The UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble will present its Annual Concert on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 2:30 PM in White Recital Hall on the University of Missouri-Kansas City Campus, 4949 Cherry Street.

The Accordion Ensemble is a continuation of the many accordion concerts conducted by UMKC Professor Emerita Joan Cochran Sommers over the past 48 years at the university. It was formed upon the retirement of Professor Sommers from full-time university teaching and administrative service. Membership has varied but this year’s event will have 13 accordionists, a timpanist and 2 percussionists, all of whom have had extensive musical training.

During these past 48 years, there have been small ensembles such as the popular Accordionaires, a prize-winning USO/Department of Defense/National Music Council touring group of 15 members which performed widely in the European, Northeastern, and Pacific Military Commands for periods of 10 weeks. There also have been numerous chamber groups presenting more intimate concerts, and, of course, the large UMKC Accordion Orchestra with as many as 76 members which competed in innumerable accordion festivals throughout the USA, winning more First Place Awards than any other virtuoso accordion orchestras. At other times members of these groups were joined by fine accordionists from throughout the USA for overseas performance tours, thereby providing several musical tour experiences to players other than UMKC students.

This year’s concert will again offer a repertoire of outstanding arrangements as well as newer music originally composed for accordion orchestra.

Featured will be UMKC graduate Kevin Friedrich who serves as President of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, the world accordion association which sponsors the yearly Coupe Mondiale for accordionists. Kevin will perform as soloist in “Gem of the Kaipara” written by the New Zealand composer and conductor, Gary Daverne, and will have just returned from performing the piece several times in New Zealand.

Serenade, Op. 39 (Andante cantabile) is written by the contemporary Dutch composer Alexander Comitas. It is the first movement of a larger composition and is very beautiful, something that is sometimes not quite so apparent in newer repertoire. One of the absolute musical delights of the program will be the 4 movement Keniade written by the German composer, Fritz Dobler. The music describes the composer’s visit to the country of Kenya with the movements aptly titled Allegro moderato (With Herbert on Safari), Valse lento (Love Play of the Hippos), Capriccio (Jumping Gazelles), and Moderato (Meeting of the Maasai Warriors).

Also featured will be a new arrangement by Joan Sommers, a Suite from Video Games Live. A newly-prepared original video by UMKC Professor Caitlin Horsman will be projected while this exciting music from the five well-known and very popular video games is being performed by the accordion ensemble.

Other selections to be performed are Film Noir: City at Night by Hollywood composer Leonard Stack written especially for the World Accordion Orchestra performance in Glasgow, Scotland last October; Tambourin from Fêtes d’Hêbê by Jean Philippe.Rameau-Felix Mottl and arranged by Galla-Rini; Waltzes from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod, arranged by Willi Munch; and the Latin American medley Brasilia Potpourri featuring Brasil (Barroso), El Cumbanchero (Hernandez), and Mambo Jambo (Perez Prado) arranged by Willi Műnch.

Everyone is invited to attend an afternoon of interesting and exciting music presented by the UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble under the direction of UMKC Professor Emerita Joan Cochran Sommers. The concert is a free event but donations will be requested to help cover costs.

Further information may be obtained from Joan Sommers at sommersj@umkc.edu or calling (913) 722-5625.