The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.: News About Classical Free-Reed Instruments and Performers
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(additional news -- in English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese -- may be found at: Accordions Worldwide Weekly News. For news specific to North America, see Accordion USA

Doktorski in Recital

April 2001: The Classical Free-Reed, Inc. founder, Henry Doktorski will perform original compositions by Guido Deiro and Pietro Frosini in recital at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) at 6 pm on Sunday, May 6, 2001. The concert, to be held in the PNC Recital Hall at the School of Music, will feature faculty members and advanced students of Duquesne University's "City Music Center." For more information contact City Music Center Executive Director, Sally Stone, at stone@duq.edu.

Accordionists to Wed

April 2001: Concert accordionist Henry Doktorski (founder of The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.) and American Airlines Flight Attendant Mary Kay Welter (Accordionist of the Sky) announce their wedding which will take place at St. Patrick's Church, Oakdale, Pennsylvania at 2:30 PM, Saturday June 23rd, 2001.

Accordionists wishing to perform at the reception may inquire at free-reed@trfn.clpgh.org.

Bayanist In Rotterdam Competition

March 2001: Finnish bayan player Veli Kujala has reached the final and placed fourth in the 33rd International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition. The competition was held in Rotterdam from February 25th to March 3rd and it was organized in the framework of the 2nd Rotterdam Music Biennial. Over 70 musicians from thirty countries attended into the competition. Veli Kujala's program included works by Vesa Valkama, Jouni Kaipainen, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti, Ton de Leeuw, Henk Badings, Arne Nordheim, Toshio Hosokawa and Aram Hatsaturjan. The final round of the competition was recorded by the VPRO-radio for later broadcast on the Dutch Radio 4 Station.

Soave Performs

March 2001: Bandoneonist Peter Soave performed Sunday, March 4th at the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian church in Detroit's historic Indian Village. He was accompanied by his string quintet composed of MOT orchestra members: Victoria Haltom and Velda Kelly violins, Barbara Zmich viola and Nadine Deleury cello and jazz bass player Marion Hayden. The program included music of Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla and Venezuelan composer A. Romero.

New Accordion Concerto Draws Impressive Reviews

March 2001: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: On the evening of February 6, 2001, in the Winspear Centre for Music, on the opening gala concert of the Resound Festival of Contemporary Music, concert accordionist N. Antonio Peruch and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Grzegorz Nowak gave the World Premiere performance of celebrated Canadian composer Malcolm Forsyth's Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra.

The Edmonton Sun music critic John Charles wrote: "The premiere of Malcolm Forsyth's Accordion Concerto was impressive . . . Forsyth has written a splendid, soaring work that's accessible on first hearing but deserving of many more."

Edmonton Journal music critic D. T. Baker wrote: "Edmonton composer Malcolm Forsyth's new Accordion Concerto makes as strong an argument as has been made for the instrument on the symphonic stage. N. Antonio Peruch's blazing performance on an instrument specifically built for him made this rich, vital music come alive."

On Sunday, March 4, 2001, at 10:00 pm Eastern Standard time, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) will be broadcasting the performance on the new music radio program "Two New Hours". The performance can also be heard at the same time on the internet in streaming Real Audio. The Web Site address is: http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/2newhours/2newhours.html. For more information, please contact: Liz Smolec via email at fisa@telusplanet.net.

The Classical Free-Reed, Inc. Founder to Perform at NYC Recital

February 2001: Henry Doktorski will perform at the City University of New York on Friday, March 23rd, 2001. The recital, sponsored by The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments and The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, will begin at 7:30 P.M. at the Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall at The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street.

Doktorski will perform compositions by two great Italian-American accordionists of the first half of the 20th century: Guido Deiro and Pietro Frosini.

Guido Deiro was born in Salta, Italy in 1886; as a young man he played at beer gardens and cafes in Italy and Germany. After he emigrated to the United States shortly after the turn of the century, he became famous as a vaudeville star, international recording artist, composer and teacher. He and his brother Pietro were among the highest paid performers on the circuit. He began teaching when the "moving pictures" forced many vaudeville shows to close. Guido dated the famous actress Mae West and is mentioned in her biography. He died in 1950.

Pietro Frosini was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1885 and began to play the accordion at the age of six. In 1905 he emigrated to San Francisco and was discovered by a talent scout for the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit. Soon after, he met and became friends with Guido Deiro. Frosini made one of the first accordion recordings on a cylinder record for Edison in 1907 and made his first Victor recording in 1908. He traveled extensively on the vaudeville circuit in America and abroad and even performed for the King of England.

Frosini gave up vaudeville in 1932 when the "talkies" closed most vaudeville companies; he then became a staff accordionist for WOR radio in New York, a position he held until his death in 1951. Throughout his career, he performed, taught, composed and arranged music for the accordion. He wrote more than 200 original compositions for the instrument.

During the CUNY recital, Doktorski will perform two works by Guido Deiro: the waltz My Florence (1916) and the fantasia Egypto (1927), and four pieces by Frosini: the swing novelty Rag in D Minor (1918), the overture Omaggio a Pietro (1918), the waltz Florette (1934), and Rhapsody No. 2 in C Minor (1939).

The recital is part of a larger event sponsored by CSFRI titled The Accordion as an Icon of Italian American Culture. This two-part event begins on March 23rd with a symposium at 3 P.M. (in which scholars will present papers examining aspects of the accordion and Italian American culture), and concludes with the accordion recital at 7:30 P.M. Other performers include Robert Y. McMahan and William Schimmel.

For tickets and other information, call 212-817-8215 or email continuinged@gc.cuny.edu.

Vienna International Accordion Festival Announcement

Vienna, February 24 - March 25, 2001: 50 artists from 11 countries, on 18 meetings and 14 different venues. For more information, see www.akkordeonfestival.at.

The Free-Reed Journal, Vol. 2 is published

February, 2001: The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments has published volume two of their annual Free-Reed Journal. The contents (to cite the main articles only) are:
  • Maria Dunkel, "Buttons and Codes: Ideographies for Bandoneon and Concertina as Examples of Alternative Notational Systems in Nineteenth-Century Germany"

  • Ewald Henseler and Satoshi Murao, "Some Notes on the Suifukin: A Reed-Pipe in Late Meiji-Era Japan"

  • Cathy Ragland, "'With his Accordion in his Hand': The Impact of the Accordion during the Formative Years of Modern Texas-Mexican Conjunto Music (1930s-1950s)"

  • James P. Cottingham, "The Acoustics of the American Reed Organ"

  • Allan W. Atlas, "Concertinas 1998-1999 (A Brief Review-Essay)"

  • In addition: reviews of books and CDs, conference reports, two music supplements, and announcements.

    • One can order the journal ($15.00 in the USA; $20.00 overseas) directly from the publisher: Pendragon Press at penpress@taconic.net.

    Volume 3 will appear in October 2001.

    Soave With String Quintet

    Sunday, February 18th, 2001: Bandoneonist Peter Soave and his string quintet will perform "new tango" music by Astor Piazzolla and other composers at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Peter's bass player, Marion Hayden, is well known in Detroit for her numerous appeareances in jazz festivals. Other players will be Victoria Haltom and Liz Rowin, violins, Barbara Zmich viola and Nadine Deleury cello.

    For more info, call Kerrytown Concert House (KCH) *http://www.kerrytown.com/concerthouse) at 734 769 2999.

    Peter Soave In Concert

  • January 7, 2001 with Emerald Sinfonietta, conducted by Felix Resnick. Paul Hindemith's "Chambermusic No. 1" was performed on accordion at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.

  • January 13, 2001 at First Presbyterian Church in Bay City, MI. Soave performed Piazzolla's "Aconcagua" with the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leo Najar.

  • January 17 & 21, 2001 Bucharest, Roumania. Soave performed nationally televised concerts with Roumanian Philharmonic conducted by Roberto Salvalaio. Programs included Piazzolla's: Aconcagua, Tres Minutos Con La Realidad, Remembrance, Cavalcata, and Adios Nonino.

  • February 1, 2001 Rome, Italy. Orchestra from The Academy of St. Cecilia Roma conducted by Ernesto Gordini. Program will include Piazzolla's "Suite Punta del Este" and Aldemaro Romero's "Piazzollana, homage a Astor Piazzolla--Concerto for Bandoneon and Orchestra"

  • February 2, 2001 Antrodoco, Italy. Program: Romero's "Suite de Castelfdardo" and Piazzolla's "Five Sensations"

    New Accordion Concerto Premieres

    January 2001: EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA -- Concert accordionist N. Antonio Peruch and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Grzegorz Nowak will give the World Premiere performance of Malcolm Forsyth's Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra on Tuesday, February 6, 2001 at 8 pm in the Winspear Centre for Music. This performance will be part of the Gala opening concert of the Resound Festival of Contemporary Music.

    The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) will be taping the performance for a national broadcast on the new music radio program "Two New Hours".

    Malcolm Forsyth is the only composer to have won three Canadian JUNO awards for Best Classical Composition, and in 1989 was named Canadian Composer of the Year. He is Composer-in-Residence at the Department of Music, University of Alberta. N. Antonio Peruch, one of Canada's finest concert accordionists, commissioned Forsyth to write this Concerto. Funding for the commission has been generously provided both by The Alberta Foundation for the Arts and by Liz Smolec.

    Peruch wrote, "Forsyth's beautiful and powerful three-movement Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra, written in 1998 - 99 in close collaboration with me, is unquestionably a significant contribution to the literature of the accordion. It takes full advantage of the most recent design advances of the instrument, exploring its full range of polyphonic and polytimbrical capabilities. A must for all accordion lovers to hear!"

    Tickets for this and other festival and ESO concerts can be purchased from the Centre Box Office. Phone toll-free from anywhere in North America at 1-800-563-5081.

    More information:

    About the Resound Festival of Contemporary Music: http://www.resoundfestival.com/
    About Malcolm Forsyth: http://www.ualberta.ca/~mforsyth
    About the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/
    About N. Antonio Peruch: please contact Liz Smolec via email: fisa@telusplanet.net

    Labro with Symphony

    January 2001: 1996 Coupe Mondiale Winner (Virtuoso Entertainment Category) Julien Labro performed Kurt Weill's Little Threepenny Music with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra on Dec 30, 2000. Labro was asked by the orchestra's music director, Felix Resnick, to perform the music on bandoneon. The concert was held at Temple Beth-El in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and was attended by 800 people. Labro was recently awarded a double scholarship to study accordion/bandoneon at Wayne State University with Peter Soave.

    For news prior to 2000, please see News Bulletins: 2000, News Bulletins: 1999 and News Bulletins: 1998 and 1997.

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