The 2014 Victoria International Accordion Festival was very successful. It was held on Friday, July 18 through to Sunday July 20th. The BC Accordion Society organized and hosted the festival with support from the Victoria Accordion Club.

Tian Jianan and Russian-American player Stas Venglevski headlined the festival. The movie, “Behind the Bellows” by Steve Mobia was also shown.

Jelena Milojevic was appointed Artistic Director of the Victoria International Accordion Festival. She hopes the city’s youth can bring Canada to the accordion world stage.

Raised in Croatia, Milojevic began playing accordion at nine while enrolled in Ivan Matetic-Ronjgov Music School, after she was told that she was too old to start learning piano. In 2003, she won the CMA Trophée Mondial.

Now settled in Victoria, Jelena Milojevic spends her time between teaching Camosun College’s two-year accordion program and younger students.

“There’s a strong history of accordion in Croatia, in Europe, that Canada doesn’t have,” Milojevic said. “I’m relying on these kids to make the art strong in Canada”.

This year, Milojevic joined her husband Aleksander as Artistic Director of the Victoria International Accordion Festival, which he founded in 2007.

Milojevic held a workshop alongside Tian Jianan (see video further down this news), a young Chinese player who won 2nd place, Coupe Mondiale Virtuoso Entertainment category last year, when the international accordion competition was hosted in Victoria. Milojevic’s younger students also performed as the Victoria Accordion Kids Band.

Photo of Jelena Milojevic right.

For further information: contact@bcaccordion.ca

CD and DVD’s available online at: Tian Jianan