Dr. Lynda Griffith is collecting research data (Questionnaire) about accordionists, concertinists and bandoneonists etc. and their practice habits, skill levels, and possible injuries. Information gathered will be included in an upcoming book about the mechanics of playing different types of accordions, and prevention and treatment of injuries to players.
To date, Lynda Griffith has collected responses from over 400 players from more than 25 countries. The book will be written as a reference for the player, for teachers, and for medical practitioners who treat injuries.
Lynda Griffith has unique qualifications as a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Licensed Physical Therapist, a Certified Accordion, Concertina and Bandoneon Repair Technician, who plays all seven of the major instruments of the accordion family. Lynda Griffith is also a member of the Performing Arts Medicine Association and the Performing Arts Special Interest Group of the American Physical Therapy Association.
Most respondents in the study are from the USA because these have been the easiest for Lynda Griffith to contact, and now, citizens of Europe, Asia, Russia, Africa and China need to be better represented in the study, to improve the world significance. Please help by participating and by asking your friends, colleagues, students and teachers to complete the Questionnaire.
Vadim Fedorov at "Accordion Day", Reykjavik - Iceland
On May 5th, Accordion Day is going to take place in Reykjavik City Town Hall. Special guest is Vadim Fedorov, the Russian bayan player, now resident in Iceland, the winner of several international competitions.
Vadim Fedorov will perform with his jazz-trio: Leifur Gunnarsson (bass) and Gunnar Hilmarsson (guitar). The trio was formed by Vadim in November 2006, and has already gained popularity often performing in Reykjavik.
Pascal Contet avec le trio Contet, Chevillon, Corneloup est nommé aux Victoires du Jazz 2007 (C'est un prix très convoité par les musiciens et après Galliano, Azzola, Daniel Mille - Pascal est fier de faire partie de la sélection) .
Ce CD est disponible sur Internet et ne coûte que 15 euros +port en le commandant sur Internet au lieu de 22 euros en magasin.
Le résultat final sont le 9 juin à la TV et radio Française ( France 3 TV, France 4 TV , et France Inter Radio).
There will be daily reports of the UK Championships and Festival, Friday May 4th to Sunday May 6th on the NAO website.
Just click the banner above to go and view the site, which already includes a daily schedule of competitions and concerts, and will have results posted immediately after the event.
There will be daily reports of the 44th Klingenthal International Accordion Competition and Festival in Klingenthal, Germany from the 7th to the 10th May. Just click the banner above to go and view the site and the results at the end of the event.
Accordions Worldwide Director Harley Jones will be reporting both these events and welcomes meeting as many accordionists as possible.
Corriere Della Sera, one of the largest Italian daily newspapers had the accordion featured in their front page ‘Photo of the Day’ on the April 30th.
Pictured is accordionist Omar Geles having a great time during a private party at the Vallenato Festival in Valledupar, North Colombia. Picture supplied by AP.
On April 29th, accordionist Aidar Gainullin, laureate of international competitions and composer, and the famous cellist and conductor David Geringas, Professor at the Hanns Eisler-University of Music in Berlin, performed a grand concert with symphony orchestra in the famous hall of ‘Santa Cecilia’ in Rome.
Their program included music of composers from Latin America. To conclude the concert the musicians performed several works dedicated to the memory of world-known cellist M. Rostropovich, who had passed away last week.
Aidar Gainullin has recently received a scholarship from the fund of Rostropovich, who has personally and substantially supported his career.
Chicago Debut for Australian Accordionist, Illinois – USA
Australian-born, visually impaired accordionist, Bernadette Conlon, who is now residing in Rockford, Illinois, gave her debut performance for the Chicago Accordion Club.
Picture from left to right: Lenny Leto, Bernadette Conlon, and jazz accordionist, Mike Alongi. The new look Bernadette delighted the audience, with her charm and versatility, playing her own dazzling arrangements, which ranged from Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers, to an ABBA medley, selections from West Side Story, to traditional accordion selections, to her boogie version of Under the Boardwalk, to a warm standing ovation.
Bernadette is delighted to play for such groups, which keep the accordion alive and allow and encourage such artistes as herself to perform, encouraging new work and allowing artistes to lure the instrument into the realms of popularity.
The enthusiastic Chicago Accordion Club meets on the third Monday of the month, at the beautiful American Legion's Club in Elmhurst, with pre-meeting music from 6.30 pm, general business meeting at 7.30pm and the featured artist at approximately 8pm.
Next month's program will feature Seattle's wonderfully talented Zydeco and jazz accordionist Murl Allen Sanders.
Le 14 Avril 2007 s’est déroulé le 19ème rassemblement des « Amis de l’Accordéon » à la salle des Ormeaux dans le village des Herbiers en Vendée. C’est donc en 1989 qu’est née l’idée de ce rassemblement dont le président Mr Hilaire Vinet, aujourd’hui décédé, a cédé la place à Mr Eugène Arnoux. Au début, ils étaient 17 accordéonistes, en ce jour, devenus association depuis 1993 ils sont 107 adhérents ! Et ils fêteront leur 20ième anniversaire l’année prochaine, occasion pour laquelle ils ne manqueront pas de se réunir autour d’un bon repas et de beaucoup de musique naturellement !
Toutes les occasions sont bonnes pour faire la fête ; en effet en janvier ils organisent leur assemblée générale, puis au printemps un repas dansant animé par les adhérents eux même, durant l’été un pique-nique en plein air autour de la traditionnelle brioche vendéenne, et enfin une à deux fois par an un bal afin de leur permettre de financer les manifestations de l’association. Ils ont même développé un partenariat avec une école de musique où un poste de professeur d’accordéon a été crée, actuellement occupé par Mr Alain Fillon qui aide certains de ces musiciens passionnés !
D’ailleurs ils n’hésitent pas à se retrouver tous les 15 jours pour travailler ensemble la musique et échanger leurs idées. A noter qu’en ce jour, Mr le Maire des Herbiers étaient présent, ainsi que Mr Guy Duchenne, réparateur de nos chers instruments, Catherine Barré son apprenti, et Jean-Louis Noton, démonstrateur des accordéons Cavagnolo qui ont présenté un des derniers modèles de la fabrique : le Zykbox. Voilà une fête autour de l’accordéon bien réussie. Pourvu que ça continue!
There will be a display of 100 antique accordions at Grantown Museum, Morayshire, from May 6th to 20th, from 10.30am to 4pm daily. The instruments are owned and displayed by Caroline Hunt.
Accordionist Zoltan Orosz’s long tour of Hungary will finish soon. The last concert will be held on May 18th, in the largest covered venue in Budapest, the László Papp Sportarena in Budapest.
After that Zoltán will perform 2 concerts with the group that is closest to his heart: ‘Zoltan Orosz and Friends’. This group features accordion, guitar, bass-guitar and percussion, which is a standard formation. A one-week tour of Transylvania will soon be undertaken.
Tom Alexander, from Glasgow, best known as the one of The Alexander Brothers, legends of Scottish entertainment, is the guest at Stockport Accordion Club on Wednesday May 9th, 8pm, Woodley Methodist Church, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 1BL.
In the enjoyable Ambience of the Rojachhofs Lendorf, Spittal, (a former castle) the Kärntner Accordion Association organizes from August 5th to 11th for the 5th time an accordion camp for students, and an accordion workshop for accordion teachers under the educational and artistic direction of Lars Holm. All students who want to meet and play with other accordionists are invited to participate and enjoy one week of fun.
Activities planned include: ensemble playing, percussions-workshop and common rehearsing of pieces also free improvising, free time activities such as walking tours, table tennis, football, as well as a large final concert for family and friends.
Accordion teachers are invited to participate in a workshop for further training. The aim of this accordion workshop is to offer a platform for teachers in order to make possible contacts, exchange of experiences, an accordion ensemble for teachers and discussions in relaxing atmosphere.
The ensemble rehearsal times and the favourable situation of the Rojachhofs (very near to the mountains, the lake Millstaettersee and the city of Spittal) offer excellent possibilities for various vacation activities - with family members and friends, who are very welcome at the Rojachhof.
"The Classic Accordion - what does it offer to composers?" Vienna - Austria
Contributed by Hermi Kaleta
A workshop under the intriguing title "The Classic Accordion" - what does it offer to composers?" takes place at the Conservatory in Vienna on Sunday May 8th, from 10am until 4pm.
On the previous evening, May 7th, at 6.30pm, there will be an opening concert featuring some specially commissioned compositions by the Japanese composer Makoto Nomura.
FM Manufacturer for Accordion Accessories in Castelfidardo - new email contact details: www.accordions.com/fm
Lanzinger Harmonikas/Accordions - All kinds of Harmonikas (steirisch/diatonic) and accordion types produced by Peter Lanzinger in Italy.
Reeds manufacturer Harmonikas is situated in Louny, Czech Republic since 1946. The company is offering a wide range of reed quality including hand made, hand type, export type reeds for a variety of instruments such as harmonium, bayan and bandoneon. New technologies for precise cutting, profile grinding, semi-automatic tuning plus skilled workers ensure high quality.
Czech Republic accordion/harmonica makers based in Horovice (founded by Josef Kebrdle in 1920) now owned by Zdenek Koutny - AKORDEON SERVIS. These businesses are manufacturing the brands Josef Kebrdle, Lignatone, Delicia, Fantasy (custom made upon request) and are also importers of Italian and German made instruments and accessories and sellers of second-hand instruments.
Web: http://www.harmoniky.cz and www.delicia.cz
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Dr. Lynda Griffith is collecting research data (
On May 5th, Accordion Day is going to take place in Reykjavik City Town Hall. Special guest is 
Trio Contet nommé aux Victoires du Jazz 2007 - France
Pascal Contet
Le résultat final sont le 9 juin à la TV et radio Française ( France 3 TV, France 4 TV , et France Inter Radio).
Acordionists Have More Fun - Italy/Columbia
Aidar Gainullin Concert – Rome - Italy
Australian-born, visually impaired accordionist, 
Le 14 Avril 2007 s’est déroulé le 19ème rassemblement des « Amis de l’Accordéon » à la salle des Ormeaux dans le village des Herbiers en Vendée. C’est donc en 1989 qu’est née l’idée de ce rassemblement dont le président Mr Hilaire Vinet, aujourd’hui décédé, a cédé la place à Mr Eugène Arnoux. Au début, ils étaient 17 accordéonistes, en ce jour, devenus association depuis 1993 ils sont 107 adhérents ! Et ils fêteront leur 20ième anniversaire l’année prochaine, occasion pour laquelle ils ne manqueront pas de se réunir autour d’un bon repas et de beaucoup de musique naturellement !
Ils ont même développé un partenariat avec une école de musique où un poste de professeur d’accordéon a été crée, actuellement occupé par Mr Alain Fillon qui aide certains de ces musiciens passionnés !
Zoltan Orosz
Tom Alexander in Concert, Stockport – UK
Mastgerclass avec Bruno Maurice - France
In the enjoyable Ambience of the Rojachhofs Lendorf, Spittal, (a former castle) the Kärntner Accordion Association organizes from August 5th to 11th for the 5th time an accordion camp for students, and an accordion workshop for accordion teachers under the educational and artistic direction of Lars Holm. All students who want to meet and play with other accordionists are invited to participate and enjoy one week of fun.
"The Classic Accordion - what does it offer to composers?" Vienna - Austria
