The two-day festival at the AAA affiliated Harrington ARTS Center and A World of Accordions Museum in Superior, WI “Honoring Dr. Willard A. Palmer” was dominated by the presence of “Big Red,” the magnificent harpsichord previously owned by Willard Palmer and donated in 2013 to A World of Accordions Museum by Willard A. Palmer, III.

The acoustically ideal Hanni Strahl Concert Hall was the setting for well-balanced programs filled with music, educational and entertainment events. Both Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen issued proclamations denoting “Dr. Willard A. Palmer Days.” This Second Annual event encompassed more than seventeen hours during which Dr. Palmer’s unequalled accomplishments were reviewed and illustrated. In all aspects the event was an extraordinary success.

Held from May 3-4, 2014, the opening session introduced both father and son in biographic summaries of comparable import. Willard Palmer, III, presented the opening session by explaining construction of the 1976 harpsichord made by A. Cecil Taylor of Houston , Texas . This highly valuable asset contributes to the esteem in which the institution is held as a national resource. “Big Red,” affectionately named for its vermillion and gold casing, is ten-feet in overall size, with two manuals, eleven pedals controlling six plectra, and its own website showing mechanisms and details of Houston artist Brent Tinkler’s hand painted soundboard of Texas flora and motifs. Special displays documenting its transport and restoration (completed for the events by Bill, III) were set up in the concert hall’s foyer.

In a session describing the genius of Dr. Willard Palmer, the topics “Scholarship and Pedagogy: Methodology and Transcriptions” were discussed and demonstrated by Museum curator Helmi Harrington Ph.D. She took several pieces of Palmer’s editions from harpsichord to piano to accordion performances that pointed out interpretive differences resulting through the instruments’ characteristics. Among her selections was included use of the Titano Super-V Emperor accordion, outfitted with MIDI system, eight rows of bass buttons including double converter pitches from “C1” to “B5,” among additional features. She restored this instrument in 2013, when included in the younger Palmer’s donation of his father’s estate to the museum.

A unique person of diverse talents, Willard Palmer, III, spoke on “Secrets Behind the Masterwork Editions,” revealing information that only he could deliver. In the segment entitled “Master of Magic, Mystery and Mirth” he offered an audience-engaging entertainment of tremendous appeal. Surprising parallels between the invention/evolution of banjo types and early accordions came to light in his “Cultural Influences on Banjo and Accordions” lecture/demonstration. Here accompanied by his wife Julie, Palmer has the ability to captivate and hold listeners’ interest by interjecting humor into scholarly insights.

Attendees were enticed to remain on-site through lunch and refreshments provided each day by local restaurants. Concerts were plentiful and varied. One such involved symphony violinist Carolyn Carver and Helmi Harrington playing Palmer arrangements and performance favorites. They also accompanied lyric soprano Amanda Bush (Master’s degree candidate) in performances of original works on which Willard Palmer based arrangements used in Palmer-Hughes books. One such was Puccini’s “Un Bel Di,” recorded during one of Palmer’s last public appearances. Another concert, involving 26 performers from Harrington’s studio, presented an historic synopsis of accordion ensemble genre from folk music and virtuoso pieces to original contemporary compositions. This program included works by, among others, Carrozza, Piazzolla, Brehme, and Pauline Oliveros, a well-known graduate of Palmer’s accordion department at the University of Houston .

Touring A World of Accordions Museum were about 100 people including Mayor Hagen and former State Representative Mike Jaros. Attendees were introduced to the rich taxonomy of accordion family instruments, the books, recordings, music and history files libraries, the American Accordionists’ Archival Collection room, and the evolving Deffner Legacy rooms.

Retired Professor Dr. Anthony Bukoski, popular mid-west chronicler and special friend to the museum, read excerpts from his books. Intermittent music by Harrington and an informal jam-session group played titles mentioned in his anecdotes.

The festival was concluded with champagne toasts in memory of Dr. Willard Palmer and the generosity of Willard Palmer, III, his wife and family.