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.

Timeless Accordion Music

One of the perks of having a long association with American accordion activities is the wealth of music in my files from the past 100 years. Most of this music is unpublished now but some still available for sale. The original music written for the accordion is a treasure trove of history, the picture to the right is a scan of the cover for Trieste Overture with a copyright date of 1916 by O. Pagani Bro., New York.

Trieste Overture has been widely used by teachers and performers and is still for sale from Deffner Publications. http://www.accordions.com/deffnerm/solo/solo_tp_tz_1.html

Shelves of Accordions

I've been asked many times how many accordions I own. At one time, when I had my studio/store open I would have said 200 or so as I had a nice stock of new and used instruments for sale. Now the answer is four. A Titano Bass accordion (for ensembles) that I personally rarely get a chance to play, a Pigini B-system chromatic 4/5 reed musette that I adore playing and use in teaching, a Titano Cochran Emperor 4/7 with free bass, pedal tones and extended right hand for concert work, and the work horse of my team a Titano Grand 3/5 from the early 60's - no frills - just a hefty reed sound great for folk music. If I had my way and money be of no object I'd have more instruments to choose from.

The picture to the above is from the Pigini accordion factory, the instruments on the shelves are not complete but waiting for their bellows and bass sections. Oh, to have a private shelf of completed accordions to choose from!

World record smashed....all for Madonna!

This link and text was just sent to me by one of my favorite former students. It's an excellent example of how most people don't even know they are listening to an accordion.......

Australian radio station Nova 919's pseudo-German Hans is a devoted Madonna fan and will do anything to get a personal birthday wish to the Queen of Pop. That 'anything' culminated in him breaking the Guinness World Record for Marathon Accordion playing last Thursday. Not only that, but he broke it by playing Madonna songs ONLY. That was no mean feat as he was not allowed to repeat a song a four hour time block and he played for 29 hours 30 minutes and 17 seconds! Let's just say, Madonna's full catalogue of work was explored. Hans' attempt to break the record and grab Madonna's attention even made it as a story on to Today Tonight. Nova 919 know that Madonna is an outrageously busy woman, but they are doing everything they can to make her aware of this story in the hopes of an acknowledgement from her - even just a sentence - it would answer Hans' (and everyone at Nova 919) prayers! The full story detailing his 29 hours 30 minute on the accordion can be found at: www.nova919.com.au

More about the Museo della Fisharmonica

So you thought I was kidding about the Nativity scene in the bellows, right? The accordion museum in Castelfidardo has it all including an accordion stamp.

I've been to the museum a few times and am constantly amazed at the craftsmanship shown in the prototypes. And about their ingenuity and creativity, I'm speechless. More next week, until then, keep your bass strap tight and don't forget to open your bottom bellows snap.

Subculture - Accordions

Yes, there is a vast network of people who love to play accordions. We know who we are. Some are hidden away in the privacy of there own homes getting the instrument out of the closet or basement when they think no one is looking. Some are recording and performing for thousands or tens of thousands of listeners knowing that they are are quickly growing breed of musicians that use the accordion - and other instruments of the accordion family also known as the free reed family - for haunting movie melodies (Amelie), raucous rock (Gogol Bordelo), classical (Astor Piazzolla), jazz (Art Van Damm), hybrid jazz & folk (Peter Ralchev), hybrid contemporary & folk (Maria Kalaniemi), or oddly artistic (Bill Schimmel with Tom Waits). You'll also find an accordion in almost every German, Irish and French folk group, indeed this instrument has been adopted by almost every country through their folk music including the Middle East and China.