Celebrate National Accordion Awareness Day this June to give this accordion its well deserved appreciation. This celebration has a specific purpose — to educate people about the accordion and acknowledge its contribution to music.

The accordion (also called the ‘concertina’) has been featured in many classical and modern musical works, from jazz and zydeco to folk, gospel, and blues. The oldest name for the accordion is derived from the Greek word ‘harmonikos’, which means ‘harmonic’ or ‘musical’. It goes by many names across the world — ‘Akkerdeon’ in Germany, ‘Fiarmonica’ in Italy, ‘Bayan’ in Russia, ‘Sun-Fin-Chin’ in China, ‘Harmonium’ in Pakistan, and ‘Trekspill’ in Norway. But it is commonly just called ‘accordion’ in many countries.

The invention of this instrument is a subject of much debate among researchers. Some credit Austria as its birthplace, others think it was invented in Berlin. What researchers do know is that the accordion spread around the globe because of European immigration into other countries.

This accordion entered into popular music in the 19th century, with many accordionists including five players — Pietro Frosini, brothers Count Guido Deiro and Pietro Deiro, Slovenian brothers Vilko Ovsenik and Slavko Avsenik, and Charles Magnante — becoming major influences during this period. While vaudeville theatres closed during the Great Depression, accordionists performed for and taught via the radio. The rise of rock and roll finally caused the decline of accordions in popular music, but the instrument has since been revived, with multiple musicians like Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and others using the accordion in their songs.

Did you know that the accordion is the official instrument of San Francisco since 1990? Accordionist Tom Torriglia is responsible for making June “National Accordion Awareness Month,” and campaigned to make the accordion San Francisco’s official instrument. How did he make the case to get the piano accordion named the official instrument of San Francisco? Tom shares, “In 1989, I met San Francisco Supervisor Willie Kennedy at an event, told her of my intent to make the accordion the official instrument and asked her how to go about that and would she help me.She guided me through the process. The first step was to write a support paper talking about the history of the accordion in San Francisco and how the piano accordion got its start here and why it should be the city’s official instrument. After reading the piece I wrote, she felt my request had merit and she then introduced a measure to the full Board of Supervisors asking that the accordion be named the city’s official instrument. The supervisors then held a public hearing on the issue. A lot of people showed up to City Hall to speak for and against.The Board of Supervisors passed the measure and the measure then went to the mayor’s office for his signature. Realizing what a hot-button issue this was, the mayor, Art Agnos, decided not to act and the measure became officially approved by default.

How to celebrate National Accordion Awareness Month? Consider attending a live or Zoom concert or festival purchase an accordion album on streaming platforms including Amazon, Spotify, Apple, etc. Watch an accordion event on Facebook or other social media and donate to the accordionist, treat yourself to an accordion and lessons, visit the New England Accordion Museum in Connecticut, A World of Accordions Museum in Wisconsin or other accordion museums in your area. Read the AWW accordion news publications each week/month to learn about what is happening with accordionists around the world. Join an accordion organization/club such as ATG or AAA or one of many groups around the country where you will meet interesting people who share a common love for the accordion.

Read what happened on World Accordion Day on May 6th. WAD

What did you do to celebrate? Email: Ritabelll@aol.com