AMERICAN ACCORDIONISTS’ ASSOCIATION Newsletter A bi-monthly publication of the American Accordionists’ Association NOVEMBER 2012 From the Editor Here’s What’s Welcome to the November 2012 edition of the AAA Newsletter. As we bring 2012 to a close, we can truly celebrate the accordion and the incredible and diverse array of activities it features in. Happening at Once again my sincere thanks to the AAA President Linda Reed and Board of Di- rector member, Rita Davidson for their kind assistance throughout the year, and to AAA in 2013 all those who have been able to submit items for publication. Items for the January Newsletter can be sent to me at [email protected] or to the updated AAA e-mail address at: [email protected] Please include ‘AAA MARCH 16, 2013 Newsletter’ in the subject box, so that we don’t miss any items that come in. Text should be sent Coupe Mondiale qualifying cat- within the e-mail or as a Word .doc (not docx) attachment. Pictures should be sent as a high quality egories. See details at .jpg file, and the larger the file size the better. We can always reduce/crop the picture if necessary, www.ameraccord.com however we are unable to increase the quality from smaller pictures. The deadline for the January 2013 news will be the 15th of December. MARCH 17, 2013 I wish you all a wonderful and happy Holiday Season, and look forward to sharing all your News 2:00 pm of events with our readers when we publish our next edition in January 2013. Open Meeting Sincerely, Kevin Hanover Marriott Kevin Friedrich – AAA Newsletter Editor 1401 Route 10 East Whippany, NJ Mario Tacca and Mary Mancini Perform in Italy Renowned accordion virtuoso Mario Tacca Enjoying the spectacular vistas and beautiful APRIL 21, 2013 and Internationally acclaimed vocalist Mary peace and serenity of the mountains in the area, Carmen Carrozza Mancini have just returned from a successful Mario and Mary travelled high up the Gran Sasso Scholarship Fund visit to Italy, where they performed in Mario’s Mountain, the highest peak (10,000 ft) of the Ap- Dinner & Dancing hometown of Assergi, located in the mountains of peninne Mountain range in Abruzzi. Villa Barone Hilltop Manor Abruzzi. Shortly after returning from Italy, the dynamic 466 U.S. 6 AAA Members may well recall that the Amer- duo gave a con- Mahopac, NY ican Accordionists’ Association served as the um- cert at the brella organization for Mario and Mary as they Hauppauge Li- JULY 26-28, 2013 presented a spectacular Abruzzi Earthquake Ben- brary in Haup- Master Class and Concert Se- efit Show at the Paramount Center for the Arts in pauge, LI. A ries - The Seminars Peekskill, NY in June 2009. Their fundraising lovely and inti- The Accordion is 3D efforts raised an impressive $25,000 for the vic- mate venue, it Tenri Cultural Institute tims of the devastating earthquake that struck served as the 43A W13th Street, NYC Mario’s home region of Abruzzi in April 2009. perfect setting Moderator/Curator While in Italy for their concert William Schimmel, this summer, of Italian Love songs and Operatic arias. Mario Mario and Mary and Mary also performed at the Magnanini Win- organized an ery in Wallkill, NY on October 28th and Novem- AUGUST 14-18 2013 evening of music ber 4th and a Holiday Show at Villa Roma in AAA 75th Anniversary together with Callicoon, NY on November 27th. The New Yorker Hotel AAA member, To bring 2012 to a close, Mario and Mary will 8th Ave. at 34th Street Frank Carrozza be presenting their renowned Holiday show as New York, NY who was also follows: there with his fa- December 14, 2012 eze in the B que ig ther and three Christmas Concert with the Victor Lionti String S Ap ig p brothers. The evening of Quartet at Assumption Church B l e e th friendship and music in Peekskill, NY - 7:00 PM Mario’s hometown was held For more information including the highlights at Da Maria Ristorante, which of their many concerts and recordings, please is located next to the cable car visit www.gioiaproductions.com ■ that brings tourists and skiers up the mountain and was an extraordinary and memorable evening for all. Start spreading the news... A bi-monthly publication of the American Accordionists’ Association - page 2 NOVEMBER 2012 Joan Sommers with the Missouri Brass Quintet Alex Chudolij at the Massachusetts The Missouri Brass Quintet is a pro- Accordion Association (MAAA) fessional group based at the University Alex Chudolij, a prize winning accordion- of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and ist, band leader and accordion designer, was presents concerts regularly throughout the invited guest of the Massachusetts Accor- the Midwest. dion Association (MAAA) at its free October This year’s concert season opened on 28 meeting in Newton, MA. October 10 with a concert in White By the age of 16, had won several compe- Recital Hall on the UMKC Campus. titions including the American Accordionists’ The concert featured works written for Association Championships. He performed brass quintet (two trumpets, horn, trom- at a gala reception for Olympic Figure Skat- Alex Chudolij bone, and tuba) by composers McKee, ing Gold Medal Winners Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko, and Buyanovsky, Turner, Kamen, Bernstein, Joan Sommers has played all over the Eastern United States. and closed with two arrangements of Mr. Chudolij’s program highlights three categories of accor- pieces by Ástor Piazzolla including Oblivion and Libertango featur- dions commonly available today including the traditional acoustic ing guest accordionist, Joan Cochran Sommers. instrument, acoustic with MIDI, and the all electronic (conven- Each of the performers gave short introductory talks before the tional reedless models and Roland V-Accordions) while discussing pieces were performed and Joan spoke about Piazzolla and his life, the features, playability, advantages and limitations of each. his compositions, and his instrument, the bandoneón. The Massachusetts Accordion Association, a not-for-profit or- Joan’s performance was greeted with great acclaim and approval ganization, encourages the enjoyment of the accordion by its by the audience and fellow performers alike, and Joan reports that it members and the larger state-wide community both by sponsor- was exhilarating to perform with such fine musicians on this excit- ing three free guest artist appearances per year at its Newton lo- ing project. cation and by offering several free community outreach concerts Joan has been asked to perform with the Missouri Brass Quintet throughout the year. ■ on its 2013 Spring Concert Tour in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Attendees were invited to join in the group Play-Along pre- ceding Mr. Chudolij’s concert. For more information on future “SHPIL! The Art of Playing Klezmer” by Yale Strom activities please visit the MAAA's website: Internationally acclaimed Klezmer ensemble, Hot Pstromi, is a www.maaccordion.org. ■ history, instructional and music book for both the professional and amateur musician. Since the revival of Klezmer music in the Advanced Accordion Music Available for Free United States in the mid-1970s, Klezmer and Yiddish song have Download become the soundtrack for the revival of European Jewish culture all over the world. Today you can hear Klezmer in likely locales Renowned Spanish composer Gorka Hermosa is offering all his like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, and unlikely locales advanced compositions as free downloads to the US accordion com- like St. Petersburg, Russia; Satu Mare, Romania; Buenos Aires, munity. Argentina; Tokyo, Japan and many other places throughout the His advanced compositions have been performed in the winning world. It is no secret why this has happened: Klezmer's high en- programs of world competition winners such as Grayson Masefield, ergy and emotional folk music and evocative Yiddish lyrics speak Dorin Grama, Alexander Vertennikov, Iñigo Aizpiolea, Martinas to everyone, musician and listener alike. This book is not only the Levickis, Julien Gonzales as well as by renowned artists Alexander first to include chapters on the most common instruments that Selivanov, Yulia Amerikova, Helmut C. Jacobs and Renzo Ruggieri. make up a typical Klezmer ensemble, but each chapter is written His works have also been played in the graduation exams of the by a virtuoso of that instrument. most important accordion conservatories in the world including The book contains a historical chapter on Klezmer which gives Moscow, London, Peking, Shanghai and Trossingen. an overview of the genre from medieval times through the present Pablo Zinger (pianist for famed artist Astor Piazzolla) said "Gorka day and a chapter on each instrument (violin, clarinet, accordion, Hermosa`s music impressed me for his originality, his atmosphere bass, percussion and voice) written by a musician who has and his virtuosity, making the word ‘crossover’ an intense reality. recorded, performed and studied He is a very talented musician, and one to watch very closely.” Klezmer for many years. At the Born in 1976 in Urretxu (Basque Country), Hermosa is a very end of each chapter will be three multifaceted musician: an accordionist, composer, teacher, writer specific melodies (songs), cho- and publisher. sen by each artist, to illustrate Gorka Hermosa was the first Spanish accordionist to play as and exemplify the techniques soloist with a symphonic orchestra (the Spanish National Radio and and instruction they have TV orchestra, and after more than 12 times with other different or- shared. The authors also include chestras), he often appears on Spanish TV and radio shows and a discography to provide the gives concerts all around Europe (Finland, Norway, Estonia, Ger- reader with a list of classic and many, Slovenia, Switzerland, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain). He new Klezmer and Yiddish has played first time more than 20 works for accordion of Spanish recordings designed to guide the composers.