Following on the tremendous success of the 2007 60th Anniversary Coupe Mondiale in the United States jointly hosted by the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG) and the American Accordionists’ Association (AAA), the 61st CIACoupe Mondiale in Scotland attracted record attendance. Contestants and delegates from more than 30 nations gathered for this annual event of the Confédération International des Accordéonistes (CIA), this year hosted by the CIA Member the National Accordion Organization of the United Kingdom (NAO).

The Coupe Mondiale was won by Uladzislau Plihauka from Belarus with other winners being: Junior Coupe Mondiale – Momir Novakovic (Serbia), International Competition for Piano Accordion – Marko Miletic (Serbia), Virtuoso Entertainment – Eduard Akhanov (Russia), Junior Virtuoso Entertainment – Benoit Nortier (France) and the International Competition for Chamber Music – Yulia Amerikova and Alexander Selivanov (Russia). The Best New Original Work was won by Viatcheslav Semionov (Caprice No. 3 ‘Polar Lights) in classical and by Dimitri Saussard (Le Valseur Rou) in Virtuoso.

Delegates attended the 120th General Assembly, while representatives of the four long standing competitions of CMA, Klingenthal International Accordion Competition, Castelfidardo and CIA held a historical first ever meeting, in a show of solidarity towards the future of the accordion and the young artists that are competing Internationally.

2008 Coupe Mondiale Organizer and 2008 CIA Honorary Vice President Anna Bodell and NAO Chairperson Graham Laurie concluded the spectacular weeklong event by the traditional handing over of the organizer’s responsibilities to Team New Zealand as they prepare for the 2009 Coupe Mondiale in Auckland, from August 25-29th, 2009, before inviting attendees to enjoy the traditional Scottish Ceilidh dance hosted by accordionist Gary Blair.

For a detailed report on each day’s activities of the event, please visit the Coupe Mondiale website.