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UKAO 460,000 Visitors & 688 members
Jan., 3, 2008
 We are proud in continuing to provide a service to "All Accordionists" via our unique online "Accordionists information website" and are so pleased to have attracted an impressive number of daily viewers to our site. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our many news contributors,because without your help it would not have been possible - thank you so much!The new look UKAO website is updated daily by members,readers and administrators.Seasons Greetings from all at UKAO!UKAO was designed by accordionist and computer expert/web designer Richard Smith from Keighley in Yorkshire England.This new website was launched on 05/02/2006 and has todate been visited on approx. 460,000 occassions -An average of over 1,000 visitors per DAY !-Click here to register as a free member of UKAO! Richard Smith
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Luttbeg Double Keyboard Accordions
Jan., 3, 2008
 Many years ago when Ebay was in its infancy I remember seeing an accordion with a piano keyboard on each side. I saved the picture somewhere, but can't reach it at the moment and may have lost it.I've never seen another one of these oddities until today. Here on Ebay in the UK is a Soprani Luttbeg.
As far as I can make out these accordions don't have a real name - so I propose that these are called Luttbeg Accordions after the inventor Max B. Luttbeg. Max B. Luttbeg arrived in New York from Russia in the early 1900s. He was a famous wrestler and this picture of him is in the Library of Congress. Max is the one kneeling.
After he retired from wrestling he went on the vaudeville circuit playing accordion and also made his own improvements to accordions. The patent for the 'Luttbeg Accordion' was filed in January 1931 in the US, and a further patent improving the system was submitted in January 1932. As well as Soprani at least one other manufacturer made Luttbeg accordions as John Gaunt's site has pictures of two types of Soprani and also a Bertini. The site also claims that only 12 Luttbegs were ever made. The reason that these accordions never caught on will be clear to anyone that plays the piano accordion. It's very hard to push the bellows at the same time as holding your hand in the right position to play a piano style keyboard. It seems that Max Luttbeg himself recognised these problems and submitted another patent in 1939 - this time for a 36 button layout. Each button sounded a single note and complex chords could be played by pressing combinations of buttons. Sadly I don't know if any of these accordions were ever built. If anybody has any further information on the Luttbeg accordions then please leave a comment. Link: Soprani Luttbeg on Ebay
Link: Luttbeg Accordions on John Gault's site
Link: Max Luttbeg's Patents
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Rare Pasquale Ficosecco Accordion 1930
Dec., 15, 2007
 Tony Gilbert with Freddie Gibbons Accordion This Accordion was originally owned by a Freddie Gibbons. A professional entertainer, who for many years performed on stage at the famous Windmill Theatre, here he entertained using this accordion also at other Moss Empire circuit Theatres.For the above reasons, we refer to it as our “Bums and Boobs box” Reconditioned by Tony with loving care! Freddie was a wonderful character on stage, in later life he moved to Norfolk becoming the owner of two Public houses; very soon they became popular venues for all music lovers.He also became a regular player on Radio Norfolk. Rare Pasquale Ficosecco Accordion 1930 Sadly now passed on, Freddie leaves his wife living local to us, who has given the above information, and of the colourful lifestyle concerning this accordion, also on Freddie’s career midst the scenes of the London Windmill.We became the owners 5 years ago; it then needed certain attention, which we lovingly gave it ourselves. It has been a privilege to play it at various festivals, usually joining the Vintage Accordion Orchestra’s.4/5 voiced it is Musette tuned, with a powerful volume in very good playing condition.Tony & Phyl Gilbert. Upton, NorfolkThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Dougie Inkpen - Canterbury Accordionist
Dec., 15, 2007
 I'll take the opportunity and forward his picture to you as his poster appears in a bus shelter on Herne Bay seafront. Tony Gilbert Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Also do you know that accordion I'm currently playing, spent many years at the London Windmill and other Moss Empire Theatres. It was then owned by a professional entertainer by name of Freddie Gibbons, who in later life moved to Norfolk, becoming the owner of two local Pubs.Due to Freddie's ability in entertaining, this created very successful drinking places near Gt.Yarmouth. He also became a regular on Radio Norfolk. (Accordion name is Pasqualy Ficosseco) - Best Rgds, Tony Gilbert - - - - - Doug Inkpen is a member of The Canterbury Accordion Club:-
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Cranleigh Surrey - Accordion Variety Show
Dec., 15, 2007
 Friday28th March 2008-7.30pmCranleigh Village HallHigh Street
Cranleigh
Surrey
GU6 8ATCar park in Village Way Cranleigh Village Hall - Surrey Accordion Variety Show:- Crawley Accordion Orchestra - Conductor - Sean Hunter Rosemary Wright & Harry Hussey Plus an incredible mystery guest artiste??? Raffle/Refreshments Box Office: 01483-274951 (Bill) Tickets are £7.00 (available January 2008) Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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"Sibelius & Beyond"
Dec., 15, 2007
 Niko Kumpuvaara Accordion
Sampo Haapamäki: Power
Lauri Kilpiö: New Work WORLD PREMIERE
Jukka Tiensuu: Zolo
Jouni Kaipainen: Gena
Kalevi Aho: Sonata No. 2, ‘Black Birds’
Olli Virtaperko: Devil’s Lungs
Tickets: £5
St. George's Hanover Square, LondonTel: +44 (0)20 7222 1061Tuesday 27th November 2007 @ 7.30pmClick here for Box Office
Niko Kumpuvaara is a rising star on the accordion, a rarely heard solo instrument, and brings an all-Finnish programme to the festival of Finnish music, "Sibelius & Beyond".
Kalevi Aho and Jouni Kaipainen are two well-known composers who have created works for the unusual sounds of the instrument, and Kumpuvaara mixes in newer pieces, including a world premiere performance, to his programme. +44 (0)20 7222 1061
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St . Andrew’s CEILIDH DANCE
Dec., 15, 2007
 Dancing to The Vatersay Boys with Linn Phipps (Gaelic Singer)
Jim MacKay & Donald McRury (Pipers) Nathalie MacKinnon (Highland Dancer)
Saturday 24th November 2007 at Cecil Sharp House
2 Regent’s Park Road, London NW1 7AY
Tel: 020 7485 2206 E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Nearest Tube station - Camden Town (Northern Line)
7.30pm – 11.30pm
Licensed Bar - Food available - Raffle
Admission by ticket: £15
For tickets and further information e-mail us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call Eddie MacRae on 07990 586191Website: www.hisl.org
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Download flier: HISL-November-2007-flier.pdf
Saturday 24th November 2007 St. Andrew's Ceilidh and Dance This Ceilidh Dance will feature the Vatersay Boys, making their first appearance in London. It will also feature Gaelic singer Linn Phipps. Jim MacKay and Donald McRury will pipe for us and Nathalie MacKinnon will be Highland dancing so it promises to be a great night. We anticipate that demand for this Ceilidh Dance will be very high so we have decided to make it a ticket-only event to ensure that members and friends have a chance to secure their places before we offer the tickets for general sale. On that basis, I would urge people to apply for tickets as soon as possible to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 07990 586191. Tickets will be at £15 each and further details appear in the latest newsletter. Download flier: HISL-November-2007-flier.pdf
Saturday 19th January 2008
"A Taste of Burns" Burns Supper and Ceilidh Dance
More details to follow...
Please note this is a ticket only ceilidh dance as we need to know numbers in advance for the haggis, neeps and tatties. This event has traditionally been over subscribed so we suggest orders for tickets should be made sooner rather than later. Prices are £20 non-members, £18 members and £15 concessions (students and OAP's). Can you please give us a mailing address to send the tickets and also indicate if any of your party prefers to have vegetarian rather that traditional haggis. We will also reserve tables for larger parties to ensure you can sit together.
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Market Weighton - New accordion club in Yorkshire
Dec., 15, 2007
 Dear UKAO, Since the close of the Hull accordion club Its left a big area with no club, I am putting in an advert in the local papers to see if there is enough interest in starting a new club at my daughters wine bar in MARKET WEIGHTON North Yorkshire. Welcome to the new Market Weighton Accordion Club! This new accordion club would cover from York to Hull North Yokshire and the East Riding . If anybody is interested , please get in touch with me, I am prepared to organise it, you can call me on Tel: 01430 860300 - I am looking forward to hearing from you!
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Ricky T Sargent & Shaz - Accordionist Entertainment
Dec., 15, 2007
 Ricky T Sargent - Accordionist Entertainer Ricky & Shaz in Party Mood!
Brenda and I would like to thank you both very much for making our 60th
birthday party such a memorable occasion. We have had letters and messages from virtually everyone who attended full of praise for the way you managed the evening, getting everyone involved and generally giving us all a fun evening. We are both very happy for you to use this message to advertise your show and wish you every success for the future. It would not surprise us if some of the people there noted your name and will be in contact for future events.PAUL THOMAS , RETIRED SURGEON , WOODFORD GREEN , LONDONRicky T Sargent & Shaz - Brilliant Entertainers for all occasions! |
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Beltrami Accordion Festival - Report
Dec., 15, 2007
 Beltrami Accordion Festival - Sunday 21st October 2007 - ReportNorman English, Manager of Pianos and Keyboards at Bruce Millers Music store Aberdeen, visited the Aberdeen Arts Centre earlier this year. Nothing strange about that you may think! However Norman’s attention was less focused on the stage and more on the great acoustics and ambience of this intimate theatre. Norman EnglishNorman said, “It struck me immediately that it would make a great venue for an accordion festival” and within two weeks of that visit he had booked the theatre, confirmed local artists and set about obtaining the services of two 1st class, international accordionists, Mauro Carra from Italy who has released 5 albums, recorded several sound tracks and performed all over the world and Emir Bosnjak a Bosnian artist who is in great demand for recitals and concerts through out the world. Mauro Carra & Romano ViazzaniHaving previously hosted a performance by Mauro within Bruce Millers that was very warmly received, Norman felt strongly that the public would again welcome an opportunity to experience accordion playing taken to a new dimension. On that occasion the audience was delighted by the quality sounds from the hand made Beltrami accordion that Mauro was demonstrating. Norman, himself compered the Arts Centre event and delighted the crowd with his own interpretation of “Dark Island” and “Nut Rocker”.Sadly Emir’s performance at the festival was called off at the last minute due to ill health. However Mauro’s talent and wonderful choice of music brought gasps from the audience and tumultuous applause. He again held the enthralled audience in the palm of his hand. Lauren HuntOn the bill alongside the international performers were local talent Gordon Middler, Tom Orr and Lauren Hart. Lauren is a talented singer and this year performed at the Edinburgh Festival. Her choice of Italian Arias and traditional Burns songs was very well received and she was ably accompanied by Anne Deans. Craig Patton - Under 16 Scottish ChampionRepresenting up and coming young musicians was Craig Patton. Craig is under 16 Scottish champion and Craig has performed all over the UK including the Scottish Parliament. Craig demonstrated his accordion skills admirably and his personality also shone through. The audience were also privileged to have Ian Middler, accompanied by His son Gordon, Tom Orr and Duncan Christie. Ian sang a selection of Scottish songs and contributed to the variety in the show. The packed evening demonstrated the versatility of accordions with a mixture of traditional Scottish, popular and classical pieces.The program of singing and playing had something to offer amateur and professional musicians alike and those who simply appreciate others talent and enjoy family entertainment in comfortable surroundings. The impromptu rendition of “O Sole Mio” By Lorenzo, one of the group of Italian visitors over for the festival, was a perfect finale.
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Ksenija Sidorova does us proud and comes 4th in the Premio di Castelfidardo
Dec., 15, 2007
 Ksenija SidorovaKsenija Sidorova does us proud in the Premio di Castelfidardo.I have just returned from adjudicating at the Premio di Castelfidardo accordion competition in Castelfidardo the hub of accordion manufacturing in Italy and possibly the world. The competition is now being amplified into a festival with lots of post competition concerts throughout the town. . It was a very interesting experience seeing it from an adjudicator’s view point. There were two high points for me. The first being a wonderful evening concert that was part of a European tour given by Frank Marocco and Simone Zanchini, following the success of their latest album Be-Bop Buffet, a collaboration that was born from their first meeting at the London Accordion Festival back in 2001. The concert was even better than the excellent CD. The second high point which unfortunately I wasn’t a witness to as I was adjudicating a different category was the knowledge that Latvian-born Ksenija Sidorova who is now in her 3rd year of studies at the Royal Academy of Music London and therefore representing the UK came a very respectable 4th in the most prestigious of categories the “Premio” itself. This is one of the highest placings achieved for a British-based player in a long time and all credit must go to her and her teacher Owen Murray for giving the UK much needed presence and representation on the International Competition circuit. Ksenija who flew the flag for us last year too came 3rd in category C last year because she was only 18. She is a great ambassador and role model for young accordionists in the UK being a brilliant young musician, charming, intelligent and beautiful. I inevitably asked myself why we seem to be unable as a nation to field a more consistent flow of competitors internationally. Our national competitions are very well attended and well-organised but the standard of competitor falls woefully short of the kind of international level across all categories I have witnessed both in Castelfidardo and Klingenthal in the past. We certainly have produced in the last twenty or so years and still produce excellent accordionists that today work at the highest level comparable with many players abroad but why is there a now, save for the handful of student at the Royal Academy a gaping void of young accordionists?Perhaps it’s time we try to push our young students towards a further education in music especially now that we have the Trinity Guildhall Syllabus which ties into the National Curriculum. The demand for accordionists (in the south-east at least) is on the increase but the type of work offered does require a very high standard of skills. At the moment, save for a handful of accordionists nationally the only other accordionists who can are trained to meet the requirements set by the market are students like Ksenija and her predecessors. This is a reality we cannot ignore. We must aim to educate young accordionists so that the demands are met otherwise we risk that the modern composers who keenly write for accordion lose interest completely whilst we all run off and complain that there is no work for accordionists.In the vast majority of the categories I adjudicated in the jury were very serious and diligent with their task. After all these competitors study incredibly hard to reach the standard needed compete seriously and it’s only right that the judges acknowledge this by paying attention and marking fairly in order to maintain standards. If it is felt that no competitor has achieved a high enough standard it is not unknown for the prizes not to awarded. I have always felt ambivalent towards competitions. I competed in a few piano competitions in my teens having achieved 1st and 2nd placings. It doesn’t make me a fantastic pianist. As much as I love the piano I barely get time to play it these days. Many of the world’s foremost exponents of the accordion have never won a competition, yet they thrive. More importantly accordionists has been doing well in important national competitions open to all instrumentalists recently which exposes the accordion to a wider audience as well as pitting it against other instruments thereby raising the standard yet again in order to match and better these other musicians. In other words an accordionist playing Bluebell Polka cannot compete with a pianist playing Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude. It’s not just about how many notes and how quickly but about the depth of emotion and musicality involved. Of all the nationalities involved in the Festival, and there were many, the Serbs for me seem to be emerging as a force to reckon with both in numbers, technical standard and musical and emotional maturity. The countries of former Soviet Union of course figure strongly too. The French, not surprisingly do well but mostly in the Varietè categories. I would encourage many teachers in the UK to try attend these important international competitions (and any other event national or international especially in a context where the accordion is a newly emerging instrument such as Jazz festivals or Classical Music Festivals) if only to see the kind of standard that is required these days and to let promoters know that there is a demand for this instrument. It’s not all work but fun too. If we can transmit to our students that the accordion is worth learning properly, fun to play and can, by following the proper channels offer a number of career opportunities we may tear them away from their Gameboys, Megadrives, Football practice and all the other trappings the Western World distracts them with, so we can nurture a new generation of British Accordionists fit for purpose.Report by Romano Viazzani
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New Marathon Accordion World Record
Dec., 9, 2007
 We’ve seen people attempt to break world records for the fastest accordion player and largest accordion band, so it’s only natural someone would go after the record for marathon accordion playing.Last week in Bochingen, Germany, Thomas Schmelzle set out to break the record of 28 straight hours of accordion playing set by Dutchman Hennie Hulk in 2002. Under the rules set forth by Guinness, Thomas could take a five minute break each hour, but could not repeat a tune within four hours. In the end, Thomas smashed the old record with a performance lasting 29 hours and 16 minutes. Of course, he won’t be able to feel his fingers for a few weeks, but it’s a small price to pay for enshrinement in the Guinness Book of World Records. At least, until the next marathoner comes along…
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Flickr Find: Accordion vs. Boy
Dec., 9, 2007
Boy with Accordion
uploaded by BrannEver have one of those days? The kind where everything drags, just getting out of bed is a chore, and when you pick up your accordion, it feels like a ton of bricks. Well, imagine how this poor kid feels. First, Mom makes him wear a tie and a pair of knickers. Then he has to stand out in the sun and pose for a photo with an accordion that’s nearly as big as he is. The grimace on his face says it all: “Hurry up and take the picture… I can’t hold this much longer…”
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How to Build a Hohner Corona
Dec., 9, 2007
 Over on the Reyes Accordions forum, I found some excellent photos taken by Peter Unbehauen during a recent trip to the Hohner accordion factory in Trossingen, Germany. (Some readers may remember his photo tour of the Hohner factory from last year.) Among his latest photos are shots of the building and assembly of Hohner Corona accordions. It’s fascinating to see that the process is still done almost completely by hand — from molding the celluloid to assembling the reed blocks to the final tuning.Peter has also scanned the entire Hohner spare parts catalog. While you can only get instruments from a dealer, you can order nearly any spare/replacement part imaginable directly from the Hohner factory in Germany. So next time you need a pair of accordion bellow nail pliers, you know where to go.
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Announces
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Jun., 21, 2018
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Dear collegues, see our latest updates: Hector Villa-Lobos, Samuel Barber, Astor Piazzolla, Pietro Frosini, Hans Brehme, Oscar Peterson, Art Van Damme, Jack Fina, Luiz Bonfa, Yann Tiersen etc. Accordionist.Net is extending its special offer “50+” until end of the summer.
Besides some very special tango arrangements for bandoneon (accordion) and strings published:
A. Piazzolla - Cuatro estaciones portenas →
C. Gardel - Volver y Soledad →
M. Mores - Tanguera →
H. Stamponi - Un Momento →
J. Plaza - Nocturna →
A. Villoldo - El Choclo →
J. Pane - Un vals para Martita →
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Feb., 22, 2018
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Dear accordionists,
see our latest updates on Accordionist.Net: H. Villa-Lobos, Samuel Barber, Astor Piazzolla, Pietro Frosini, Hans Brehme, A. Piazzolla, Oscar Peterson etc.
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