Public School 203 (Oakland Gardens School) in Queens, NY is celebrating another year of fabulous performances by their accordion club, “The Squeeze Box 9.” The nine fourth and fifth grade students put on accordion shows for holiday community events, senior centers, nursing homes, and of course, their own elementary school.

This year the students loved collaborating with the school’s show choir on a fun rendition of Katzenjammer’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors”. Another highlight for them was when they got to accompany the school’s 70 voice chorus on Panic at the Disco’s recent hit, “High Hopes”. Among other favorite songs this year were “Around the World” (with a Latin flair) and a rousing version of “The Can-Can”.

“I am so proud of this year’s accordion club”, commented their director, Linda Holcomb. “Seven of these students were playing the accordion for the first time this year. They worked so hard and are now playing beautifully!”

Many of the students were inspired to play the accordion when the school had a visit last year from world renowned accordionist, Cory Pesaturo. Pesaturo wowed the students with an exciting and unique accordion concert. Pesaturo had read about P.S. 203’s accordion club in an article in AccordionUSA. He wasn’t aware of any other public elementary school in the country that had an accordion group, so he wanted to meet and encourage these young accordionists. Pesaturo told the students that one of his goals is to make the accordion cool again. After hearing Pesaturo play, these students agreed that there is definitely no cooler instrument than the accordion!

“That was a day our students will never forget!” remarked Linda Holcomb. “To have one of the best accordion players in the world spend time with our students, sharing best practices and an unbelievable concert was truly a gift. We are forever grateful and are HUGE fans of Cory Pesaturo!” And thanks to Cory, the “Squeeze Box 9” is doing its part to make the accordion cool again, one song at a time!

Assisting the group weekly for the past two years is volunteer “Papa Joe” DeClemente, who is a local professional Accordionist/Entertainer from Bellerose, NY. Papa Joe volunteers his time to join the students for rehearsals and he inspires them to be better accordionists. Among the many things he does for them, he also fixes their accordions! (Sometimes nine and ten year olds don’t exactly treat their accordion like it deserves to be treated!)

Excerpts from LIAA publication: Public-school 203Q, in Bayside, Queens may be one of the only elementary schools in the five boroughs of New York City that has a student accordion band. It is made up of ten 4th and 5th graders and is conducted by the school’s music teacher, Mrs. Linda Holcomb.

The school started their accordion band fifteen years ago. They meet once a week, at the beginning of the school day to practice various songs that they will perform throughout the year. “We enjoy performing for concerts and events in our school, and we love taking our show on the road, into our community,” says Holcomb. During December, the group braved the frigid weather and played holiday songs outdoors for the Bayside Hills community holiday lighting celebration. They also entertained at the Clearview Senior Center located in that same area.

Holcomb adds, “Performing for nursing homes and Senior Centers brings such joy to the people there. They love to see the children play their accordions. Our students always come home from those trips so excited, having experienced how their music can really be a blessing to others.”

Last year, I had the opportunity to hear the group perform at the school. The students were very proud of their accomplishments on the accordion. One could see that they were respected and admired by all the students. Cory Pesaturo presented a wonderful program on that day for over 300 elementary students. It was amazing to witness how inspired, interested, and enthusiastic they all were. The students and the teachers were dancing in the aisles! Papa Joe joined them in a few selections.

Students (from left to right) are: Louis Gui, Vyckie Chih, Lily Korniewicz, Nathan Zhang, Andrew Wang, Benjamin Chung, Kathy Zhang, Austin Luo & Lucas Chen.

For further information: lindaholcomb203@gmail.com