Minneapolis based accordionist and teacher Dee Langley has been elected the new President of the Accordionists & Teachers Guild, International (ATG), one of the USA members of the Confédération International des Accordéonistes (CIA), IMC-UNESCO.
Taking over from the immediate past President Joan C. Sommers, Dee has been a long time member of the ATG Executive Board, and brings with her a long association with the ATG.
The Accordionists & Teachers Guild, International (ATG) was established in 1940 by a group of 29 founding members (including ATG President Emeritus, the late Anthony Galla-Rini, with the purpose of furthering the progress of the accordion by improving teaching standards, music, and all phases of music education.
In 1951 Anthony Galla-Rini successfully petitioned the ATG as a member the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) during the General Assembly in Paris, France. Since then, the ATG has sent many participants to the CIACoupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships including three who won this prestigious competition. They are Donald Hulme in 1961, John Torcello in 1972 and Peter Soave in 1984.
The ATG has sponsored the Accordion Conference Week at the famous National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan and has worked with the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) which is part of the National Association of Education. In addition, the ATG has sponsored several International Competition for Accordion Soloists as well as composition competitions. The ATG has also commissioned numerous compositions for the accordion by such composers as Alan Hovhaness, Ole Schmidt, Torbjorn Lundquist, Francis Pyle and Ernst Krenek.
When Dee Langley first played the accordion at the age of four, she could not have known that her love for the instrument and her passion for music would eventually reap her numerous first place honors, take her to Europe, and earn her several guest appearances as accordionist with the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and now take the Presidency of the ATG.
As a professional, Dee has participated in seminars and symposiums on accordion styles and techniques in Chatel, France and Klingenthal, East Germany. She also has performed with the Dolina Polish Folk Dancers and Ethnic Dance Theatre as well as officiating as Director of The EDT Folk Orchestra. Concert tours of Poland, France and the Czech Republic, respectively, being a few of the highlights of her tenures with these companies.
On several occasions, Dee has been asked to perform accordion works not only with the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, but also the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Philomusica, The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra and the Northwoods Classical Players (members of the Chicago Symphony).
She has also premiered compositions with the Ancia Quartet, the Minneapolis Philharmonic and Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra and has worked with contemporary composers including, Peter Blauvelt, Mary Ellen Childs, Becky Dale, Shelley Hanson, Mark Hellem, Carleton Macy, Carole Saline and Kim Sherman to expand the visibility of classical accordion with other instruments.
Dee Langley currently lives in Minneapolis, performs with Orkestar Bez Ime (OBI) and the Greybach Trio. Ms. Langley is also co-founder the Minnesota Accordion Club and recipient of their 2002 Lifetime Accordion Award. She also teaches accordion in the Metro area of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
Other newly elected ATG Executive Officers include First Vice President Liz Finch (California) and Second Vice President is Mary Tokarski (Connecticut) and Executive Secretary Joanna Arnold Darrow (New Jersey).
Plans are underway for the 2009 ATG Festival in Minneapolis, MN from July 9-12, 2009. The ATG website will updated in the near future with the latest festival information and the full slate of elected Officers and Board of Directors.
