The 2019 Coupe Mondiale was held in Shenzhen City, China from 12 to 17 August. Representing the USA AAA was Nathan Chapeton, competing in the Coupe Mondiale Masters category which had an enormous 49 contestants playing over three full days of competition.

The Masters category with its 20 minute program, was widely considered one of the most difficult categories to win, with so many contestants and such a high level of performance.

Radu Ratoi, 2018 Coupe Mondiale Champion entered the 2019 Coupe Mondiale Masters category and with a really strong performance (23.67 marks), was over half a mark more than the 2nd place, and won the Masters Category. 2nd was Nikita Ukrainskiy (Russia) with 23.10 marks and an even closer 3rd and 4th was Veljko Milojkovic (Serbia) with 23.03 marks and Jinghan Lin (China) with 23.02 marks.

Nathan Chapeton performed excellently (enjoy video above) and was placed very creditably in the top third of the players. Nathan Chapeton performed:
J.S. Bach, Prelude And Fugue In G Major
Viatcheslav Semionov, Prophetic Dream
Franck Angelis, Suite, Mov. III Asia Flashes
A. Kusyakov, Sonata No. 6

Nathan Chapeton is a very gracious and modest person. He shares his thoughts with us:
“Over the summer I had the privilege to compete in Shenzhen, China. I placed 16th out of 49 contestants. I myself am very satisfied with my results and with the work I’ve done with my teacher Mary Tokarski. The first stop of my 5-week trip was actually Valley Forge, PA for the American Accordion Festival. I finally got to meet concert accordionist Michael Bridge and we discussed a plethora of all-things accordion.

I got to experience the paradise-like and breathtaking town of Sauris, Italy as well, my second and last time stop before China. I had the opportunity to study with Peter Soave and Professor Viatcheslav Semionov, as well as other excellent and well respected accordion teachers. I gave several concerts and had such a blast with them and so many others!

There is so much more that happened and forgive me if I do not mention those who I shared these experiences with.I would like to thank the AAA and the members who are a part of the board who have supported me all these years. I would also like to thank those who come to the festival just to listen to the music.This experience was truly once in a lifetime.”