Our 2024 Festival Extravaganza, celebrating Professor Joan C. Sommers 90th year, in Kansas City is shaping up beautifully. For this special celebration, ATG will be offering a total of $10,000 in prize money and an additional $5,000 in financial aid for youth in need to help them attend our 2024 Festival and Competition. Decisions are still in process as to how that prize money and financial aid will be distributed, so watch our website for more information as the details develop. In the meantime, spread the word!

So many performing artists want to be with us to celebrate Joan Sommers’ 90th year, so the line-up of featured artists is truly an extravaganza of talent beginning with our esteemed Joan Cochran Sommers conducting our Festival Orchestra in new works composed for her by Gorka Hermosa (Spain) and Ian Watson (London). Many international guests will be playing in the orchestra, so be sure to visit our website and reserve your seat at this link https://www.atgaccordions.com/event-details/2024-atg-festival-orchestra-registration

The Festival Orchestra and all of our evening concerts will be presented at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Performing Arts Center where Joan Sommers served as chair of the Accordion Department for 40 years and Assistant Dean for the last 12 years prior to her retirement. After retirement, Joan Sommers was awarded the title of Professor Emerita.

In addition to conducting the Festival Orchestra, Professor Sommers will conduct the UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble in a special program at our 2024 Festival. The other artists programmed at UMKC are coming from all over the world including Gorka Hermosa from Spain, Bridge and Wolak from Canada, Grayson Masefield from New Zealand (who will join with some Kansas City players to present his new tango project), Das Duo Kollektiv (flute and accordion duo from Austria), our own United States star, Stas Venglevski, and Mirco Patarini (CIA President from Italy).