The 2020 Not Just Oom-Pah! (NJO) Accordion Concerts and Workshops (June 14, 22-28, 2020) went virtual this year for the first time. The event was launched with one-hour FaceBook concerts by NJO presenters Kevin Solecki (Polka Plus), and a week later with Alicia Jo Straka (French and International) which included on-line question and answer chats between workshop participants and presenters.
The opening event began with a 2-hour Meet and Greet Zoom social session with over 60 attending, to introduce participants and presenters. A quick Zoom tutorial was also presented.
During the 5 consecutive days of NJO, Alicia Jo Straka gave 3 two-hour workshops covering French and International music styles. Kevin Solecki followed with Polka Plus music on Saturday 3-hour workshop and a 2.5 hour workshop on Sunday. Gaby Thompson, dance instructor, created video dance lessons for polka, schottische and waltz dance steps on her Facebook page so participants could practice Social-Distance Dancing at home. There were over 50 NJO participants. Representation from 18 USA States and Ontario, Canada, made this NJO’s first international program. States represented: CA, CO, FL, ID, IL, IN, MS, NH, NJ, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VT, VA, and WA. This year’s youth scholarship recipients were students of Elena Fainshtein (Dallas, TX): Peter Gresser and Elijah Clements.
US Accordion leaders participating included: Rita Barnea, editor for www.accordionusa.com, Charlie Lockwood, Dir. of Texas Folklife: Jim Rice, Pres. of Accordion Renaissance (Virginia Non-profit that sponsored our scholarship recipients), Joe Natoli, Mike Soloway and Bob Donovan from International Digital Electronic Accordion Society; Laura Jean Niland (San Antonio Accordion Assoc. Pres.), Mitch White (Central Texas Accordion Assoc.. Pres.) and Coreen Bergholm (Yuma Accordion Club Pres.). Accordion Lovers Society International members attending were Donna Kaspar, Coreen Bergholm, and Pamela Tom.
The NJO administrative team consisted of: Shirley Johnson (from Austin, TX) and Laura Jean Niland (from San Antonio, Texas) who spent countless hours reformatting presentations and re-working advertising in order to make the online program successful. NJO support staff included: Mario Pedone, Nick Ballarini, and Terry Cavanagh.
This project was made possible by a grant from the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Dept., and supported by Texas Folklife, Accordion Renaissance, Accordions for Kids USA, San Antonio Accordion Association, and Austin Central Market. Check the website for future workshops currently in the planning stages for the Fall of 2020. For details on next year’s annual NJO, visit website in early 2021 at www.NotJustOompah.org
For further information: ljniland@texas.net
