Newsletter for April 2017
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April, 2017 SFAC Accordion Circle! Sunday, April 23 (4th Sunday due to holiday) Chetcu Community Room, Millbrae, CA 2:00 pm—4:00 pm Hello Accordion Friends, stand to join in where you are able. All levels are wel- come! Hope to see you there! The SFAC Accordion Circle meeting this month lands on the 4th Sunday, April 23 from 2-4pm in Again please note that our April 23rd meeting will Millbrae’s Chetcuti Community Room. We welcome be held on the 4th Sunday of the month, at our new Jana Maas to host a workshop — think “group les- location - the Chetcuti Community Room, 450 Poplar son” — and if you ever dream about taking lessons, Ave., Millbrae, CA. this is a fun and cost-effective way to try it. Jana started lessons on the accordion at the age of 7 and continued her accor- ♫♪ Review of March Meeting ♪♫ dion studies for 15 years. Through her teens and into adulthood, she By Barbara Bruxvoort performed for various Our March meeting was the first in the bright and organizations and special occasions up and down welcoming Chetcuti Community Room in Millbrae California’s central across the plaza from the valley. Jana majored in Millbrae Public Library. There music education, using were many parking places and accordion as her major it was very easy to find as all instrument, earning her degree and her teaching one had to do was follow the credential. She taught instrumental and classroom sound of accordionDon music— Savant music in public schools for 30 years, retiring in Mike Zampecini stood out- 2016. She has attended numerous accordion events side and played us in, starting and has given workshops at several including, Frank up the meeting with The Clarinet Polka. Marocco Camp, the ATG International Convention and the Silicon Valley Accordion Society. She is also Mike introduced his student, Siyuan Donnelly, who a frequent guest performer at festivals and accordi- started his set with Repasz Band March. Siyuan is on clubs on the West Coast, playing many of her own seven years old and began playing the accordion compositions and arrangements. when his kindergarten music teacher taught all the At April’s meeting, Jana will present her workshop, students in class ”Tips and Tricks for a Better Performance.” Jana will share her best tips and tricks for clean, expres- to play the accor- sive playing through bellowing suggestions, fingering dion together. techniques, creating fills and more. Bring your accor- Siyuan followed dion to the meeting for this hands-on workshop, as well as our usual and fun Jam Band session! up with Barbara We will have plenty of jam books available but you Polka and Waltz of should plan to bring your own accordion and music the Flowers. These Continued next page... San Francisco Accordion Club 1 April, 2017 ♫♪ March Meeting Review (cont’d.) ♪♫ songs filled the cheerful into Papi S’Amuse by room. Parade of the Armand Lasagne & Clowns came next, in an Jean Marc Torchy arrangement by Mike and then had much Zampecini’s father, Joe fun with the Wrong Zampecini. Siyuan was Note Polka by Angelo persuaded to play a few di Pippo; when she more songs and favored us with a song from Sw an asked Siyuan to put Lake. For his last song (this was the third or so “last his finger up whenever he heard a wrong note, we song” due to popular demand!) Siyuan was joined enjoyed watching their playful exchange. by his teacher, Mike for a lively duet reprise of Bar- Gail has a lively and sincere musical character. She bara Polka. I hope we have many more encores plays with technical mastery and goes beyond to from Siyuan. make the pieces a true expression of what she wants Mike then took the stage sing- to share with the audience. It is completely charm- ing Fly Me to the Moon. In ing. She shared with us Octobler Rondo by Stas honor of St. Patrick’s Day, he Venglevski, The Doll Dance by Nacio Herb Brown moved into When Irish Eyes (Arr. Galla-Rini), My Mandolin by Louis Del Monte, are Smiling and an Irish jig. He * played us into the break with * The Sunny Side of the Street. We had a great break with coffee donated by Starbucks of Millbrae Square and * yummy snacks. La Rosita Tango by Paul Dupont Gail Campanella, (Arr. Magnante), Waltz Allegro our featured per- by Charles Magnante, Turkish former, treated us to a Rondo – Wolfgang Amadeus Mo- wonderful set of mu- zart from the Piano Sonata No. sic. She kicked off the set 11 in A‐major, and ended her set with Sp ark ling by Mindie with the fireworks of the Flight Cere and then Meglia of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov. Stasera by Henry Mancini for the Pink Panther mov- We were not willing to let ies (Arranged by Frank her go so easily, so she Marocco). With Moment in played as an encore, La Marseille and Waneta’s Motocicletta by Anton Zor- Waltz by Mike Alongi & dan. And wait, we still did * Raul Reynoso, Gail laid not want to say goodbye. down the solid rhythm and floated the embellish- Some of us persuaded ments over the top in a lovely way. She transitioned (begged?) Gail to play Continued next page... San Francisco Accordion Club 2 April, 2017 Guess Who? ♫♪ March 2017 meeting review ♫♪ Cavaquinho by E. Nazareth (Arr. Marocco), which she did from memory, to the delight of all. If you weren’t there, or if you were and want to re- live it all, you’ll need Gail’s new CD, “Discovery” which is available on CD Baby at https:// www.cdbaby.com/cd/ gailcampanella. The meeting concluded with a session of casual tunes with the Jam Band. Next month (April) bring Here he is as a five-year-young lad with accordion. This a your accordion for the work- longtime Bay Area resident started out on the east coast, then moved west with his parents. Today he can be found shop, and come early teaching music, performing gigs, and is a nature and car enough to have lunch in enthusiast. He has degrees from San Jose State in music, and has had a career as a technical writer for Silicon Val- Millbrae. Our Millbrae ley firms. You may have heard him sing a song or two location scouts report that while playing accordion at our monthly gathering. Do you recognize this professional accordionist? there is so much to do (Answer on page 11) next to the Millbrae loca- tion. Plenty of places to have lunch or a snack be- fore the meeting: the Little Whale Café; Baskin Robbins; Starbucks; Paris * Baguette (I had a delicious chef salad and a macaron there before the meeting); Jamba Juice; Big Mouth Burgers; Bagel Street Café and more! Plus, you can do a few errands afterwards, if you wish, as it is so convenient to Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, Safeway, and Office Depot! Also, note that the new location is very close to the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station: just under one mile which is close enough for a low-fare cab ride or an easy pickup by a friend attending the meeting. Lynn Please Remember... Help keep our meeting space clean! Wipe up food or drink Meeting photos spills and recycle all trash. by Steve Mobia THANK YOU! [*and Robert Cooperstein] Jana Maas San Francisco Accordion Club 3 April, 2017 WORDS OF WISDOM: Wyntonʼs 12 Ways to Pracce 6. Practice hard things longer: Donʼt be afraid of confronting your (Wynton Marsalis, 1996) inadequacies; spend more time practicing what you canʼt do. Adjust AS A BOY GROWING UP IN NEW ORLEANS, I remember my fa- your schedule to reflect your strengths and weaknesses. Donʼt spend ther, Ellis, a pianist, and his friends talking about “sheddinʼ.” When too much time doing what comes easily. Successful practice means they got together, theyʼd say, “Man, you need to go shed,” or “Iʼve coming face to face with your shortcomings. Donʼt be discouraged; been sheddinʼ hard.” When I was around 11, I realized that sheddinʼ youʼll get it eventually. meant getting to the woodshed – practicing. By the age of 16, I un- 7. Practice with expression: Every day you walk around making derstood what the shed was really about – hard, concentrated work. yourself into “you,” so do everything with the proper attitude. Put all of When my brother Branford and I auditioned for our high school band, yourself into participating and try to do your best, no matter how insig- the instructor, who knew my father, was excited about Ellisʼ sons nificant the task may seem. Express your “style” through how you do coming to the band. But my audition was so pitiful he said, “Are you what you do. sure youʼre Ellisʼ son?” 8. Learn from your mistakes: None of us are perfect, but donʼt be At the time, his comment didnʼt bother me because I was more inter- too hard on yourself. If you drop a touchdown pass, or strike out to ested in basketball than band. Over the next several years, however, end the game, itʼs not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, analyze I began practicing seriously. Practice is essential to learning music – what went wrong and keep going. Most people work in groups or as and anything else, for that matter. I like to say that the time spent part of teams. If you focus on your contributions to the overall effort, practicing is the true sign of virtue in a musician.