All nationalities are invited to participate in a Button Accordion Championship to be held on Canada Day, the weekend of July 2nd and 3rd, 2016, at Slovenski Park, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
There will be two categories in the competition: one for youth up to the age of 16, and one for adults 17 and up.The button accordion organization hopes to inspire a new generation of musicians to take up this quintessential Slovenian instrument and music, and to rekindle an old tradition that has been cherished and nurtured by parents and grandparents.
Their goal in this competition is not only to crown a champion, but to make every Button Accordion Musician feel like a Champion!
All musicians of button, chromatic or piano accordions, whether you participate in the championship or not, are welcome to bring your instruments and perform for the audience on a special stage that will be available for showcasing your talent.
A special performance will be presented by Champion Marin Tezak visiting toronto for the first time. Martin Težak was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia in 1977 and at the age of 8 he picked up the diatonic accordion for the first time. Within six months he was already performing in front of an audience. Since then he has achieved impressive success in numerous endeavours.
Within a short span of years, Martin won the highest ranking in all international competitions for the diatonic accordion, and by 2010 achieved the ultimate World Championship in Roccagorga, Italy. Leading up to that pinnacle, Martin was European champion in both 2009 and 2010, won first place in the International Avsenik competition, and won two gold medals at the Slovenian national competitions in Ljubečna, Celje.
In the same period, he won a series of top rankings in local and international competitions, received more than six awards for authorship, and was honoured for his cultural contributions.
In the Guinness Book of Records, Martin was recognized as conductor of the largest Accordion ensemble consisting of 1,137 accordionists at the Panonika Harmonika Festival in Cerklje ob Krki, in Slovenia in August 2011. Martin also holds the record for continuous accordion playing over 37 hours, during which he performed more than 450 musical pieces.
As an organizer of the Accordion Olympics Martin hopes to encourage, inspire, and connect accordionists from around the world.
Martin established Melodiart, a private music school offered in four locations throughout Slovenia, where he teaches and mentors many Slovenian accordionists. He has developed and copyrighted a unique, musical notation system called Tablature Symphony, an intuitive, language-indendent learning tool that can be used by new accordionists from any corner of the world.
