
The 4 day event presented by Stas Venglevski and the Houston Accordion Orchestra was a Retreat with a Tango Fever theme was a very successful. Originally 40 individuals had signed up to participate, but because of the Covid crisis the final count was reduced to 14 orchestra members plus their spouses and guests.
Stas found the level of musicianship was very strong with members fully prepared with their parts, and found it hard to believe that after only the first rehearsal the orchestra was prepared and nearly ready to refine their repertoire.
The Houston Accordion Orchestra Retreat has many features to it. The Original Music Compositions Concert was a particularly tremendous success. This is where a member shares his or her original composition by performing it as a solo piece during the concert. Five members participated and it was good to see such interest.
What a surprise it was for everybody that one of the orchestra members, Megumi Hada, completed 18 compositions – each one a jewel – and she had never composed a piece previously! She also provided a book, called Voyage, with an accompanying CD.
It is apparent the audience appreciation motivated the performers and are looking forward to this event next year which will be held January 13-16, 2022. Next year’s theme will be an exciting one. It is being promoted as “A Collage of European Music” and will future the music of Russia, France, Italy, Moldova, Finland and Azerbaijan in addition to a world premiere of a new orchestral Overture by Stas. The hotel and location could not be improved upon for our type of event. Please consider attending!