Where is the world is Cory Pesaturo? Cory Pesaturo shares his thoughts on his recent Finnish cruise where he was the featured entertainment: “If you’re a fan of Accordion (or Harmonikka in Suomi (Finnish), this cruise is your sail away to heaven.
Organized by Sata-Hame Soi, the organization based in Ikaalinen which brought you the Primus Ikaalinen World Acoustic Accordion Championship that was televised on National Finnish TV, the cruise goes from Turku (site of the 2015 Coupe Mondiale) to Stockholm, Sweden, and back to Turku.
It’s a cruise that runs daily, but once a year, it is jammed full of only accordionists; say for a few stragglers on a “normal” vacation whom were unaware of the hostile squeeze-box takeover. During the 21 hours at sea, there are various concerts going at 5 different set locations ranging from pub atmosphere bars to full-fledged theater’s, all while as you can just imagine during any accoridon event, random passengers are playing and creating their Own concerts across the boat from the windy deck to the bathroom. Is it Too Much accordion for the ear to handle? Absolutely! But that’s what the club upstairs and your room is for.
I was very kindly invited years ago to headline on the cruise by former head and cornerstone of Sata-Hame Soi, Kimmo Mattila, and after bad scheduling luck, 2017 was the year. It was quite an honor as I was the only non-Finnish performer, and there was an Incredible love of Jazz here. I can confidently report back that, as per usual with this often frozen country, there is so much high end talent in the youth (7-12 especially), it’s almost frightening. It was the same when I was here in 2011.
Along with the many concerts that are constantly in occurrence, the first round of the Silver and Golden Competitions associated with the Primus Ikaalinen occur on the ship on Sunday afternoon; so you get your accordion competition fill as well if the itch needs to be scratched. Although I’m sure your main concern is the language barrier, with 98% of the ship being Fins, and Finnish being a language that is almost impossible to understand outside of Moi. But fear not! Most Fins speak quite a bit of English, and they enjoy practicing it with you. And of course, there is always the international language of Music, and the Accordion.
There is No Other cruise in the world like this, and it’s in a country of which I Highly recommend visiting (and we know how harsh and straight my opinions are haha), coupled with a people whom are so welcoming, and so kind. If you get the chance – Sail Away in 2018!”
Info about Cory:
- World Digital Accordion Champion (Coupe Mondiale)
- World Acoustic Accordion Champion (Primus Ikaalinen)
- First Person to ever win World Championships on Digital, Acoustic, and Jazz
-“No one is doing more for the image of the Accordion than Cory Pesaturo is.” says NBC/FOX’s Maria Bartiromo
Future Performances:
Cory will be performing and recording throughout LA in April. On April 30, 2917, Cory will be one of the featured artists at the AAA sponsored Carmen Carrozza Scholarship Concert and Dinner. For more info, see the article in the Highlights section this month.
2017 Cotati Accordion Festival
August 19th, 2017 to August 20th, 2017
Cotati, CA US
Cory will perform at the Cotati Festival for the 6th Time!
RED BULL Music Festival in Spielberg
August 24th, 2017 to August 28th, 2022
Spielberg , AT
Cory will create a Special Trio for this Major Event at the Formula 1 Race Track in Austria.
For further information on Cory: cory.pesaturo@gmail.com
