Henry Doktorski Pianist Organist Accordionist Composer Conductor Author Educator The Accordion in the Encyclopedia of American Music and Culture

May, 2011: Henry Doktorski has written a 1000-word article about the accordion to be published in December in the five-volume Encyclopedia of American Music and Culture. The encyclopedia presents topics on contemporary themes that show the influence of music on culture in the United States, as well as the influence of culture on American music. The publisher, ABC-CLIO—an award-winning publisher of reference, contemporary thought and professional development content, is targeted toward students, educators, librarians and general readers of all ages.

Doktorski's article, titled "The Accordion in American Music and Culture," describes:

the physical attributes of the accordion
its taxonomy and relation to other free-reed instruments
a history of the accordion in the early nineteenth-century in Europe
the accordion's arrival in the United States in the 1830s
the invention of the piano-accordion
the introduction of the piano-accordion to American audiences on the vaudeville stage in the early twentieth century
the half-century of the "Golden Age of the Accordion" (1910-1960)
the accordion on radio and on sound records
the accordion in ethnic music, jazz, big band music and classical music
accordion manufacturers and music publishers in the United States
the advent of rock music and the "generation gap" in the 1950s and the decline of the accordion's popularity
the recent resurgence of the accordion due to the popularity of World Music.

Prominent pioneer accordionists in the United States are mentioned, including Pietro Frosini, Guido Deiro, Pietro Deiro, Anthony Galla-Rini, Charles Magnante, Art Van Damme, Dick Contino and others.

Jacqueline Edmondson, editor for the Encyclopedia of American Music and Culture, wrote in reference to Doktorski's article, "Thank you for this wonderful piece. It really will make a nice contribution to this project. It is clearly written and accessible to general audiences, and there are some nice references for further reading." To order the encyclopedia, visit the ABC-CLIO website.