Accordionist and composer Joseph Natoli is making important contributions to the accordion repertoire which is continually increasing thanks to his dedication and talent. If you are fortunate enough to hear him perform and have the opportunity to speak with him, you will immediately realize that he is not only a gifted person but also very gracious and modest about his talents.

What some people do not know about Joseph Natoli is that besides being a performer, he has also been actively composing serious works for free bass accordion and other instruments since the age of 19. That was the year when he wrote his Toccata #1 in 1973 which has since been performed all over Europe and was even used to capture a 1st runner up title by Werner Glutsch in the Coupe Mondiale before he later won that competition. Joe performed this work himself at the 1975 International Accordion Symposium in Toronto Canada. More recently Michael Bridge performed the Toccata #1 earlier this year in his Master’s recital at the University of Toronto.

Joe has composed other large works in multiples styles that include accordion. His Prism/Rebirth is an expansive 30-minute contemporary work for accordion and chamber ensemble with a large battery of percussion for which he received a substantial Ohio Arts Council grant in 1978. Joe later composed Toccata #2 in 2008 which has been performed and world premiered in Toronto Canada by John Lettieri.

In addition to accordion works, Joe has written for every type of instrumentation including Symphony Orchestra (Penumbra), Flute & Percussion (Wind Playing Love Songs), large chamber ensembles (Angelita), electronic compositions (Moonlight Sonata, Piano Extensions, Variables in A Minor, Journey, Passage) and Roland digital accordion (Epic Cinematic Soundtrack – world premiered at the 2015 AAA and ATG festivals). Joe is often a self-described musical chameleon in that he thoroughly enjoys composing music in every style, as he has multiple Baroque-type Inventions In C & F to his credit, as well as a “Sonata In the Classical Style” (both for accordion), as well as waltzes (Jeu d’Esprit) and tarantellas (Tarantella Fuoco).

This year for the 2016 ATG Festival, Joe composed and world-premiered a new work written in the last three weeks called “Kinetic Tango” (the recording of which is included here). The driving rhythms of this contemporary sounding tango explain the reason for the word kinetic in the title, as the piece is in constant motion from beginning to end.

Following is a sampling of the works Joe has written for accordion:
Composition Instrumentation Year
Toccata #1 Free bass accordion 1973
Prism/Rebirth Flt, Clr, Vln, Vla, Acc, Perc 1978
Sonata In D (In the Classical Style) Stradella accordion 2004
Invention in C Free bass accordion 2008
Invention in F Free bass accordion 2008
Toccata #2 Free bass accordion 2008
Waltz For Ron Stradella accordion 2009
Tarantella Fuoco Stradella accordion 2012
Accordion Extensions Roland FR7X 2013
Innocence Roland FR7X/8X 2013
Nostalgique Accordion Quintet 2013
Epic Cinematic Soundtrack Roland FR8X 2014
Four Likes Free bass accordion 2015
Kinetic Tango Free bass accordion 2016

Any of Joe’s works are available through JANPress Publications by writing to request them at: janpressmusic@yahoo.com.