Faithe Deffner, 83, of East Williston, NY, and Boynton Beach, FL, born in Worcester, Massachusetts; deceased June 3, 2014, in Florida. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Yale Weisblatt, and husband, Ernest Deffner. She is survived by her daughter, Verne Deffner Leven Uvezian, sister-in-law, Florynce Weisblatt, nephew, Gary Weisblatt, nieces Wendy Warwick and Terry Gross, and friend of long-standing, Angelica Bargou. Private burial services were held Friday, June 6, at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Boynton Beach, FL. Interment was at Beth David Cemetery in Hollywood, FL.
Faithe Deffner’s life was marked by the brilliance of her accomplishments in manifold directions that improved the accordion industry and its popularity, as enabled by her profound intelligence. Despite gender prejudices and jealousies, she rose to world prominence as influential spokesperson on behalf of the instrument family and its players, was known for manufacture of fine accordions and ethical business acumen, was respected for her eloquence and her breadth of insights. With legendary foresight, she strove ceaselessly to enhance the social impact of her industry. With unstinting energy, often against personal interests, she gave of herself in associations that shared her ideals. She was a whole and integrated personality, able to unite life-experiences into the goal-filled path that mention of her name elicits.
Only summarized here, details of her life and work can be found in 15,000 citations on the internet, most notably at www.accordions.com/fdeffner.
Faithe was introduced to music in an Orthodox Jewish family that supported youthful violin studies. Later, she studied accordion with Billy Costa and accordion construction as a by-product of opportunity. Decades later, in 1978, she supplemented her experiences by joining with Lindy Baumgarten, past president of Canadian Accordion Teachers’ Association, to form their New York studio called Keyboard Study Centers. Their students won many top awards in national competitions. Faithe’s incredible intellect absorbed evaluative criteria that positioned her among the driving forces of the American Accordionists’ Association and Accordion Teachers Guild.
Her education in journalism and advertising at University of Missouri School of Journalism lead to formation of her own advertising company in Manhattan which lead to her work for the Ernest Deffner Company, established in 1934 as distributor of multifarious musical instruments. She became acquainted with accordions and eventually influenced the company to focus exclusively on the accordion industry. A then-waning field, her marketing insights led to effective campaigns that brought it new life. Their Italian-made Crucianelli, Video, and PANitalia instruments satisfied thousands of studios while the excellent American hand-made PANcordions appealed to artist professionals of national renown like Lawrence Welk, Myron Floren, Maddalena Belfiore among many others.
Ernest and Faithe formed an exceptionally close team with complimentary skills and compatible personalities. Her marriage to Ernest produced, in 1953, their only child, daughter Verne, who was periodically involved in the firm’s business activities. Around 1960, Angelica Bargou became a trusted life-long friend to the family. Faithe took over increased administrative duties as her husband’s health declined because of a terminal illness that resulted in his death in 1971. She mourned his loss the rest of her life.
Faithe came into her own as the first female head of a major accordion manufacturer when she assumed the company’s presidency. She brought the firm to international prominence, renamed it Ernest Deffner, Inc., and while acquiring other interests as a US government contractor, as Ernest Deffner Affiliates. Along the way, Faithe broke ground for acceptance of women of accomplishment. It was not an easy path in male-dominated fields. Her ability to persuade or failing that, to subvert objections, probably strengthened her resolve to accomplish any goals she undertook.
She recognized brilliance, worked with people of exceptional qualities, and formed solid friendships with those she respected. For example, she worked closely with the great educator-artists Dr. Willard Palmer and Bill Hughes, whose teaching skills developed in their large Houston, TX, studio. The Palmer-Hughes Accordion Course provided students a methodology and repertory that was appealing as well as pedagogically sound, which in turn enhanced public appreciation for the players’ instruments.
Faithe constantly worked to improve the lines of her accordions through the decades. The free-bass converter system for the Titano accordion models was easy to learn and caught on like wildfire. Simultaneously, Palmer’s exceptional teaching had developed advanced students that deserved university status. Thanks to the union of teacher and instrument, the University of Houston (headed by Willard Palmer) and the University of Missouri Kansas City (headed by Professor Joan Cochran Sommers) admitted accordionists into the music major program. In wider circles, Titano accordions became the standard and were played by more national champions than all other brands combined. They were performance instruments for artists such as Robert Davine, Dr. Carmelo Pino, Pauline Oliveros, Joan Cochran Sommers and many others.
Always attuned to popular trends, Faithe collaborated with Palmer in construction of the Titano Tiger, a 17”, amplified, lightweight accordion with quint reeds that would speak through the raucous sounds of rock bands. Its back-slated keyboard was ideal for standing players; its keyboard color-reversal of black and white keys and its brightly colored body offered eye-appeal to both players and audiences. She also produced a similar model colored black, the PANcordion Combo, for orchestral use.
Aware of the need for printed materials, Faithe added another division, Ernest Deffner Publications. When the market for O. Pagani and Pietro Deiro music publications declined and the companies closed, she included their stock in her offerings. Her inventory maintained slow-selling 20th century concert compositions and provided new or little-known composers the recognition of publication. Eventually the available titles numbered 6,000. In the late 1970s, she engaged the firm to produce a high-level magazine called “Accord” in which she was named as editor but in fact did most of the writing.
Neglecting her personal or business interests was not uncommon when it came to contributing to the work of worthy organizations. For this she received many honors among which she particularly valued those listed next. She was named honorary vice president of the Accordion Federation of North America. For more than 30 years she was a USA delegate to the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, sponsors of Coupe Mondiale. In 2000, the CIA presented her their Merit Award which added her name to world luminaries. As a long-standing member of the Accordion Teachers Guild (now renamed Accordionists and Teachers Guild International), she assumed the post of vice president and served as member of the governing board. A 15-year member of the board of directors, A World of Accordions Museum named her “Friend of the Museum” and Emerita in 2002.
Faithe’s association with A World of Accordions Museum actually began before it had a name, rather, when it was still subsidiary to Accordion and Concertina Repair Technicians’ School, begun in 1991 and reorganized in 1993. Although initially skeptical, after her first in-person viewing she was impressed by the breadth of the 750 displays that students studied and appreciated the repair curriculum that resulted in her hiring a graduate, Chad Walker, as head repair person for her accordion companies. She visited several times to participate in special events, notably the 1999 Charles Magnante concerts celebrating acquisition of his musical estate. Behind the scenes, she had persuaded Magnante’s son, Dr. Peter Magnante, to make this donation. She saw the building’s overcrowded conditions and encouraged relocation to a larger facility. When several properties were under consideration, she toured them with me to offer her advice. In the new Harrington ARTS Center (ARTS being acronym for the repair school), the main foci were on the by-then 1,000 instruments that created AWAM’s name and the magnificent concert hall in which they and many world-renowned performers would sound. Again behind the scenes, Faithe’s friend Helen Miller had been encouraged to make a large donation. Separate large rooms were designated for library holdings of accordion reference books, recordings and music. Dozens of scholars have used these resources in research for books and documentaries. In time, the AAA Archival Collection was installed as a public face for the organization to show its social import. In 2002, she pushed to hold the AAA Festival in Minnesota and to include a day-trip to the museum. As expected, the publicity was front-page, but more significantly, accordionists were awed by their instruments’ noble heritages. Despite conventional prejudices against free-reed predecessors, she was the first national figure to recognize the importance of accordion history and all the genera of their taxonomy. She urged Dr. Carmelo Pino’s presidency to affiliate AWAM with the AAA, which was celebrated during the museum’s formal reopening in 2004. In subsequent years, Faithe was responsible for several of the many major acquisitions that added credibility to the institution. The museum is currently outfitting a room named “The Deffner Legacy” in her honor.
Without question, Faithe’s principal affiliation was with the American Accordionists’ Association. She wholeheartedly threw herself into their projects despite the time consumption that was nothing short of altruistic. She encouraged their 1985 competition be held in Orlando, FL, where a massed band appearance at Disney World provided fun for participants and public visibility. An incomparable fund-raiser while always seeking new ways to further popular acclaim for the instrument, she envisioned and organized the 1986 Fantasy Cruise to Bermuda in which 700 participants massed in on-deck performance. Thousands of press kits had been distributed to the media which responded with reports of an accordion “renaissance” that included pop bands and fringe music. In 1987, the “Keyboard” magazine cover followed up proclaiming “Accordion power” as “rock’s new main squeeze.” In 1988, her campaign raised $30,000 for AAA’s international competition that drew 29 entrants from 10 countries. In 1995, she initiated the first Accordion Summit Meeting to discuss the expanding role of accordions in modern music. The meeting drew national speakers. It was considered a great dissemination of thoughts and experiences which had the expected by-product of positive publicity. Also in 1995, she planned the Houston, TX, AAA festival to honor her friend Dr. Willard Palmer who was in failing health yet accepted the invitation. Many of the University of Houston’s Accordion Symphony Orchestra participated to resound one of his arrangements and his composition “Ombo.” It was his last public appearance.
Faithe worked tirelessly to have 1996 declared the “Year of the Accordion”. The AAA focus during this year was on renewing accordionists’ enthusiasm for their instrument. They could not have chosen a more popular figure for festival honors–Myron Floren, whose weekly appearances on Lawrence Welk’s 27-year television show made the “Happy Norwegian” America’s most sought-after entertainer.
In 2005, the AAA hosted another innovative step inspired by Faithe—a search to find “the” new accordion “star” performing pieces of modern-pop appeal in an attempt to bring more young people to the instrument. Financed by her friend, Steve Stolaruk, the campaign named “Search for the Hottest Accordionist,” offered significant cash awards along with other benefits to promote accordion careers of the three top winners.
The AAA-ATG co-hosted 2007 Coupe Mondiale was a crowning moment of organization for Faithe. It was the largest international accordion event in the history of the USA, attracting over 1,000 participants and putting accordionists everywhere from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the steps of the Capital Building, and the inaugural World Accordion Orchestra. During that time, Faithe was CIA Honorary Vice President.
Faithe decided to retire around 2007. She sold Ernest Deffner Affiliates to Frank Busso, Jr., son of her dear friends, Carmela and Frank Busso, Sr. Frank (Sr.) and Faithe worked closely together for many years in organizing AAA events.
When asked about a memorial for her years of AAA service, Faithe requested a commissioned work for piano accordion from Russian composer, Sofia Gubaidulina. This wish could not be fulfilled, so in 2005 she personally commissioned Viatcheslav Semionov’s three-movement masterpiece, “Divertimento.” It was premiered by the composer at the AAA supported/hosted CUNY Concert on March 11 and AAA Master Class and Concert on March 12, 2005 at Greenwich House Music School, Renee Weiler Concert Hall, in Greenwich Village and repeated throughout his nationwide concert tour.
In recognition of her years of service and her status as president of the organization in 1985-86, 1995-2000, the AAA presented her with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in an elaborate 2009 banquet at New York City’s Tavern on the Green, attended by national and international figures. Surrounded by dear friends and respected associates she heard her legendary accomplishments extolled as she was presented with the esteemed “President Emerita” recognition by the American Accordionists’ Association.
On a personal note: Faithe asked me to write her obituary during an October, 2010 conversation, saying that she hoped it would not be needed for a long time because she still had many things to complete. It was an unexpected honor I took with utmost seriousness wrought from deep affection and esteem. I knew it would be a difficult task to summarize her life so filled with accomplishments. With new eyes, I began to reread everything I found written by and about her; to rethink our years of conversations, letters and emails; to listen differently when associates mentioned her name. Without fail I noticed a tone of respect and often the assumption of friendship. However, her polished, professional façade and articulate speech could also disaffect, obscuring the depth of her heart. Only occasionally did a glimmer of hesitation encroach on her stolid, determined bearing. Look again at photos of the young woman to see that she fostered a dichotomy between professionalism and her self-assessed intrinsic romanticism. Against any obstacles, she stood with her friends and defended their interests.
It has become trite to speak of celebrating a life when in reality we mourn its loss. There will be many who write about Faithe, uncounted others who will quietly acknowledge her influence, myriads who will never know her impact on their lives, and a world-wide public who bid farewell to this giant of our time. She used her passion to achieve what four people might not equal. Her presence is irreplaceable and loss of her brilliant intellect leaves us all reduced. Many have set out to improve the accordion world, but she did it with aplomb.
A memorial service will be held July 13, 2014 hosted by Angelica Bargou, following the American Accordionists’ Association Festival, at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Tarrytown, NY.
Dr. Helmi Harrington
