Updated – The Nineteenth Commissioned Work of the
American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) Composers Commissioning Committee:
George Kleinsinger: Prelude and Sarabande
View this 2023 update at: http://www.ameraccord.com/aaacommissions15.php

Dr Robert Young McMahan writes:
It has been quite a while—three years, to be exact—since we last gathered in person for the much anticipated, uniquely eclectic, and always exciting annual mid-summer event the accordion world knows as the AAA Festival. My contributions to this long-awaited resumption of the AAA Festival will be twofold:

1. AAA Festival Presentation: For most of the second half of the twentieth century and a few years beyond, Elsie Bennett, founding chair of the AAA’s historic Composers Commissioning Committee, succeeded in convincing a who’s who of famous composers and others of high quality to produce much needed concert works of all types and styles for or including the accordion. She was also a meticulous record keeper of all meetings and correspondence with her subjects as well as countless photographs of them (as well as many notable cooperating accordionists) she had taken with her in meetings, social gatherings, and concerts.

For this presentation we will open her vast photo albums allowing the pictures on screen to pleasantly guide us through her amazing story and important contributions to the classical accordion.

2. One-on-one Festival Consultation: Teachers, artists or students of all ages and backgrounds can book by email a (no charge) 30 minute individual consultation at the AAA Festival with Composers Commissioning Committee (CCC) Chair Robert Young McMahan to discuss the extensive CCC repertoire and which of its works might best fit each person’s musical tastes and performance level. Students are encouraged to involve their teacher. This is a CCC promotion to develop greater knowledge of the extensive CCC repertoire and encourage more performances. Email: grillmyr@gmail.com