Video: “Libertango” – Piazzolla, accordions Grayson Masefield, Jelena Milojevic & Tian Jianan. Published on Jul 30, 2016 from the concert, “The Night of the Champions”
10th Victoria International Accordion Festival 2016. The players had one brief rehearsal for their improvised version of Libertango!
The 10th Annual Victoria International Accordion Festival was especially enjoyable with high-powered musicians from Victoria and around the world. In the previous nine years, the Victoria International Accordion Festival has established itself as one of the most recognized accordion festivals in North America.
Probably the greatest achievement was hosting the 66th Coupe Mondiale, the world’s largest accordion event, back in 2013 as the part of the 7th Victoria Accordion Festival, when hundreds of accordionists from all over the world showcased their talents for thousands in the audience.
Ensemble Concertino, Trio Voronezh, Frank Marocco, Quartetto Gelatto, Alexander Sevastian, Renzo Ruggieri, Ludovic Beier, Grayson Masefield, Jelena Milojevic, World Accordion Orchestra are just some of the names who thrilled the audience in Victoria in the last decade.
This year’s celebratory festival welcomed back the world’s greatest accordionists of our young generation, Grayson Masefield from New Zealand and Jianan Tian from China. They were joined by Jelena Milojevic, the Artistic Director of the Festival, who herself is considered one of the foremost classical accordionists of today. These three amazing performers together have won over 50 highest international prizes in their careers and their concert was a night to remember. See video above.
The ensemble Los Del Mapocho from Chile came to Victoria for the first time presenting Chilean traditional music. The BC Accordion Orchestra, Maureen Jarosh Accordion Ensemble, Victoria Accordion Club Band, Bucan Bucan, Mary Ross-Klektau and many other local groups contributed to the celebration.
The BC Accordion Society, a non-profit society, was founded in early 2010 in the beautiful city of Victoria B.C. Their mission is to promote the beauty of this wonderful instrument through concerts, workshops, master classes and competitions. In 2010, the Society took over the responsibility for Victoria Accordion Festival, establishing at the same time an international accordion competition, for the first time in this part of Canada. The society also created the BC Accordion Orchestra, a unique ensemble of its kind.
One of their most important achievement so far, has been establishing the accordion program at Camosun College in Victoria where students can study accordion and obtain an official degree.
Jelena Milojevic shared: “The 10th Victoria International Accordion Festival has been another success. From July 26-31, the audience in beautiful Victoria BC had a chance to hear some of the world’s best accordion soloists, such as Grayson Masefield, Jianan Tian and Jelena Milojevic, along with several orchestras and ensembles (Los Del Mapocho, BC Accordion Orchestra, Calgary Accordion ensemble etc.), who all made this festival a great celebration of accordion music.
The Victoria International Accordion Competition attracted contestants from Europe, North and South America, and Asia, and gave us two wonderful surprises this year: super talented 13-year old Orla Scott, who won two categories, under 14 and under 18 years old and a big surprise from Chile, Joaquin Munoz Donoso, who also won two categories, both Classical and Open without the age limit.
The festival concluded with the Accordion Parade and the big concert at the Cameron Bandshell at the Beacon Hill Park.”
