CIA Winter Congress in Paks, Hungary

The Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) held their 149th General Assembly of Delegates Winter Congress in Paks, Hungary from 3-5 March, 2023. The Winter Congress attended by Delegates from 17 countries from as far afield as the USA, South Korea, Russia, Scandanvia and throughout Europe, was hosted by the CIA Voting Member "Az Ifjú Harmonikásokért" Alapítvány - "For the Young Accordionists" Foundation, Olga Papp – President. Representing the United States CIA members, the American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) and the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG) was Delegate Kevin Friedrich who serves on the Board of Directors of both organizations. The opening event of the General Assembly was a Concert in the beautiful Lutheran Church of Paks by accordionist Marcell Csuka and the Mixed Choir of Paks. Marcell performed works ranging from Scarlatti and Rameau to the contemporary composers Berio, Cage and Sciarrino. A graduate of the Bartok Bela Vocational Schoolf of Music in Budapest and the Stain Petersburg Conservatory Rimsky Korsakov in Russia, Marcell specializes in promoting modern works and the accordion and performs with numerous contemporary chamber ensembles. After meetings of the CIA Executive and Music Committees, at the opening session of the 149th General Assembly, President Mirco Patarini (Italy) welcomed Delegates in his opening address. Reports were given by other Executive Officers including Kimmo Mattila (Finland - General Secretary), Alexander Selivanov (Russia – Chairman of the Music Committee), Kevin Friedrich (USA – Ambassador), Harley Jones (New Zealand – Public Relations Manager (presented on his behalf by Kevin Friedrich) and the co-host organizer Sergei Krickij (Hungary – For the Young Accordionists" Foundation). An additional report was presented by Anica Karakutovska of the Ljubiteli na Klasicnata Muzika in Skopje in North Macedonia who highlighted an upcoming premiere by composer Bete Ilin and their 15th Anniversary of the celebration of CIA World Accordion Day. The General Assembly was an opportunity for the CIA to work over matters including financial matters, future events, membership affairs, the upcoming Coupe Mondiale in Bijeljina, Bonia and Herzegovina from the 4-9 September, 2023, technical issues regarding to the Coupe Mondiale as it pertains to the contestants, jury and delegates, Merit and Honored Friend of the Accordion Awards and other agenda items. The CIA unanimously welcomed the renowned group from Moldova, Concertino as a new voting member. Artistic Manager Eugen Negruța and member Sergei Paramonov Mirzac were in attendance to present their application and receive their subsequent membership. Concertino represents a group of accordionists, founded on October 18, 2003, whose purpose is to promote the accordion as an instrument for several musical styles. The concept of Concertino belongs to fresh-faced graduate musicians from Music Theatre and Fine Arts Academy, which had the ambition to „invest” all their musical knowledge into a unique and original project. They proved to the world that the accordion is an instrument that allows the skilled interpreter to perform not only popular but also classical music. Besides the characteristic energy and stamina, Concertino can be proud of having a repertoire that embraces creations from classical, contemporary, folk music, jazz, collaborating with different composers from the country and abroad. Since 2017, Concertino Accordion Band was taken under the protection of prestigious National Philharmonic „Serghei Lunchevici”. The CIA had received two nominations for their prestigious CIA Merit Award, in honor of outstanding contributions to the international accordion movement. The Congress voted to unanimously accept Ladislav Horák (Czech Republic) and Renzo Ruggieri (Italy) for the Merit Awards. No nominations were received for the Honored Friend of the Accordion Award for this General Assembly. The hosts provided an additional concert by Ádám Pataki and his variety Band, performing works by Bartók, Közeledő, Chernikov, Vlasov, Hermosa and Piazzolla followed by a trip to the Fritz Estate vineyard. The Fritz Estate, located on the Golden Hill near Szekszárd, was one of dozens of homesteads in the Decsi vineyard a few decades ago. From the early days of only two hectares of vineyards, the estate has grown to more than 30 hectares allowing the family to revive the centuries-old family winemaking traditions dating back as far as 1635. The CIA Delegates and guests were treated to a gala evening of wine tasting, a grand dinner and traditional Hungarian Music. The event concluded with the closing session of the General Assembly and a farewell luncheon at the Szedmák Maestro Pince-Borház vineyard. The next General Assembly will be held on 5 September 2023 in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina at the opening of the 76th Coupe Mondiale festival. For the latest information on the CIA visit www.accordions.com/cia and for the 76th Coupe Mondiale www.coupemondiale.org.

pictured: CIA Delegates Group Picture

pictured: CIA Executive Committee members:

Mirco Patarini (President - Italy), Kimmo Mattlia (General Secretary - Finland), Kevin Friedrich (Ambassador - USA), Alexander Selivanov (Russia – Chairperson of the Music Committee), Zorica Karakutovska (Vice President - North Macedonia) and Jörgen Sundeqvist (Vice President – Sweden).