Picture 1 above: Joe Recchia, President of the Michigan Accordion Society, and Cory Pesaturo, presenting ATG President, Amy Jo Sawyer, a very large check ($2,000.00) to be used for ATG Youth Activities. Amy Jo presented Joe with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Picture 2 above: Kenn Baert, former student of Gene Van, along with ATG President, Amy Jo Sawyer, present Gene a “Lifetime Achievement Award”.
Picture 3 above: Joan Cochran Sommers, ATG Executive Secretary, along with Amy Jo Sawyer, President, present Beverley Fess a “Lifetime Achievement Award”.
The 76th annual Accordionists & Teachers Guild (ATG) Festival was held in the Lisle (near Chicago) Hyatt Hotel from July 19 to July 24, 2016. Attendees were from many states and included participants from China, New Zealand, and Canada.
Nightly concerts featured special guest artists Grayson Masefield (New Zealand), Xia Gang (Sichuan, China), Murl Allen Sanders (Seattle), and Jerry Cigler (Chicago). Also featured from China were Jing Qiao, Violinist, and Tao Tong, Tenor. They were accompanied by Xia Gang.
The “Sound Scape Trio” (Denver, CO) performed. Members are John & Madalynn Neu and Larry Miller. Gail Campanella (Santa Barbara, CA), soloist, also performed.
The “UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble” (Kansas City), directed by Joan Cochran Sommers performed. Members are Betty Jo Simon, Ron Barrow, Kevin Friedrich, Samantha Wagner, Joyce Davis, Sherry Carroll and Joan C. Sommers.
The “President’s Quintet” featured ATG President, Amy Jo Sawyer, Joseph Natoli, Gail Campanella, Kenn Baert, and Liz Finch.
A concert of Original Music for the accordion featured Beatrice Makdah (Chicago), soloist, performing the 3rd mvt. of Anthony Galla-Rini’s “Concerto for Accordion” in g minor accompanied by an ensemble that included Kevin Friedrich, Amy Jo Sawyer, Joseph Natoli, Ron Barrow, Donna Dee Ray, Esther Lanting, Betty Jo Simon, Samantha Wagner, Mary Ann Covone, Beverley Fess and Joyce Davis. Samantha Wagner performed Paul Creston’s “Prelude and Dance”.
“Serenade”, 1st mvt. by Alexander Comitas was performed by the ensemble of members listed above and also included Kenn Baert and Liz Finch. Mary Ann Covone (Chicago), performed Karen Fremar’s “Nocturne”. The ensemble, including Paula Bechtold, performed Murl Allen Sander’s “Ruby’s Four Questions”, and Joseph Natoli performed “Kinetic Tango”.
The 35 member ATG Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Joan Cochran Sommers, performed the “Star Spangled Banner” with audience participation, “Overture” to the Opera “Semiramide” by Rossini, “Over The Rainbow”, Harburg & Arlen with special arrangement by Joan C. Sommers, featuring guest vocalist Robyn Hartfield (Kansas City), and “Springtime” by Kolz & Kopf.
Cory Pesaturo performed during the Annual Banquet which also featured several Special Awards given to members for outstanding service to the accordion community.
Gene Van (IN) and Beverley Fess (Canada) received “Lifetime Achievement Awards” for their 50+ years of teaching the accordion. Xia Gang received a special award for his generous monetary contribution to ATG. Betty Jo Simon received an award for her outstanding three years of service as ATG President. Joe Recchia, President of the Michigan Accordion Society, presented ATG with a special donation of $2,000.00, from the MAS, to be used to promote ATG youth activities.
Workshops featured Helmi Harrington (Duluth, MN), presenting “Evolution of the Various Bass Systems” and “Introduction to the Button Diatonic Accordion”. Grayson Masefield presented “Building A Piece of Music, Practice & Memorization”. Jerry Cigler presented “Ways to Freshen Your Improvising” and Murl Sanders presented “Strategies For Learning, Reading, Playing & Teaching Tricky Modern Rhythms”. Joseph Natoli presented “Inexpensive Studio Quality Recording at Home” part 2 (Advanced), and George Secor demonstrated and gave a workshop on the “Moschino Free Bass System”. Xia Gang presented “Accordion Activities in China” with assistance by Sam Su, music critic and writer for a Chinese publication with one million readers.
Entertainment was provided during the daily luncheons and prior to the evening concerts by ATG members, and other guests, that included Lou LeBrun, Jon Thiel, George Secor, Dick Tappan, Charles Oprian, Edo Sadikovic, John Steciw, Gordon Kohl, Tony Hermanek, Nick Ballarini, Mardy Eisloeffel, Betty Jo Simon, Nancy Leonard and Charles Weyhaupt.
Eight students of instructor, Xia Gang, from China participated in the competitions winning many awards. The Senior U.S. Championship 1st Place was won by Xue Dong (China), picture 2 below (on left) with other students.
Picture 1 below: Xia Gang was presented a special award for his generous monetary contributions to ATG after his concert performance. Amy Jo Sawyer, President, Betty Jo Simon, past President, Joan Sommers, Executive Secretary and Sam Su, music critic and writer for a Chinese publication, congratulate him.
Picture 2 below: Chinese contestants with their teacher, Xia Gang, receiving their awards.
