwide impact. Sales ran into the millions making itthe cornerstone of the Alfred Publishing Co. empire.

As an educator, Willard A. Palmer was ahead of his time - in-strumental in carving an indisputable niche for the accordion atthe university level. He and Hughes took the accordion beyondmere college acceptance, into the realm of establishing an actualaccordion department within the University of Houston, wherethey were faculty members enabling young accordionists to earnboth Bachelor's and Master's degrees with their instrument.Palmer also founded the "Palmer-Hughes Accordion Sym-phony", a superb orchestra which appeared at Carnegie Hall inNew York.

During his period as a professional accordionist, Willard A.Palmer sought to perfect his yet-evolving instrument and con-tributed significantly to the development of the stradella-freebass "convertor" accordion. He designed the "Palmer EmperorConvertor", and collaborated with Titano Accordions to achievethe realization of his creative ideas.

Willard W. Palmer eventually became one of the most impor-tant editors of keyboard music in the United States. His editionsof works of the masters are highly acclaimed and respected inthe most elite music circles. Palmer is noted especially for hispainstaking detail and care in the scholarly researching of origi-nal editions. He became Alfred Publishing Company's SeniorEditor in 1964, researching the original manuscripts of the greatmasters of keyboard literature, with special emphasis on thestudy of performance practices in the Baroque, Classic and Ro-mantic eras. He achieved recognition as the leading authority onBaroque ornamentation and lectured on the subject at variouscolleges, universities and music festivals throughout the country.

While achieving accolades for his educational works for otherinstruments, Willard W. Palmer remained a steadfast supporter ofhis beloved accordion. Willard A. Palmer's revolutionary teach-ing principles were reflected in 789 of his published works,which included an accordion method, several piano methods, a

UMKC Chamber Accordion Ensemble

Dr. WillardPalmer


Bill Palmer, cont’d. from p. 11method for Hammond Chord Organ, a guitar method, hundredsof solo pieces and many choral works.

In 2013 his son, Willard Palmer, III, donated his father’s musi-cal estate to the World of Accordions Museum. The collectionincludes one of the finest accordions of the museum (TitanoSuper Emperor V, 1996) and the decorous two-manual, eleven-pedal harpsichord (A. Cecil Taylor, 1979) that graces the concerthall.

The celebration weekend at A World of Accordions Museum atthe Harrington Arts Center begins with a formal opening cere-mony welcoming guests of honor Willard Palmer, III, and hiswife Julie, and an address by Mayor Hagen.

Concert artists include Paul Vargason, Alex Meixner, HelmiHarrington Ph. D., Florian Chmielewski and Lorren Lindevig,the Accordion Concertina Music Band, The Harringtons,Amanda and Nolan Hauta, Joy and Roger Schmitz, the Varga-son-Harrington duo, the Carver-Harrington duo and CarolynCarver (violin) and Generations in Music: Julie Council andgrandson Christopher Hernandez as “Buttons and Bows”.

Workshops include Bill Palmer: “Life’s Journey: A MusicalPotpourri”, Dr. Anthony Bukoski: “A Sea Story”, Bill Palmer:“Master of Magic, Mindreading, and Storytelling”, “The AlfredMasterworks Editions”, Helmi Harrington, Ph. D., “Interpreta-tion: It’s Not Written in the Notes”, and a special presentation ofthe “History in Performance on Museum Accordions”.

The event, organized by Museum Curator, Helmi Harrington,Ph. D., will present a keynote address explaining the importanceof the Preservation of Cultural History through Music: WhatAWAM Is All About. Attendees will be offered a specialHARTS Tour including a visit to the newly expanded Palmer-Deffner Library, the American Accordionists’ Archival Collec-tion and the Deffner Legacy Room

The event will conclude with the Closing Ceremonies: Cham-pagne Toast. For further details on any of these events pleasecontact: (715) 395-2787. ■

Mumford & Sons have hit the top of the Billboard Charts withtheir new Album Wilder Mind, which was released in May 2015,and will be touring the USA this summer in what promises to besold out concerts to their American fans.

Mumford & Sons are a British rock band from London, Eng-land, formed in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford(lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ben Lovett(accordion, vocals, keyboard, piano, synthesizer), Winston Mar-shall (vocals, electric guitar, banjo) and Ted Dwane (vocals, bassguitar, double bass).

Accordionist, Ben Lovett is one of the founding members ofthe band, Mumford & Sons. He attended Hallfield School inBirmingham before moving to London. Later, he attended King'sCollege School in Wimbledon which he attended with MarcusMumford. It was in London that he met fellow band members,Ted Dwane and Winston Marshall. He primarily plays keyboard,piano and accordion on the group's songs.

The band has three full length studio albums, Sigh No More(2009), which earned them a number of Grammy Award nomi-nations in 2010 and 2011 and won the Brit Award for BestBritish Album in 2011, and Babel (2012) which won the band,the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and their third album,Wilder Mind, released in May 2015. In 2013 the group won theBrit Award for Best British Group.

Mumford & Sons have released three studio albums: Sigh NoMore (2009), Babel (2012) and Wilder Mind (2015). Sigh NoMore peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and theBillboard 200 in the US, with Babel and Wilder Mind both de-buting at number one in the UK and US, the former becomingthe fastest-selling rock album of the decade and leading to aheadline performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2013. The bandhave also issued two live albums: Live at Shepherd's Bush Em-pire (2011) and The Road to Red Rocks (2012).

The band have won a number of music awards throughouttheir career, with Sigh No More earning the band, the Brit Awardfor Best British Album in 2011 and six overall Grammy Awardnominations. The live performance at the 2011 Grammy cere-mony with Bob Dylan and The Avett Brothers led to a surge inpopularity for the band in America. The band received eight totalGrammy nominations for Babel and won the Grammy Award forAlbum of the Year. The band also won the Brit Award for BestBritish Group in 2013. Upcoming USA concerts include:

August 7, 2015: Golden Gate Park in San FranciscoAugust 17-18, 2015: The Forum in Los Angeles

August 21-22, 2015: Salida, Colorado

Mumford & Sons US Concerts

Ben Lovett, Accordionist – Mumford & Sons

AAA Board of Director Sam Falcetti recently hosted the 17thSemi Annual Roland Workshop and Performance event at Fal-cetti Music in Springfield, MA.

The workshop portion covered information on transposition,the When, Why, and How of changing the key of a song, whichwas discussed and demonstrated, not only by using the transpo-sition button available on the Roland instrument, but also tricksof changing the key using other methods.

The performance portion featured scheduled entertainment onthe Roland models by artists including Martha Flood, Liam Mc-Cool, the 3rd place winner in the Accordion Championship cate-gory at the recent ATAM competition, Joseph Dziok, a 2015graduate of Hartt College of Music, Angela Falcetti with a 5piece all girls group (the Pink Zebras), and Sammy Gavish per-forming Jewish, Arabic and Russian music on his Roland 8X.

For more information on upcoming events, please contact or-ganizers Sam and Peggy Falcetti: [email protected] orcall: 413-596-6940. ■

Roland V-Accordion Celebration in MA

AAA Upcoming Events:Master Class & Concert Series NYC Aug. 7-9

Carrozza Scholarship Competition and ConcertOctober 2-4, Tarrytown, NY

Lifetime Achievement Award presented toMario Tacca - April 17, 2016

Colonial Manor - Cortlandt Manor, NY


AkordioM gives American debut in New YorkNew Yorkers were offered a rare musical experience when the

Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia presented theacclaimed Macedonian accordion trio 'AkordioM' in a free con-cert at their Gallery MC in the heart of New York City.

Each a virtuoso in their own right, the dynamic and skillful en-semble on their American debut in New York, comprises ZoricaKarakutovska, Bojan Volchevski and Filip Stamevski all fromSkopje, Macedonia.

The trio began performing together a few years ago, but eachhave previously been part of various other performing ensembles.AkordioM members Bojan Volchevski and Filip Stamevski areboth Karakutovska’s former students and now perform togetheras musical colleagues. Their concert appearances are consider-able, with performances in Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia,France, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy and now the USA.

In addition to heading the accordion program on the Faculty ofMusic in Skopje, leader of the group, Professor Zorica Karaku-tovska, is also the President of Ljubiteli na Klasicnata Muzika inSkopje, the Association of Accordionists - Macedonia, the Pre-miere Voting member of the Confédération International des Ac-cordéonistes (CIA).

AkodrioM performed a variety of repertoire including tran-scriptions of works from other instruments, trio arrangements ofaccordion works as well as original music written specifically

written for the group. The concert included three works by resident composer Bete

Ilin, a Professor at the State Music and Ballet School Center“Ilija Nikolovski - Luj” in Skopje. With more than 50 works inher Opus, in addition to numerous accordion works for solo,chamber music (for multiple accordions and also accordion withother instruments) and an accordion concerto, Bete has writtenvocal works, ensembles pieces, as well as compositions for vio-lin, clarinet, piano and bassoon. The trio presented three ofBete's works including her Macedonian Paraphrase No. 1, No. 2and No. 3. These captivating compositions composed in a con-temporary style, showcased the complex rhythmic structures ofMacedonian folklore (5/8, 7/8, 9/8) while eluding to the inspira-tion from traditional Macedonian songs. In 2014, Bete Ilin wasthe most frequently performed Macedonian composer in CulturalCentres throughout the Republic of Macedonia. Bete was in at-tendance at the concert, along with her parents who traveled toNew York to attend the concert.

The trio, performing completely by memory, engaged the audi-ence in a captivating musical journey as they delivered their con-cert with technical prowess and engaging charisma. From thedelicate transparency of Mozart to the magnificent orchestralgrandeur of Elmer Bernstein's Magnificent Seven, from Piaz-zolla's intricate Fuga Y Misterio to the entertaining arrangement

of Strauss's Radetzky March, the trio awed the audi-ence with their musicality and elegantly presentedinterpretations. Each performance drew extendedapplause, culminating in several standing ovationsas they presented a series of encores includingTango for Claude by Galliano and a popular tradi-tional Macedonian Folk Song.

The program was as follows: Macedonian Para-phrase No.1 by Bete Ilin, Divertimento D Major,(1st mov.) by Mozart, Semenovna by E. Derbenko,Fuga Y Misterio and Libertango by Astor Piazzolla,Macedonian Paraphrase No. 2 by Bete Ilin, TheMagnificent Seven by Elmer Bernstein, SpanishDance by E. Derbenko, Macedonian Paraphrase No.3 by Bete Ilin and Radetzky March by J. Strauss.

At left, Kevin Friedrich is pictured with Composer,Bete Ilin, Bojan, Kevin, Zorica and Filip

AkordioM featuringZorica Karaku-

tovska, Bojan Volchevski,

and Filip Stamevskifrom Skopje Macedonia


Coast to Coast…a sampling of accordion events across the USA!

Contact the individual organizations for updates.

San Francisco, CASan Francisco Accordion Club PresidentLynn Ewing proudly announces that TheSan Francisco Accordion Club is celebratingthe 25th Anniversary of the Re-establish-ment of the San Francisco Accordion Cluband the 100th anniversary of the originalSan Francisco Accordion Club.The SFAC has celebrated these two mile-stones with a festive evening gala on June 6in San Mateo, CA and featured The Accor-dion Orchestra Project conducted byRichard Yaus, the strolling accordionmusic of Reno Di Bono, performances byJana Maas and Mike Zampiceni and danceby Steve Albini. For information on upcom-ing activities, please contact: Lynn Ewing:[email protected]

Victoria, BCThe 9th Annual Victoria International Accor-dion Festival, a World Festival of AccordionSoloists and Ensembles, will take placefrom July 12-19, 2015 in Victoria, BC,Canada.The BC Accordion Society, a non-profit so-ciety, was founded in early 2010 in thebeautiful city of Victoria B.C. Our mission isto promote the beauty of this wonderful in-strument through concerts, workshops,master classes and competitions. In 2010,the Society took over the responsibility forVictoria Accordion Festival, establishing atthe same time an international accordioncompetition, for the first time in this part ofCanada. The society also created the BC Ac-cordion Orchestra, a unique ensemble of itskind.The most outstanding achievement so farfor the BC Accordion Society has been es-tablishing the accordion program at Camo-sun College in Victoria. Currently, this is theonly place in Canada, outside Toronto,where students can study accordion andobtain an official degree. For more informa-tion, please contact:[email protected]

Wallace, IDAccordion lovers are invited to join the fes-tivities from August 7-9, during the Fifth an-nual great Historic Wallace AccordionFestival! This year organizers are pleased towelcome the Dempsey's as one of the Fri-day night Entertainers for the German Buffetand Dance, to be held at the Nite RockEvents Center. On Saturday night, they wel-

come back Andy Mirkovich for a concertand dance in that same venue. In between,attendees will enjoy the traditional Saturdaymorning Celebration Parade, workshops,and gazebo music.Guests include: Andy Mirkovich, JeanRoberts, Dynamic Accordion Duo (tom andJudy Dempsey), Ted Lunka Trio and more.For more information, please visit www.wal-laceaccordionfestival.com or call: 208 699-7554.

Cotati CA The 25th annual Cotati Accordion Festivalwill be held August 22-23, 2015. The CotatiAccordion Festival is a non-profit organiza-tion established in 1991 to promote the loveof the accordion and to support local youthservice organizations. To date we have con-tributed in excess of $320,000 to the youthof our community.This year’s Silver Anniversary will feature: IlSole, Jessica Fichot, Patrick Harison, TheGreat Morgani, Giorgio Albanese, MaggieMartin, Ginny Mac, Cory Pesaturo, ThoseDarn Accordions Reunion, Matthias Matzke,The Mad Maggies, Dan Cantrell, Polkacide,Jim Gilman, Steve Balich Polka Band, theWild Catahoulas, Sourdough Slim andRober Armstrong, The Redwood Tango Trio,Stas Venglevski, The Amigos, Sergui Popa,The Familia Pena-Govea, The JohnnyKoenig Polka Band and MotorDude Zydeco.For more information and a completeschedule, please visit http://www.cotat-ifest.com

East Northport, NYMary Tokarski and Nathan Chapeton werethe featured guest artists at the June 3,2015 meeting of the Long Island AccordionAssociation (LIAA) held at La Villini Restau-rant in East Northport, NY. Pictured fromleft to right are Nathan Chapeton, Bob LaBua (CFO of the LIAA) and AAA PresidentMary Tokarski.

Long Island, NYOn Friday, June 12, 2015 accordionist Do-minic Karcic and vocalist Cheryl Spielmanbrought their "From Broadway to the Met"presentation to the Mills Pond Nursing andRehabilitation Center in St. James, Long Is-land.

Their program consisted of selections byGeorge Gerswhin, Cole Porter, Rodgers andHammerstein, Sammy Cahn, Leonard Bern-stein, S. Harnick and J. Bock, Giacomo Puc-cini as well as several accordion solos.Pictured left to right are vocalist CherylSpielman, Director of recreational servicesNicole Livigni and accordionist DominicKarcic.

Enfield, CTThe New England Digital Accordion Orches-tra, the "Newest Sound in Music", under thedirection of Sam Falcetti will peform from6-7:30 pm on August 1st, in Enfield, CT aspart of the 90th Annual Enfield Italian Festi-val. The program will also feature DeanaMartin (vocals) with special Guest BobbyRydell. For more information, please visitwww.falcettimusic.com

New York, NYThe AAA presents the annual Master Classand Concert Series 'The Seminars' from Au-gust 7-9, 2015 at the Tenri Cultural Institutein New York City. The event titled 'ChockFull O' Learnin' is three consecutive days ofseminars, workshops, lectures, discussionsand performances moderated by Dr. WilliamSchimmel. For more information, pleasevisit www.ameraccord.com.

Chock Full O’Learnin’

Documents

AMERICAN ACCORDIONISTS’ ASSOCIATION Newsletterameraccord.com/artwork/2015/August/AAANewsletterJuly2015.pdf · .the accordion translated her sentiments into a special language. She