18 year old accordionist Emmanuel Gasser from Saint-Charles, Ontario, Canada, won First Place in the Open Division of the LIAC in June.

The 2015 judges were Michael Bridge and Sergei Teleshev. The Workshop Presenters were Alicia Baker, Michael Bridge, Sergei Teleshev, The Valinor Quartet, Jamie Maschler, Cooksie Kramer, Bonnie Birch, Beverley Fess, Toby Hanson, Jim and Shirley O”Brien, Max Kyllonen and Kory Tideman.

The 21st Annual Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration is sponsored by the Northwest Accordion Society. Mark your calendar now for the 2016 June 16-21 LIAC.

The Northwest Accordion Society has been hosting accordion events in the Northwest for over 25 years. Included in it’s accomplishments are monthly accordion socials, the annual “Day of the Accordion” at the Seattle Center, accordion scholarships, and it’s elegant quarterly publication “The Northwest Accordion News”.

Emmanuel said about LIAC, “It sure was worth it. I liked every minute of it ! The wonderful friendships, the beautiful town of Leavenworth and of course the lovely accordion music … Oh just happiness at its fullest !”

For further information: emmanuel_gasser@yahoo.com