President of the CIA World Accordion Museum Alliance (WAMA) and Vice President of A World of Accordions Museum in Superior, WI, AAA Board of Director Kevin Friedrich will appear at the upcoming American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) festival in a presentation called ‘Countdown 200! Introducing two centuries of accordion family instruments!

On the 6th of May 1829, Cyrill Demian filed a patent in Vienna, Austria for his ‘accordion’. The patent was approved a short time later on May 23rd. What followed was a path of innovation, development and experimentation. Throughout this evolution, one has seen uncountable variations in shape, size and keyboard configurations of the accordion, examples of many will be showcased in this presentation.

Kevin will introduce some of the beautiful instruments that make up the magnificent exhibits at A World of Accordions Museum in Superior, Wisconsin, the largest collection of accordions in the world.

Kevin recounts “It’s wonderful to be able to let some of these accordions do what they were made to do, and that is, to have their reeds come to life and share their song. Each instrument has its own history and will have been played under a variety of circumstances. At the AAA Festival, we will let them continue their story.“

Kevin would like to offer a special thank you to Chad Walker for his kind assistance in preparing some of these precious and historical accordions for use in the presentation.

As we near the 200th anniversary of the accordion Kevin’s presentation begins with the oldest instrument in the collection, a tiny 6 key Flutina approximately 196 years old. The presentation continues through numerous keyboard configurations and evolution of the accordion, finishing with the magnificent 160 bass concert instrument owned by the late Dr. Willard A. Palmer.

Other instruments will include the stunning cello accordion, a rare Alfred Arnold bandoneon in piano button keyboard configuration, Frosini, chromatic and double piano/button keyboards, diatonic and two sided piano keyboard instruments and more!

No small feat, the presentation will require transporting the Travelling Museum collection almost 3,000 miles round trip across country, but A World of Accordions Museum is excited to offer this outreach program and offers thanks to the AAA for its vision and support in including this presentation as part of their festival.

In addition to the instruments being played, other accordions and historical accordion related items will be on display, including the personal instrument of the AAA’s first President, Pietro Diero and items
from several AAA founders including Charles Magnante, Charles Nunzio and Pietro Frosini.

The presentation will take place at the AAA Festival on Friday, July 11th, 2025 at the Marriott Philadelphia West, 111 Crawford Ave, W. Conshohocken, PA.

Please visit the AAA website page: https://ameraccord.com/festival.php for the latest 2025 Festival updates and scheduling information.