The Accordion Teachers Association of Massachusetts ‘s 53rd Annual Music Festival will be held at the Newton Marriott in Newton, Massachusetts on April 10, 11, 12, 2015.

Mary has adjudicated at the ATAM Competition & Festival for over 25 years and will be recognized by the Association as a Lifetime Honorary Member at their annual Banquet on Saturday evening.

The newly elected President, Francisco Coelho, will do the presentation.

Mary Tokarski was recently elected as the new AAA President. Concert Accordionist, Mary Tokarski performs both nationally and internationally as a soloist, with Symphony Orchestras, with String Quartets and as a member of The ‘K’ Trio. Mary has appeared as a soloist with the Prince George’s Philharmonic (Maryland), the Moravian Symphony (Czech Republic), the Auckland Symphony (New Zealand), The Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra (Massachusetts), the Waterbury Symphony (Connecticut), the Bronxville Pops Orchestra (New York), the Hamden Symphony Orchestra (Connecticut) and most recently with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (Massachusetts).

Mary toured mainland China with the Mantovani Orchestra, performing both in the orchestra and as a soloist, appeared in the orchestra for the musical “Fiddler On The Roof”, performed with the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center Orchestra in the full sound track for “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” complete with the film, and in the Opera “Four Saints In Three Acts” by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein.

In Spring 2014, Mary was featured in the Westport Country Playhouse production of “Sing For Your Shakespeare” created by Wayne Barker, Mark Lamos and Deborah Grace Winer.

For 20 years Mary served as Director of Music Education at Tokarski Music Center in North Haven, Connecticut, where she taught piano and accordion, conducted the choral & ensemble programs, supervised the pre-school programs, and served as a Music Educator in the North Haven Department of Education’s Early Childhood Development Program.

Mary currently teaches accordion and piano at her home in Northford, Connecticut. 
 
In collaboration with Karen Malan-Uribe (an English as a Second Language teacher in the Washington, D.C. area) and Joan Geller Grauman (an amazing illustrator/artist from Maryland), Mary selected and recorded the music and narration for the guided reader children’s book “An Accordion! What Is That?” released in 2010, and now in an iBook format! (www.accordionbee.com)
 
Mary has performed internationally in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland and Switzerland – as well as extensively here in the United States.

As a two-time United States Champion she represented the U.S. in the Coupe Mondiale (World Championship) events in Belgium and France, and now serves on the Board of Directors for the American Accordionists Association, is one of the founders of the Connecticut Accordion Association, and is a member of the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, Intl. 
 


In addition, Mary presents Workshops and Master Classes on improving musical skills, and coaches on all aspects of performance throughout the U.S. and Canada, and recently at the Peter Soave Music Academy in Sauris, Italy. Sought after for her adjudicating skills, Mary has served numerous associations as a “regular” at festivals around the U.S. as well as serving on prestigious jury panels for world events.

Mary has the distinction of winning over 185 trophies and awards for her performances in State, Regional, National and International competitions, and twice represented the United States in the Coupe Mondiale (World Accordion Championships) sponsored by the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA). She was elected to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2002, the Oxford’s Who’s Who in 1992, was a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow in 2004 and recevied the AAMS Recognition Award in March 2011.
  
 


Her CD’s include: “Have Yourself A Mary Merry Christmas” – a collection of Mary’s favorite listening music for the Holidays! Her previous 2 solo CDs, “Music with Mary . . . for my friends!” and “Music with Mary . . . with my friends!” have received international acclaim . . . and . . . Mary was chosen by New Zealand composer Gary Daverne to perform many of his compositions for accordion and symphony orchestra on his CD release “Rhapsody”. As a member of The “K” Trio, Mary has 3 CD releases: “Images”, “Take 2”, and “Classically, the “K” Trio”.

For more information, to book a presentation or coaching session, or to order a CD, Mary can be reached at: Mary Tokarski.