In einem Konzert, welches am Samstag, den 07. Juli im Wembley Stadion stattfand, sah die die ganze Welt wie Madonna ihr 70 000 Zuschauern-Publikum in einem phantastischen London-Finale ihrer Tou8r „Live Earth“ entertainte.
In ihrem Repertoire “La Isla Bonita” zusammen mit Eugene Hutz und Sergey Ryabatsey von der New Yorker Gypsy Punk Band Gogol Bordello.
Marcus Brown, Madonnas Keyboard Begleiter, begleitete sie auf einem Roland FR-3 V-Akkordeon. Marcus sagte: "Das V-Accordion während der “Live Earth” mit Gogol Bordello und Madonna zusammen auf der Bühne vorzuführen war sicherlich eine gute Möglichkeit für mich dieses, irgendwie vergessene Instrument weltweit in moderner Art und gewichtiger Umgebung auf internationalem Niveau vorzuführen. Es war mir eine Ehre ein außergewöhnliches Instrument vor einem so globalen Publikum zu ….es lebe das Akkordeon”
Der französische Qualifikationswettbewerb wurde am 21. Juli 2007 in La Selle sur le Bied abgehalten. Die Kandidaten qualifizierten sich für die CMA Trophee Mondiale 2007, welcher in Samara, Russland, im November stattfindet. Der französische Qualifikationsevent wurde vom CMA Präsident Frederic Deschamps organisiert.
Der klassische Wettbewerb wurde in der Kirche von La Selle sur le Bied und die Variety Klassen im örtlichen „Salle des Fetes“ abgehalten und von vielen Zuschauern besucht.
In der Klassik-Senior Kategorie qualifizierten sich von 4 Bewerbern Julien "Speedy" Gonzales und Dimitri Bouclier – beide bereits CMA Champions in anderen Kategorien. In der Klassik-Junior Kategorie qualifizierten sich Remi Mounes und Gaëlle Vinckier.
In der Variety-Junior Kategorie qualifizierten sich Benoit Nortier mit Charlène Fleury, Pierre Laval, Kévin Legrand, Gaëlle Vinckier, Madeline Alanic. Rric Allard Jacquin, Lydie Baud, Julie Blocher, Anne-Sophie Bonnot und Jérémy Déhier.
In der Variety-Senior Kategorie qualifizierten sich Benoit Chabod, Felicien Brut und Cyril Blanchard Nicolas Koch, Tannick Lopes, Isabelle Soleil, Stèphane Bellevill und Benjamin Durafour.
Grayson Masefield (Neuseeland), Wang Li (China) und Sabrina Prichard (Schweden) gaben ebenfalls einen ausgezeichneten Auftritt.
Beitrag von Horst Fausel, Hohner Accordion Product Manager
Am 19. July 2007 war Alexander Shirunov zu Besuch bei Hohner in Trossingen. Beeindruckend für ihn war zu sehen, wie die hochklassigen Hohner Akkordeons hergestellt werden. Beim Antesten der Morino Convertor Akkordeons und der Fun Flash Piano mit ihrem trendigen Design gab es kein Halten mehr. Bei seinen nächsten Auftritten werden diese beiden Instrumente unter seinen Fingern die Zuhörer begeistern.
Besuche im Hohner Museum und im Hohner Konservatorium haben seinen Ausflug nach Trossingen abgerundet. Er wird beim großen Hohner Jubiläums-Fest am 8.+9. September in Trossingen mehrfach zu sehen und zu hören sein.
Elio Pietro Viola, 91, ist am 17. Juli im Hamilton General Krankenhaus, Ontario, gestorben. Er war Akkordeonist seit seinem 14. Lebensjahr und sein Akkordeon und sein Unterricht berührte viele. Seine Witwe Agnes, die mit ihm fast 64 Jahre verheiratet war, sagte, dass sie nicht mehr zählen könne, wievielen Menschen ihr Mann das Akkordeonspielen beibrachte.
Nachdem er bei Professor Tito Allegra Stunden genommen hatte, trat Viola bei unzähligen Taufen, Hochzeiten und Beerdigungen auf und begann zu unterrichten.
Sein Sohn, Charles Viola, der in Toronto lebt, sagt, dass sein Vater es liebte, Menschen durch die Musik zusammenzubingen.
Viola spielte über die Jahre hinweg mit vielen Bands in Hamilton und leitete 4 Musikgeschäfte und Studios.
Er zeigte mir, wie man Akkordeon spielt, sagte Agnes. (Sie leitet mittlerweile die Agnes Viola Musikschule). Er lernte die Blindenschrift, dass er blinden Schülern das Akkordeonspielen beibringen konnte und er hatte gewöhnlich immer eine Warteliste.
Vor 10 Jahren hörte er auf, professionell zu spielen, da er ein Perfektionist war und sich keine Fehler zugestehen wollte, jedoch musizierte er noch für seine Familie, Freunde und Nachbarn.
Francesco Gesualdi at 60th ‘Fiesolana’ Festival - Italy
Contributed by Alessio Gerundini
Accordionist Francesco Gesualdi appeared in concert in the famous Roman Theater at the long running ‘Fiesolana’ Festival on July 7th.
Other musicians in this concert included the pianist Pier Narciso Masi, the violinist Cristiano Rossi, and an orchestra directed by Pero Bellugi. Gesualdi performed ‘Breath’, a new composition by the Italian composer Mauro Cardi for accordion and live electronics. This work was inspired by a play written in 1958 by Samuel Beckett.
An Accordion Birthday Cake for the Best Teacher, Ohrid - Macedonia
Contributed by Anica Karakutovska
After a successful ending of the school year filled with lots of concerts and competitions home and abroad, on July 22nd Professor Zorica Karakutovska used the opportunity to celebrate her birthday and recently received award.
This year, the Association of Music and Ballet teachers from the Republic of Macedonia for the third time awarded prizes for best teachers in the field of music education. The prize ceremony was at the closing concert at the 6th International competition for young musicians ‘Ohrid Pearls’ – 2007. Professor of Accordion Zorica Karakutovska was proclaimed for best pedagogue in school year 2005/2006. That is her third award for best teacher in the field of music education and additional reason for a great birthday celebration.
The party was enriched with amazing accordion cake, a gift that Professor Karakutovska shared with family, friends and her students.
Jon Hammond Remembers Jimi Hendrix, Frankfurt – Germany
The Jon Hammond Band made 'Accordion History' at Frankfurt Musikmesse demonstrating his Excelsior accordion through 2 full stacks of Marshall Amps like Jimi Hendrix! With Erik Hargrove, drummer of James Brown Soul Generals, Kevin Mauder - tenor sax, Tyrone Starks – trombone, playing Jon's Soul Rock compositions ‘Get Back In The Groove’ and theme song ‘Late Rent’. This was Jon's 21st consecutive year playing at the Musikmesse instrument trade show.
The UK Roland V-Accordion Competition takes place on September 30th at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Roland must receive entries by September 5th. The prize for the UK final is £1,000 worth of Roland Equipment and the European final prize is Euros 5,000. Winners of this and the other national contests go forward to the International finals, which will take place in Italy in early November.
Competitors need to film themselves playing a short program of 5 minutes and send it in to Roland UK. Any make of accordion may be used for the video but competitors must play a Roland V-Accordion in the finals, which can be borrowed from Roland two weeks prior to the final if one is not owned already. The competition is open to soloists or ensembles of up to 4 people. The rules and regulations are all now available from Roland UK.
The 4th Majella Etnofestival takes place in San Valentino, Abruzzo, on July 27th and 28th. This festival focuses on regional song and dance, and involves all kinds of musicians including accordionists.
Boston-based Irish accordionist performs at Cape Cod Irish Village, 512 Main Street, W. Yarmouth, Massachusetts, on July 29th and 30th, and on August 5th, 6th, 22nd, 23rd and 30th. In 1955 Fintan Stanley was the first to win an All Ireland title using the Continental chromatic button accordion, and has since pursued a career as a versatile entertainer.
The Andanças International Festival takes place from July 30th to August 5th, and features several accordionists. Each festival addresses a different theme, and this year ‘Metamorphosis’ has been chosen because the organisers want to see some changes: “We believe we have come very far in our way to put popular dance back in a proper social environment.
Yet we believe we are short of getting where we should be by now, 12 years gone: we would like people to especially engage with Portuguese popular dances, which are still much neglected among Andanças world dances. This also means getting more musicians to play Portuguese dances, so this year we offer several workshops on traditional Portuguese musical instruments. Because people also used to dance to the sound of accapella songs, also we offer workshops on songs from different Portuguese regions”.
‘Metamorphosis’ also addresses human behaviour towards environmental sustainability, implementing eco-initiatives that are aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the Festival. Publicity information states that: “There is a need for a real metamorphosis in behaviour, we must reduce consumption, we must recycle, we must dance our way to sustainability."
The North Shore Accordion Orchestra will perform a ‘Farewell Concert’ on Sunday August 5th, 4pm to 6pm, prior to departing for the Coupe Mondiale held in Washington DC, USA, August 13th to 15th. The venue is the Function Room, Glenfield Leisure Centre, Bentley Avenue, Glenfield. This concert will also feature solo contributions from NSAO members Jessica Chen, Daisy Huang, Stephanie and Olivia Panzic and George Xu, each of whom will represent New Zealand at the Coupe Mondiale. Both the Music Makers and Musicale Groups will play at the concert, and Lionel Reekie will direct the NSAO.
NSAO members Grayson Masefield and Edward Giffney are representing NZ too but are already overseas.
During August the NSAO will be performing at the Kennedy Centre, during the Coupe Mondiale, in Washington, and at the Mount Vernon City Hall Plaza in New York.
The annual accordion course at Dartington Hall takes place from August 11th to 18th, led by Ian Watson. The course will focus on ensemble as well as solo performance. The repertoire will be varied: Bach (suites, inventions and fugues) and folk music from around the UK, drawing on the dance element of both. Participants should be able to read music and have prepared at least one solo piece to work on in masterclasses.
Harmonica Ensemble ‘Guinness Book of Records’ Attempt, Trossingen - Germany
Contributed by Hermi Kaleta
Am Sonntag, 9. Selptember ab 16 Uhr auf dem Rathausplatz in Trossingen. Mitmachen kann jeder, der pusten kann - musikalische "Vorbildung" oder Mundharmonika-Kenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich. Die eigens komponierte "Weltrekord-Melodie" wird vor Ort einstudiert.
Information unter www.150jahrehohner.de
Tel.: 0049 + 7531 - 91899 04 oder jo@joproject.de
The World Country Music Contest takes place later in 2007, and is open to all singers, musicians and bands. Applicants are invited to submit a video and win up to $200,000 in prizes, with the final contest taking place in Nashville, Tennessee. Registration online by August 1st 2007.
The 2007 Accordion Master Class & Concert Series sponsored by the American Accordionists' Association runs from July 27, 28 & 29. The series of master classes and concerts is led by the incomparable Dr. William Schimmel who promises "a weekend romp of questionable, useless and far-fetched information."
Part of that includes the premiere performance by Lenny Feldmann of "The Darkside of the Moon Suite" he arranged for acoustic accordion, based on the 1973 Album of the same name by rock group Pink Floyd. The 12:30 minute arrangement includes Breathe, Time, Breathe (reprise), The Great Gig in the Sky, Money, Us and Them, Brain Damage, Eclipse, on Friday, July 27, 2007, 7 pm at the Tenri Cultural Center of New York on West 13th Street, New York City. Full details are on the AAA website.
Gary Dahl - accordionist as well as a composer, arranger, recording artist and music educator, releases 3 new works for accordion available for purchase online, ‘Beer Barrel Polka’, ‘Fascination’, 'The Music Of The Night'. Samples of this music are available on the site. The music is in eSheet format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card.
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In einem Konzert, welches am Samstag, den 07. Juli im Wembley Stadion stattfand, sah die die ganze Welt wie Madonna ihr 70 000 Zuschauern-Publikum in einem phantastischen London-Finale ihrer Tou8r „Live Earth“ entertainte.
Am 19. July 2007 war 
Elio Pietro Viola, 91, ist am 17. Juli im Hamilton General Krankenhaus, Ontario, gestorben. Er war Akkordeonist seit seinem 14. Lebensjahr und sein Akkordeon und sein Unterricht berührte viele. Seine Witwe Agnes, die mit ihm fast 64 Jahre verheiratet war, sagte, dass sie nicht mehr zählen könne, wievielen Menschen ihr Mann das Akkordeonspielen beibrachte.
Accordionist Francesco Gesualdi appeared in concert in the famous Roman Theater at the long running ‘Fiesolana’ Festival on July 7th.
After a successful ending of the school year filled with lots of concerts and competitions home and abroad, on July 22nd Professor Zorica Karakutovska used the opportunity to celebrate her birthday and recently received award.
Jon Hammond
The UK 
Majella Etnofestival, Abruzzo - Italy
Fintan Stanley Concerts, Massachusetts – USA
International Festival 2007, Andanças – Portugal
Yet we believe we are short of getting where we should be by now, 12 years gone: we would like people to especially engage with Portuguese popular dances, which are still much neglected among Andanças world dances. This also means getting more musicians to play Portuguese dances, so this year we offer several workshops on traditional Portuguese musical instruments. Because people also used to dance to the sound of accapella songs, also we offer workshops on songs from different Portuguese regions”.
The North Shore Accordion Orchestra will perform a ‘Farewell Concert’ on Sunday August 5th, 4pm to 6pm, prior to departing for the Coupe Mondiale held in Washington DC, USA, August 13th to 15th. The venue is the Function Room, Glenfield Leisure Centre, Bentley Avenue, Glenfield. This concert will also feature solo contributions from NSAO members Jessica Chen, Daisy Huang, Stephanie and Olivia Panzic and George Xu, each of whom will represent New Zealand at the Coupe Mondiale. Both the Music Makers and Musicale Groups will play at the concert, and 
World Country Music Contest, Nashville – USA
The 2007 Accordion Master Class & Concert Series sponsored by the 