Festival Report from the Younger Generation
- atgaccordionistste
- Aug 18
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 20
by Zach Grindle
The Accordionists & Teachers Guild, International hosted its 83rd Competition and Festival in Lisle (Chicago), IL, from Wednesday, July 16th through Saturday, July 19th. The festival included workshops, a master class, a Galla-Rini Historical Exhibit, nightly concerts at Wheaton College, and much more. Featured artists included Peter Soave, Duo TWO ACCORDIONS (Sergei & Maria Teleshev), Bridge & Wolak (Michael Bridge & Kornel Wolak), Joaquín Muñoz Donoso, and the incredible Joan Cochran Sommers. Performances given throughout the week can be viewed on the ATG YouTube channel.
Festival attendees were welcomed on Wednesday evening with an ice cream social, in addition to informational tables featuring membership benefits and events put on by ATG beyond the festival, including complimentary sheet music, a reading discussion of accordion literature, biweekly workshops, professional development for teachers, and information on the ATG Syllabus Exam.
Thursday began in the morning with over 30 evaluations and competitions (including Syllabus Exams throughout the festival). Sergei and Maria Teleshev presented a workshop on "7 Ways to Make the Accordion More Popular," covering subjects such as public performances and how to get more bookings, educational programs in schools, organizing accordion competitions, audio/video production, and the development of a YouTube channel and other platforms. Sergei and Maria, the father-daughter duo behind TWO ACCORDIONS, are both accordion champions and world-class musicians, offering a truly unique collaboration. Maria’s talent is not limited to her exceptional duet and solo accordion performances, but also includes playing other instruments, as well as being a talented dancer and award-winning singer. Duo “TWO ACCORDIONS” is unquestionably one of the most striking duos in the United States and performed during the Friday evening concert.
Rehearsals for the ATG Festival Orchestra got underway on Thursday in preparation for the Saturday evening concert featuring 50 accordionists and 3 percussionists. Throughout the festival, attendees enjoyed browsing through the hundreds of accordion arrangements and works generously donated to the ATG by the Donald Balestrieri estate. All of these works, as well as the Anthony Galla-Rini Accordion Arrangements, can be found and purchased at https://emusicforaccordion.com/. This year’s festival also featured a Galla-Rini Historical Exhibit honoring ATG Founder and President Emeritus, Anthony Galla-Rini.
The ATG 2025 Concert Series began on Thursday evening at Wheaton College, where the ATG welcomed the UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble and Peter Soave on bandoneon with string quintet. The ATG is always delighted to have the UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble perform at the ATG festival, and this year was no exception. Under the direction of Joan Cochran Sommers, the ensemble continues to be the premier classical accordion ensemble in the United States. Most of the players in the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Community Accordion Ensemble are alumni of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and former members of the renowned UMKC Accordion Orchestra. The players make their living in various careers, but each has remained devoted to promoting the accordion and its varied repertoire, including transcriptions, commissions, and other original works.
Recognized worldwide as a master of the bandoneon and concert accordion, Peter Soave has established himself as one of the leading soloists of his generation. Deeply inspired by the music of Astor Piazzolla, Peter’s impassioned musicianship motivated him to include the characteristic bandoneon in his performances, with much of his program on Thursday featuring Piazzolla’s works. The ATG was pleased to welcome Peter back forty years after winning the CIA Coupe Mondial as a representative of the United States and ATG.
The festival continued on Friday with a workshop presented by Gordon Kohl on the topic of “Playing Austrian, Polish, Tyrolean and Oberkrainer Music.” Gordon's workshops are always a popular event at the ATG festival. Here, he discussed the details of how to perform various styles of music and what makes each style unique. Following Gordon’s workshop was a master class by Dr. Michael Bridge, who earned his doctorate in accordion performance from the University of Toronto – researching “Expressive Virtuosity” on the accordion. He has given master classes for the accordion classes in Kiev, Kraków, Łódź, Helsinki, Paris, and Strasbourg, among others. During his ATG master class, Michael worked with two young students, Cristobol Montoya and Maria Telesheva, where he demonstrated in real time what goes on during a lesson with advanced students and showed a glimpse of how to take a student’s playing to the highest level. Michael also performed solo in the Friday evening concert in addition to the Saturday evening concert with Kornel Wolak as ‘Bridge & Wolak.’
Started by Joan C. Sommers, and as a tradition of ATG for several years now, the Original Music Concert featured works specifically written for accordion. This concert includes performances by many different ATG members, often with several wonderful works by the composers within ATG. Performances ranged from solos to duets to full ensembles, and even included a choir with accordion accompaniment. Following the Original Music Concert was the Gala Banquet with musical entertainment by Gordon Kohl.
The second evening of the ATG Concert Series featured the inspiring musicianship of Michael Bridge, Joaquín Muñoz Donoso, and Duo TWO ACCORDIONS. Joaquín Muñoz Donoso is a virtuoso of the accordion, with only 10 years of experience, and with formal studies in various instruments (Cello, Double Bass, Organ, Composition, and Orchestral Conducting). Coming from a family of musicians, he has been engaged in academic studies since age 3 and is the winner of multiple national and international competitions. Joaquín is a cultural promoter and founder of several institutions aimed at the professionalization of the accordion in Chile. Each of these fantastic performers offered a diverse and enticing program, featuring classical, contemporary, jazz, Latin, and pop selections, leaving everyone to enjoy something.
The last day of the festival began on Saturday with a final workshop by Joaquín Muñoz Donoso on “Latin Rhythms,” where he demonstrated and showed attendees an authentic representation of how to play Latin Rhythms with a focus on using the left hand. The Saturday Morning Concert featured the many ensembles of the Chicagoland Accordion Academy. Started in 2020 by past ATG president Mary Ann Covone, the Chicagoland Accordion Academy has grown to become the premier Chicagoland accordion school and is operating at nearly full capacity. The concert featured the “Gruppo Piccolo” ensemble (comprised of beginning adult students), the Children’s Group with over a dozen young students, a mixed-instrumental group, and finally the Chicagoland Accordion Academy Orchestra (the advanced group). One of the final selections was a piece written by our very own Amy Jo Sawyer, named Brazilian Holiday, and was dedicated to and premiered by the Chicagoland Accordion Academy Orchestra.
Following a lunch buffet with entertainment provided by the beloved duo of Frank Busso Sr. & Frank Busso Jr., the Awards Ceremony honored all of our fantastic competitors, exam takers, and those who performed in a juried evaluation for their hard work. The ATG awarded a cash prize to the 2025 Virtuoso Championship and Virtuoso Entertainment winner, Djordje Peric from Bijeljina. A cash scholarship was also awarded to Cristobal Montoya.
To start off the final evening concert, the long-standing and ever-popular ATG Festival Accordion Orchestra, directed by Joan C. Sommers, performed works by Sibelius, Prokofiev, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mascagni, and Anthony Galla-Rini. The Festival Orchestra brings a diverse set of musicians from all over the USA, plus international players from countries such as Canada, Austria, Chile, and New Zealand. With only a few rehearsals, Joan Sommers is able to put together an unforgettable experience for both the players and audience. Bringing the concert to a close was the encapsulating music of Bridge & Wolak, who are a globe-trotting duo from Canada who create life-affirming concerts full of beauty, virtuosity, and humor. Michael Bridge (digital and acoustic accordion) and Kornel Wolak (clarinet) met over a decade ago and immediately established an artistic alliance based on the attraction of opposites: Wolak – intensely focused with a world view infused with sardonic humour; and Bridge – flexible and fearless with a playful wit. They play dozens of original shows every year, exploring everything from Bach to Benny Goodman, and figure they’ve logged about 350,000 kilometres on the road.
Marking the end of the ATG 2025 Festival was the farewell party after the concert, with lots of laughter and parting goodbyes as attendees left for home between Saturday and Sunday. For those interested in exploring a little of Chicago, the ATG hosted a sightseeing excursion on Sunday, which included a boat tour and a traditional Italian dinner.
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