Life Should Not Only be Lived - but Celebrated!

artwork by Amy Rice, amyrice.com

This is the birthday card I got from one of my Rogarian (Orkestar Bez Ime) band mates . The text on the cover of the card says

"She always believed life should not only be lived - but celebrated!"

Inside the card reads

"Happy Birthday! Laugh * Dance * Celebrate"

How true!

In Rogaria we believe in 'birthday seasons' not just one day, the celebrations go on for weeks whenever we see each other until the last present is given, last glass of wine drunk, and everyone has had a chance to party. And give each other a hug.  I love Rogaria (www.rogaria.com) and my five band mates who celebrate life there with me.

Thanks, Amy Rice, for capturing a very special side of my life with your art!

Curious About Accordions

Dee's Left Hand
photo by Shelly Campbell

When new students come to take instruction I love to ask about their musical past. It helps me form a lesson plan when I know whether they have studied before and if they have, which instrument.

It's not uncommon for adults who had music lessons as children to pick up their studies once again. It's also not uncommon to have young people decide the accordion is fascinating and ask their parents to find them a teacher.

The most common student for me right now are people in their twenties who have either studied other instruments, are playing in a band that wants to add the sound of the accordion or who enjoy popular bands like Gogol Bordello, Devotchka or Beirut all of which use accordion in their groups.

Their challenge will be to learn how to use the bellows efficiently and what the heck all those little buttons on the left side (right side as you look at it) do. Left hand technique and bellow technique make the difference between a person who plays an accordion like a keyboard and an accordionist.

One Day in the Life of Sonya

Just couldn't resist one more slow loris YouTube video..........

Loris Bez Clue

Most everyone receives some type of nickname during their lifetime. In Rogaria, the country Orkestar Bez Ime hails from, it took almost six years for me to get mine, Loris Bez Clue. It seems I can do a pretty good imitation of this little animal and all Rogarians have the same last name, Bez Clue ('bez' means 'without' in Bulgarian).

Now before you run out and try to get a Slow Loris as a pet consider this information from Wikipedia:

"Slow lorises are threatened by deforestation, the exotic pet trade, and traditional medicine. All species are listed either as "Vulnerable" or "Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The slow loris has become a popular but illegal pet, mostly in Japan, but also in the United States. Its popularity has swelled due to popular YouTube videos showing them being tickled.^"

Peaceful Musician

photo by Shelly Campbell

Sometimes when you're so happy and content while playing you can truly understand and enjoy the zen of music.....a picture from Black Dog Cafe & Wine bar February of 2011 during a performance with OBI.

A Rare Moment

photo by Shelly Campbell

Last month (February, 2011) during our show at Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar OBI was lucky enough to have our favorite photographer come for a visit. At first glance I was delighted to see Mary Garvin and Donna Byrne leading the dance because they are wonderful friends of Orkestar Bez Ime and it's lovely to have a photograph of them. Then I noticed the band in back and did a double take; this is the first time I have ever seen a picture of me singing.  That's right, singing. Thanks to bandmate Natalie Nowytski for encouraging all Rogarians to reach outside the box and risk doing something a little different.

Musical Game

http://balldroppings.com/js/

Music composition can take many forms. While I do confess to liking melodies and rhythms, I'm also fond of random tones. The link at the right will lead to a game that offers inspiration to those looking for something 'a little different' in music writing.........

Accordion Radio Station on the Internet

 I'm pleased to say the owner of this fine collection of streaming accordion music is one of my students and a friend, John Elstad.  Thanks, John, for devoting your energy to such a great mix of music!

Infinite Accordion

Teachers Should Always Keep Learning

A couple days ago I attended a Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Faculty Forum about Promising Practices for Student Success on the Minneapolis Community and Technical College campus. I listened to the keynote speaker about the rewards and challenges students have in completing a degree program and the rewards and challenges we as educators have in guiding them to completion. Later in the morning I attended break out sessions on the importance and benefits of blogging and use of iPads in education.

All and all it was a stimulating day which left me with new ideas on how and why to develop this blog, whether or not I want to by an iPad or android and how I might use that technology teaching music; my interest in connecting with my students and helping them to succeed was refreshed.

It seems to me that if we want to encourage our students to work at learning new things we as their teachers should be good role models and keep learning ourselves.

Thanks MNSCU for providing the opportunity to help me think outside the box and be an active learner!

Martenitsa, celebrating Spring the Bulgarian way

On March 3 Orkestar Bez Ime and Mila Vocal Ensemble will be collaborating in a celebration of Spring at the Acadia Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The event will bring Bulgaria and Macedonia to the West Bank area of the University of Minnesota. Martenitsa! For more information on the concert, visit http://www.rogaria.com/shows.html

I learned this about 'Martenitsa' from Wikipedia........

"This is an old pagan tradition and remains almost unchanged today. The common belief is that by wearing the red and white colours of the martenitsa people ask Baba Marta for mercy. They hope that it will make winter pass faster and bring spring. Many people wear more than one martenitsa. They receive them as presents from relatives, close friends and colleagues. Martenitsa is usually worn pinned on the clothes, near the collar, or tied around the wrist. The tradition calls for wearing the martenitsa until the person sees a stork or a blooming tree. The stork is considered a harbinger of spring and as evidence that Baba Marta is in a good mood and is about to retire.

The martenitsa is also a stylized symbol of Mother Nature. At that early-spring/late-winter time of the year, Nature seems full of hopes and expectations. The white symbolizes the purity of the melting white snow and the red symbolizes the setting of the sun which becomes more and more intense as spring progresses. These two natural resources are the source of life. They are also associated with the male and female beginnings.
Wearing one or more martenitsi is a very popular Bulgarian tradition. The martenitsa symbolizes new life, conception, fertility, and spring. The time during which it is worn is meant to be a joyful holiday commemorating health and long life. The colors of the martenitsa are interpreted as symbols of purity and life, as well as the need for harmony in Nature and in people's lives."

Stolen Night Out

One of my favorite pictures from 2009 is on the right, it is of a 'stolen night out' away from the duties of the accordion festival we all were attending.  It is rather a historical picture as all three of us were presidents of accordion associations at the time.  On the left is Linda Soley Reed (American Accordionists Association),  Kevin Friedrich, (The Confederation Internationale des Accodeonistes), and myself, Dee Langley (Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International). The club was  "BB King's Blues Club" on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Good times with good friends.

New Zealand, thinking of you.

Typical shopping street in North Shore City.

 Guess I've been in a reflective mood these last 24 hours as New Zealand struggles to rescue survivors of the recent earthquake.  The epicenter of the quake was on the South Island, in Christchurch, which I've not visited. These pictures are from the North Island where I stayed for a week in August of 2009 while attending the Coupe Mondiale as a representative of the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International. My thoughts are now with New Zealand and her people in their time of need.

Silver Fern frond unfurling in the wild at a
park we visited. It is rare to find one
within viewing distance from
the ground, they are usually high at the
tops on the trees. The frond is a symbol of
new life, growth, strength and peace.

Cape Reigna at the northern tip of New Zealand, this
is the specific point where the Tasman and Pacific Oceans meet.

View of Auckland across the bay  from
my hotel room balcony in North Shore City

Snow Day

There is no doubt in my mind that the band did indeed play as the Titanic sank.....we all know 'the show must go on'. The StarTribune had this to say about today's weather,  'A storm bearing heavy snow and fierce winds pounded southern Minnesota, including much of the metro area.'. I hate it when they're right.

I managed to make the first rehearsal scheduled for today but missed a party in the late afternoon. Thank goodness the evening rehearsal was canceled, so far I had managed to stop the car when needed.

David Joles, Star Tribune

From my email in response to the cancellation......

An excellent call.  I had a 1:00 rehearsal that I got to late after falling on the ice with the accordion and I'm now home, 2 hours later than planned.  It was an interesting drive, saw a car wrapped around a light pole, an SUV stuck 4 feet off the ground facing backwards on a snowdrift....oh, I could go on and on but you get the driving picture.

Tomorrow is President's Day, Monday.  I'm sleeping in and having cocoa before I get out the snow shovel to dig a path out of the house.  The car is not going anywhere; it's a bona fide snow day!

Accordion and Orchestra

I count myself most fortunate to have played a number of times with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. This picture rather rounds out my experiences with accordion, it is the serious side of my music. The picture was taken February 2010 during a performance with the SPCO at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota.  It was a gift from someone in the audience.  A very nice gift.

Aerobic Balkan Band OBI

Sometimes you just gotta be there......

Photo by Shelly Campbell

Last night Orkestar Bez Ime played their every third Thursday of the month gig at Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar in Lowertown of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.

This picture was taken by our photographer, Shelly Campbell, during an accordion intensive Bulgarian tune called 'Daichovo' which is in 9/16. For those of you counting Bulgarian rhythms with the aid of Mexican food, 9/16  is taco - taco - taco - burrito.

In this pic you can witness my adoring band mates adding their own personal comment on this complex meter during my accordion solo...oh my....!

(l to r) Natalie Nowytski with leg in the air, Colleen Bertsch with sideways violin and Scott Keever with upside down and backwards mandolin.  Behind me is Katrina Mundinger only visible by the clarinet bell growing out of the top of my bellows.

View from a Pit

Today I was sitting dazed at the computer thinking of everything that is needing to be done from now until the end of May this year.  There are stacks of music and show books at my feet which need to be put into order for easy use during performances. Music needs to be written, learned, rehearsed; it can be a bit overwhelming.


There's quite a bit of difference from what I see as a musician and what the audience sees.  The image above is what I see, the image to the right is a pit-eye view of what the audience is seeing. These are cell phone pictures taken during technical rehearsals of a show by Ethnic Dance Theatre.

Zest for Life

This is a wonderful animation that features the accordion as the catalyst for renewed zest for life!

from nfb.ca......

"A mixture of puppet and hand-drawn animation, The Necktie is the story of Valentin and his quest to find meaning in his life. Stuck in a dead-end job, he has forgotten all about the things that used to bring him joy. Years pass, and boredom replaces all his aspirations and hope for the future. It is only on his 40th birthday, when he rediscovers an old accordion hidden in the depths of his closet, that he regains his lust for life."

http://www.nfb.ca/film/necktie

Festival of Nations surprise.....

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from one of my Orkestar Bez Ime band-mates that she recognized my fingers and accordion as a header on the Festival of Nations web site. Of course I couldn't resist checking it out, the headers revolve so it took me a lot of reloads before I got my picture...but here it is! This year OBI will again be the 'house band' in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium on festival Saturday and then representing Bulgaria all day on Sunday. The dates are May 6-8, St. Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, Minnesota. Fun!

Russian Bayan Factory

This just one of many wonderful pictures of a Russian Bayan Factory on the blog of Sergei Mukhamedova.

http://ottenki-serogo.livejournal.com/177743.html

The page is in Russian but can be translated by Google Translator.
Now, keep in mind not all translators are equal (some are much funnier than others); Google Translator claims the factory as founded in 1930 and residing in Tula, which may well be accurate.

iPad Accordion

OK, so I challenge this as an accordion anything because where exactly are the reeds that would make this a free-reed instrument? But.....for those who are squeamish about traveling on the airlines with their accordions or happen to like bike touring, here you go!