AAA and ATG Board member, Mary Tokarski, will present a special concert to honor World Accordion Day and celebrate music and the accordion on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 4 p.m. The free concert will take place at the Blackstone Memorial Library, 758 Main Street, Branford, CT.
Mary will introduce her newly released BOOK –
“An Accordion! What Is That?”
Author, Karen Malan-Uribe
Illustrator, Joan Geller Grauman
Narrator & Accordionist, Mary Tokarski
There will be a free book reading and signing at 3:15 PM.
What people are saying about “An Accordion! What Is That?”?
“What a delightful early reader! Yet, comprehensive for the older child as well. It is definitely a unique approach to teaching not only the workings and complexities of the accordion, but music as well. The accompanying CD and illustrations are a treasure. This should be included in every school’s required curriculum.” (Linda Soley Reed, President – American Accordionists’ Association)
Selections on the concert will be: “Dance of the Demon” (Von Holst), “Remembering A Legend: Charles Magnante” (William Schimmel), “Ritual Fire Dance” (De Falla), some Piazzolla selections, contemporary/pop works . . . Bach/Gounod’s “Ave Maria” . . . and much more!
Mary began her music career at 7 with Michael Fernino of Ansonia, Connecticut, and performed and competed at local, state and national events throughout early adulthood . . . amassing over 185 trophies and awards, including two U.S. Championship Titles, a 3rd place in the 1973 Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA) Coupe Mondiale, and a 2nd place in that year’s Coupe Mondiale Pop Category.
In 1983, Mary founded Tokarski Music Center, where she served as owner and Director of Music Education. Her students have also compiled an impressive list of awards in competition.
Mary’s teaching started at an early age (before finishing high school) and over the years has fine-tuned her teaching skills by taking all sorts of music and education courses, and studied Early Childhood Education through Kindermusik International at Princeton University and Boston University at Lowell. She is currently a music teacher in the North Haven Department of Education Early Childhood Development Program at Green Acres Elementary School, where she teaches music for the 3 and 4 year old programs. Her students have included many “special needs” children over the years, and she developed a successful Kindermusik program at Tokarski Music Center.
Holding memberships in the Music Teachers National Association, the Connecticut State Music Teachers Association, the New Haven Chapter of CSMTA, the North Haven Rotary Club, and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Mary is a Board of Directors member for the American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) as well as the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG).
Mary is a regular on the workshop circuit in the musical associations. She has been featured as a soloist throughout the USA and also with symphony orchestras.
For more information:
Phone: 203-484-5095
E-mail: mary.tokarski@comcast.net
