November’s featured performer, Beverley Fess, live-streamed from San Diego aboard her 50’ motor yacht Duet with her husband, Ron Griffin. We had people from all over the US visiting this wonderful meeting, which was emceed by Paul Cain.

Beverley is well known to many of us as a virtuoso accordionist, master teacher, officer of the Accordionists & Teachers Guild (ATG), and for her many other achievements. She is known for her skillful interpretations of many of our favorite arrangers and composers, including Magnante, Frosini, Gart, and others.

Bev warmed up with Andalucia (Lecuona, arranged by Charles Magnante) followed by My Anna Marie Waltz, a lovely piece composed by Len Gadica in honor of his wife, Anna Marie. Gadica was a fellow Canadian who attended and competed often at the Kimberly, BC, Canada festival, then known as The Old Time Accordion Championships. Next was Cubana, an original piece written expressly for the accordion by French composer Frank Angelis. Bev recently performed this piece for the ATG, which required original accordion music. This beautiful piece fit the bill!

At age 11, Bev attended a music festival and fell in love with Pietro Frosini’s Carnival of Venice, which inspired her to master it at a young age and embark on her accordion career. Bev performed this complex and difficult composition brilliantly! Next was an effortless performance of the French musette Indifference (Tony Murena and Joseph Colombo). She followed with John Gart’s wonderful Snowtrain Shuffle, played with precision. One can hear the train in Gart’s terrific harmonics and chord changes. Bev then performed Besame Mucho (arranged by the late Joe Morelli of Vancouver, BC), followed by Charles Magnante’s bouncy arrangement of Tea for Two, and then one of Bev’s favorites, Moon River (Henry Mancini). San Francisco Accordion Club 3 December, 2022.

Many of Bev’s pieces are well-known standards, but mixing things up a bit, she next performed a more contemporary piece, which was introduced to her by fellow accordionist Mary Tokarski: Memories Tango, composed by the Bulgarian composer, Tudor Gerov, who published this in 2002. Wonderful! Then Bev offered a choice – rag or polka? Paul Cain requested a rag. Bev performed Magnante’s arrangement of 12th street Rag, and, of course, it was brilliant!

What came next was a special treat. The yacht from which Bev livestreamed is aptly named “Duet”. Bev’s husband, Ron Griffin, has been very involved with the San Diego Accordion Club, including having formerly served as president. Ron joined Bev for a terrific series of duets, including their rendition of Under Paris Skies (Charles Camilleri) and Astor Piazzola’s masterpiece Oblivion.

Bev introduced us to Comfort Waltz (composed by Toralf Tollefsen), a piece she performed in a competition as a 14-year-old Canadian teen, there having been 28 competitors. Although she thought she had blown it, at the end, the adjudicator asked her to play it for the group, replete with the compliment that she had played it as it should be played. Next was Stas Venglevski’s bouncy Stas’ Tune, published 2020, featuring swing, syncopations, and a catchy theme. It was fabulous and new to many of us! Returning to classics, Bev played Malaguena (Lecuona, Magnante arrangement). Finally, Bev, having studied briefly with fellow Canadian Dixie Dean, played her holiday piece, Jingle Bells Fantasy, concluding Bev’s program.

Thank you, thank you, Beverley and Ron! It was a special treat to host you for our November program, and to enjoy your great solos and duets, live-streamed from your aptly-named boat, “Duet”. We hope you’ll sail up to San Francisco Bay; we’ve got a few choice harbors up here as well! So, that’s it! We wish everyone a wonderful and joyous holiday season!

Bev’s PANcordion has a special story associated with the motor yacht “Duet,” docked in San Diego where Beverley and Ron reside, and from where they performed. Ron purchased “Duet” in February of this year from an attorney. In a remarkable coincidence, the attorney’s late father -in-law had bequeathed to his daughter – the attorney’s wife – his many accordions! One of the accordions was a PANcordion, the same model made famous by many artists, including Myron Floren. Bev played it a bit and immediately bonded with the instrument, but the owner was reluctant to part with her father’s accordion for sentimental reasons. Newlyweds Bev and Ron married a year ago. On a scavenger hunt in May of this year, surprise, luck prevailed! Bev received this magnificent PANcordion as a birthday present from hubby Ron!

For further information: Kenneth.E.Schwartz@gmail.com