President of the CIA World Accordion Museum Alliance (WAMA), Vice President of A World of Accordions Museum in Superior, WI and Curator of the Accordion Gems exhibit in Dargaville, New Zealand, Kevin Friedrich presented two shows in Superior, Wisconsin (hosted by A World of Accordions) and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (hosted by Dee Langley), before his appearance at the American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) festival in Conshahocken, Pennsylvania. The presentation called ‘Countdown 200! Introducing two centuries of accordion family instruments was a concert of 18 pieces, each introduced and played on a different museum accordion.

On the 6th of May 1829, Cyrill Demian filed a patent in Vienna, Austria for his ‘accordion’. The patent was approved a short time later on May 23rd. What followed was a path of innovation, development and experimentation. Throughout this evolution, one has seen uncountable variations in shape, size and keyboard configurations of the accordion, examples of many will be showcased in this presentation.

Kevin introduced attendees to some of the beautiful instruments that make up the magnificent exhibits at A World of Accordions Museum in Superior, Wisconsin, the largest collection of accordions in the world.

Kevin recounts “It’s wonderful to be able to let some of these accordions, do what they were made to do, and that is, to have their reeds come to life and share their song. Each instrument has its own history and will have been played under a variety of circumstances. My presentation lets them continue their story. “

As the 200th anniversary of the accordion nears, Kevin’s presentation began with a performance on the oldest instrument in the collection, a tiny 6 key Flutina approximately 196 years old. The presentation continued through numerous keyboard configurations and evolution of the accordion, finishing with the magnificent 160 bass Titano Emperor concert instrument owned by the late Dr. Willard A. Palmer.

Other instruments included the stunning cello accordion, a rare Alfred Arnold bandoneon in piano button keyboard configuration, Frosini, chromatic and double piano/button keyboards, diatonic and a two sided piano keyboard instrument and more!

No small feat, the presentation required transporting the Travelling Museum collection almost 3,000 miles round trip across country, but A World of Accordions Museum was excited to offer such an outreach program.

In addition to the instruments being played, other accordions and historical accordion related items were displayed, including the personal instrument of the AAA’s first President, Pietro Diero and a stunning Victorian era decorated Flutina.

For more information on A World of Accordions Museum, please visit www.worldofaccordions.org.