See What Our Members Are Doing
- atgaccordionistste
- Aug 18
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 20
Beverley Fess & Ron Griffin
In March and April, the Fess Accordion Ensemble performed at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA, and at the Point Loma Library in San Diego, CA. Group members are ATG members Donna Kaspar, Chris Boris, Ron Griffin and Bev Fess (performer and conductor). Both performances were well attended and very well received.
Bev and Ron continue to perform duets monthly for the San Diego Norwegian Association – The Fish Club.
In mid-June Bev travelled to Madison, Wisconsin to take part in the Stas Venglevski Houston Accordion Orchestra retreat. She participated in all orchestra rehearsals and performances, performed solos, duets and trios, gave a workshop and assisted Stas with offering Masterclasses to the participants. Ron normally would have been part of all this. He had back surgery in late April so wasn’t ready to make this trip.
On June 25, 2025, Beverley Fess & Ron Griffin travelled to Leavenworth, Washington to attend the Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration. Beverley was very busy – rehearsing the Spokane Accordion Ensemble on Wednesday and Thursday for their performance on the stage for the Thursday evening concert. The orchestra performed 13 pieces on the theme of an around the world musical tour. Members of the group included ATG members Chris Boris, Alice Dunkin and Kathleen Falco. The one-hour performance was exceptional and garnered praise from many professional accordion musicians and teachers. Beverley also adjudicated accordion competitions on Friday and Saturday.
Ron had recovered sufficiently enough to return to performing in time to perform duets with Bev at King Ludwigs restaurant as part of the free concerts offered at the festival. In July just prior to attending the ATG Festival Bev and Ron were the featured entertainers for the Sequim Accordion Social.
It has been a great musical season.
Donna Kasper
In a tribute to World Accordion Day on May 6, ATG member Donna Kaspar, President of the San Diego Accordion Club, reserved a lobby display case at her neighborhood library to show off the accordion for the months of May and June. The display included two accordions, coffee table books, sheet music, method books, novels, figurines, a history timeline, links to our local club and social media, and a couple of QR codes to link visitors to professional performances.
Gail Campanella
June, 2025, I participated in the Rose City Music Camp - Portland, OR as staff and conductor of the Beginning Orchestra. I also participated in the Houston Accordion Camp in Madison, Wisconsin under the direction of Stas Venglevski, and featuring the compositions of the youth accordionists.
Joan Grauman Morse and Bill Morse
The spring and early summer for us was “live and breathe preparations for the AAA Festival”. I (Joan) accepted the position of Festival Chairperson this year, an enjoyable, very rewarding, all-consuming effort! We were so pleased with our guest festival orchestra conductor, Mary Ann Covone** our terrific Gala Concert artists: Dallas Vietty**, Peter Stan (Peter was accompanied by my daughter Emily on dumbek) and Felipe Hostins, and our AAA Governing Board performers, judges and helpers. I was certainly not the only one working around the clock. Fellow AAA Board members Don Gerundo, Frank Busso, Jr.**, Ray Oreggia, Rita Barnea**, Joanna Darrow**, Mike Silvia, Beverly Roberts Curnow, Dominic Karcic, Kevin Friedrich**, Mario Tacca (and his wife Mary), and Bob McMahan worked tirelessly, and the result was wonderful. A special thank you goes to Dee Langley** for helping at registration, conducting the youth ensemble, performing for our luncheon concert — and the list goes on!
For Bill and me, seeing our wonderful accordion friends was everything! I loved playing in the orchestra, seeing and playing music in the “after-hours program” with seven of my former amazing Potomac Accordion Ensemble members from the Washington, DC area, plus Mike Silvia on bass accordion, and all of us loved having Bill** accompany the ensemble on percussion for Leroy Anderson’s “Syncopated Clock”. A very special surprise for Bill and me: Joe Natoli wrote a gorgeous piece in our honor called “Where Kindness Lives”. He performed it after the banquet on Saturday night. We were (and still are) so touched and honored!!
As we drove on toward Colorado, we had the pleasure of spending some time with more wonderful accordion friends in Lisle, IL just before the start of the ATG Festival! We wish we could have stayed for this event, but doc appts. were scheduled. Breakfast with ATG folks Joan Sommers, Peter Soave, Leah Stevens, Susan and Kenn Baert, Michael Bridge, and others made the detour to Lisle so very special!!
**Denotes ATG members
Pam Tom and Donna Kasper
Three California accordion enthusiasts (ATG members Donna Kaspar and Pamela Tom, and San Francisco Accordion Club member Tibor Sárkány) teamed up to arrange a California debut tour for accordionist Tamás Kéméndi from Mohács, Hungary. Through timing and luck, two pre-arranged Hungarian Cultural Center gigs in California blossomed into five concert opportunities for the talented performer and educator.
Tibor arranged performances at the Hungarian House in Los Angeles and the Hungarian Cultural Center in Newark. Pamela created a press release for these concerts and shared it with accordion leaders and club presidents, leading to additional opportunities for the international guest. A last-minute vacancy sprang up for an international artist at the Cotati Accordion Festival which opened the door for Tamás' U.S. debut at the largest annual outdoors accordion event in America. Donna arranged a concert and master class hosted by the San Diego Accordion Club, and connected with the House of Hungary (among the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages in Balboa Park, San Diego) which invited Tamás to perform at their August program.
Tamás was awarded the Mihály Tabányi Prize in 2020. The Tabányi Prize (established in 2017) recognizes accordionists who have made excellent contributions over a long period of time to popularize and educate accordion and who are outstanding figures of the field of professional accordion music. Tamás is versatile in classical, jazz, pop-rock and folk music. He graduated as an accordion teacher from Liszt Ferenc Music Academy in Budapest and founded the accordion education program at the Arts of Music Secondary School of Pécs. His students have received several exceptional results at national and international competitions.
Jane Christison
I had a crazy busy June and July playing at libraries, festivals – including Old Shawnee Days and the Teddy Bear Picnic, preschools, and seniors facilities. (Who knew that playing for preschoolers is considered a “field trip” for the kiddos?!?) And if 72 performances during those two months wasn’t quite enough, I also played four concerts as a member of the UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble.
It was a really fun couple of months using the accordion to share music with so many young children, and some of the schools have already booked performances for the summer of 2026. : )
Kim and Dan Christian
We did have a hugely successful event in Albuquerque and are very excited to announce that we will be having next year's event in San Diego. The San Diego Accordion Extravaganza will take place May 13 - 16 with extended days for Sea World and fun events!
Dan has been busy arranging several new tunes for this event including:
Selections from Aladdin
Sing! Sing! Sing!
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Get it On
The Finale to Firebird
All of these arrangements are fantastic and are things that haven't necessarily been heard on the accordion. We love showing people how versatile the accordion can really be! It is going to be a blast!
Elena Fainshtein
Elena Fainshtein, along with her partner Lucas Kaspar, performed a full recital as the TromboKordion Duo at the International Trombone Festival in London, Ontario, Canada, July 16th-19th. The recital was on the last day of the festival. They performed pieces that spanned a number of musical genres, with original music written for the trombone and arranged for the accordion. Some of the pieces were original arrangements for the accordion. A highlight was that another accomplished trombone player, Lucas Borges, joined the duo to perform as a trio for the final song in the recital. The trio's piece was an original Brazilian composition, Fiera de Mangaio. The audience members, composed of trombone professors and professional artists, were enthused by the combination of accordion and trombone. There were many audience members that expressed surprise and pleasure at how well the accordion and trombone complemented each other.
Mary Ann Covone & the Chicagoland Accordion Academy Father’s Day Festival
Chicagoland Accordion Academy presented their annual outdoor Father’s Day Concert. All three CAA ensembles performed – the children’s group (Banda Bambini), the adult beginner group (Gruppo Piccolo) and our Advanced Ensemble. All of the children played solos or duets as did many of our adult students. For several years, our Father’s Day concert has been an annual tradition of sharing our music with family and friends; but this year, since we have so many children involved, it grew into a Family Festival. After the concert , our families enjoyed grilled hot dogs, popcorn, home-made goodies, sandwiches, and snacks galore while the children enjoyed a Carousel themed bouncy house and a game of Baggos Bean Toss. We have a lot of fun at Chicagoland Accordion Academy while we provide a solid musical education for all of our students – both children and adults!
Murl Allen Sanders
May 2025 marked the public debut of my new band “Murl’s Lucky Love Band” at the North City Bistro in Seattle, a lovely club featuring many of the Northwest’s best jazz, pop, alternative, world music and folk musicians. I’m fortunate to have a stellar lineup of virtuoso musicians in my band:
Susan Pascal on vibraphone
Brian Monroney on guitar
Mark Ivester on drums
Chris Symer on bass
Alexey Nikolaev on saxophone
I’m playing Accordion, Piano, Harmonica and Hammond Organ in the band as well as singing. We play a mix of my original compositions, Brazilian, Jazz, America, Zydeco and Blues.
I’m happy to report that ATG president, Kenn Baert, and his wife, Susan, the ATG treasurer were present at the debut! They completely surprised me in the parking lot of the venue! Their daughter has moved to the Seattle area and they had made the trip out to help her move and decided to drop in on my gig.
Writing music has been on my agenda recently as well, and I’m hoping some of you will get to hear it in the near future.
I’m currently preparing to play for the second year in a row at the Orcas Island Jazz Festival in the San Juan Islands in Washington State August 31. I’ll be playing with the “Off-Island All Stars” led by my old friend, colleague, founder of the festival and musician supreme, Martin Lund.
As many of you know, I had a treasured accordion stolen last year. I’ve grieved the loss and decided last month it was time to replace it and have some inspiration with a brand new Petosa AM 1050 Legerra. It was love at first sound and sight! Nothing like a new instrument to spur on the music.
Murl’s Lucky Love Band will be back at North City Bistro September 10, 2025 and in the meantime, I will be enjoying the rest of the summer, practicing, writing music, being with friends and relatives and traveling.
A completely unexpected side note: My former student and superb young musician, Sawyer Best, somehow convinced me to play the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ in public! I had never even touched one prior to 2024, and then only for 5 minutes. Sawyer gave me a short lesson on the instrument last week, and two days later I played two numbers in a concert. I was totally intimidated and sweating bullets!
Imagine flying a 737 jet after a half hour lesson - so many controls, tabs and buttons to push! Fortunately I didn’t crash and had a good time. Sawyer and I also played some accordion duets, piano/accordion and organ/accordion duets during the show for the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society summer social concert
Dee Langley
Made famous in Prince's song "Uptown", the area surrounding Hennepin and Lake Street in Minneapolis is a youthful fusion of global cuisine, local retail, and lively nightlife with nature rooted just beyond the bustling main intersection. Uptown has a history of diversity, creativity, and community. It is both a destination and a home for artists and those who appreciate them.
“Uptown Porchfest” is an annual outdoor festival featuring multiple, spread-out, overlapping concerts during a single afternoon on the front lawns and the porches of residents. Attendees listen to live music as they wander the neighborhood.
This August, ATG member and past President Dee Langley presented her group “The Masked Accordions” as one of the 87 amazing bands across 35 porches. The Masked Accordions presented an eclectic mix of music all the way from America through Europe to the Balkans and from “What a Wonderful World” to “Tequila”.
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