The Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration sponsored by the Northwest Accordion Society will feature several workshops designed to improve your accordion skills.

Lori Beth Brooke will present “20 For 20” – Stretches for Accordionists on Friday, June 26, 2026 from 1:30-2:30 PM at Grange/Upper.

All of us who play accordion are engaging in physical activity when we perform. Lori Beth Brooke has developed a series of stretches designed to help accordionists avoid pain and discomfort while playing.

This workshop is an introduction to the “20 For 20” program developed to help counteract or prevent physical challenges for accordionists by exercising twenty minutes a day. Participants do not need to bring their accordions to the workshop but a towel will be useful.

If the perfect combination of Old West and Old Bavaria could be found, it would be Lori Beth Brooke; an accordionist, yodeler, and songwriter from Austin, Texas. Growing up in the Lone Star State, she was immersed in the combination of both Western and German music that has inspired much of Texas culture.

Lori began accordion lessons at age 7 and progressed to writing her own songs at age 12. That passion for music led her to seek a Bachelor of Arts in Music. After college she continued her studies, becoming a top yodeler, a main feature of her accordion performances.

Awards and accolades have followed Lori Beth throughout her career, winning the 2016 International Western Music Association Female Yodeler Award, the 2020 IWMA Western Swing Album Award, the 2020 Academy of Western Artists Female Western Performer Award, and the 2021 and 2024 Walnut Valley Festival Humorous Song Award.