Finding a venue for 2010 ATG

Part of the process of planning a festival, convention or any large gathering is find the appropriate venue in which to hold it. The 2010 Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area. This weekend (June 19-22, 2009) I'm looking at hotels in San Jose, not far from San Francisco.

On the left is the view from my room at the Hilton San Jose. I've the privilege have one of the suites in the tower of the building which you can see in the picture at the right. It's beautiful.

Historical TLC for the ATG

Being the new president for the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International has posed a number of unexpected challenges for me, one of which was the historical filing and storage system of this 69 year old organization.



The 2009 ATG Festival Committee, Mary Tokarski and Michele Boddicker Scheffler and myself, met at the Hilton Airport Mall of America in Bloomington (Minneapolis), Minnesota, May 21-25, 2009. We worked 14 hours a day sorting and filing to discover mementos and statistics from years past. We also set the schedule and worked with the Hilton staff regarding this year's festival 'Accordion Renaissance' presented by the ATG August 13-16 of this year, but that was the easy part of our work week.

Our ATG organizing endeavors unearthed a myriad of findings, from last year's surplus registration desk pencils to a letter from the late Anthony Galla-Rini written in 1940 regarding his views on transcribing orchestral works for accordion orchestra.



The task of sorting through all the storage boxes was an amazing experience. The three of us are proud to look forward into the future of this fine, upstanding organization. The ATG is going to have a great 'Accordion Renaissance' in August at our annual festival and convention.


left to right: Mary Tokarski (CT), Michele Boddicker Scheffler (OR), Dee Langley (MN)

ATG support at NAA in Dallas

Here's a picture from the National Accordion Association convention held in Richardson (Dallas), Texas, March of 2009. It was a wonderful event with lots of good concerts and workshops with the accordion.

Seated on either side of me is the ATG 2nd Vice President, Mary Tokarski and Treasurer, Bruce Lawrie. On the far right is NAA coordinator and ATG board member Norman Seaton.

Other ATG board members in the photo are Esther Lanting, Barbara Scott and Michele Boddicker Scheffler.

AAMS - American Accordion Musicological Society

It's been another great AAMS festival! The workshops were plentiful and well attended, the presenters really out did themselves. There were displays of antique accordions, new and heritage accordion music and merchandise, and there were concerts, competitions and a banquet. But the very finest attribute of this festival is the friendship and openness of everyone, it is truly heart-warming.





This is a picture of the Westmont Philharmonic Accordion Orchestra during the first concert of the weekend. It is conducted by Stanley Darrow. The AAMS festival is typically held the first full weekend in March in King of Prussia, which is nearby to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mill City Accordions

One of the things I love the most about the accordion are the groups we can form. This is a picture of the Minneapolis/St.Paul based accordion orchestra, Mill City Accordions. It was taken December, 2008.

Wild Hollow

Wild Hollow, December 2008, Audubon Coffee Shop "Tea and the Classics". L to R: Colleen Bertsch, violin; Dee Langley, free-bass accordion; Katrina Mundinger, clarinet

Picture by: John Omorean

ATG Board in Mesa, Arizona

One more "official" picture taken at the Frank Marocco Accordion Event in Mesa, Arizona, January 2009, the ATG Executive Committee and Past Presidents with Frank Marocco.

L to R: Amy Jo Sawyer, Past President; Dee Langley, President; Frank Marocco, honored friend: Bruce Lawrie, Treasurer; Mary Tokarski, 2nd Vice President; Stas Venglevski, Past President.

ATG at Moracco Accordion Event

There's something very special about getting together with people having a good time with music and it was my priviledge to hang out with the accordionists, workshop presenters and guest artists attending the Frank Marocco Accordion Event in Mesa, Arizona. It was also sublime to have so many current, new and returning ATG members present. Here a picture of the ATG members that attended the event......

Of course I like this one of Frank and me

Accordion Festivals - Frank Marocco Accordion Event

It's been a number of months since I've posted and life has not stood still. I'm officially the President of the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International and I'm very proud of the Board members and fellow Officers as we move this wonderful and historic organization into the computer age. The ATG was founded over 60 years ago, it is an honor to take the helm.

Here is a picture from my cell phone taken at the airport in Phoenix as I waited for my luggage. I was bored and really wanted to be on my way to my first outing as ATG President to the Frank Marocco Accordion Event.

And this is one of those self-portaits we all attempt with our cell phones. It came into existance because I like to send a picture home to my family when I travel. This was taken right before I went to play some folk songs for Joan Grauman to teach dance mixers to the wonderful accordionists attending this event.