The American Accordionists’ Association is pleased to welcome Mary Tokarski as their new President, taking over from outgoing President Linda Soley Reed, who has remained part of the Executive Team.

A concert accordionist, Mary Tokarski performs both nationally and internationally as a soloist, with Symphony Orchestras, with String Quartets and as a member of various ensembles. 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).

She’s toured China several times with the Mantovani Orchestra, performing both in the orchestra and as a soloist. She has 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. Mary was also featured in the Westport Country Playhouse production of “Sing For Your Shakespeare” created by Wayne Barker, Mark Lamos and Deborah Grace Winer.

For more than 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 and 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 fellow AAA officer Joan Geller Grauman (an 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! eMusicForAccordion.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. She has served on the Board of Directors for the AAA in multiple capacities, is one of the founders of the Connecticut Accordion Association and is a member and former Executive Officer of the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG).
 


As an educator, 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 began her music career at the age of 7 with Michael Fernino of Ansonia, Connecticut. During the course of her musical career she has studied theory, performance, ensemble and orchestral training with professors from Yale University, Indiana University, Peabody Conservatory, Boston University, the University of Texas and the University of Denver. In addition, she has had extensive Kindermusik training at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and Princeton University, and has attended numerous seminars on the psychology of teaching, technics for “special needs” learners, and LOTS of education-related topics!

Mary has the distinction of winning over 185 trophies and awards for her performances in State, Regional, National and International competitions, and was elected to the 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 received the AAMS Recognition Award in March 2011.

We congratulate Mary on her new role as AAA President, and we wish her much success as she and her team lead this prestigious organization during the upcoming term of office.


Note: As Mary begins her new role, we offer our sincerest condolences to her on the sad loss of her devoted husband Frank. Mary had just returned from her concert tour in China with the Mantovani Orchestra to learn of husband’s cancer diagnosis and tragically lost him a week later. Family and friends gathered for his beautiful Funeral service in North Haven, CT on January 24th. Our thoughts are with Mary during this difficult time.