2006 was the year that we received a phone call from Frank Marocco asking us if we would run an accordion orchestra camp for him. “Why us?” we asked. “We have never done anything like this!” We loved and tremendously respected Frank, so his faith in us had us saying OK before the phone call had ended.
The first camp was so exciting. Several friends that we had met at other accordion events signed up immediately and helped to create the magical atmosphere that has been a constant since that first beautiful and successful camp in January 2007. Working with the sweet, gentle Frank Marocco was delightful for all who attended. We had 38 accordionists in that first orchestra. By the second year, our “Frank Marocco Accordion Event” orchestra had 56 members with a waiting list of 40. Along with spouses, siblings and friends, we have averaged around 80 attendees (we will have 80 this coming February), and our concerts regularly draw an audience of around 350 people.
Each year has been a new adventure, always filled with much laughter, great music and cherished friendships. From the start, the camp has been a place where everyone, from novice to renowned professional, could enjoy time together in a non-competitive, relaxed environment. The lovely blue skies, palm trees, fountains and warmth of Mesa, Arizona helped greatly to attract accordionists from all over the world. For the past several years, we have had campers from as many as eighteen states, three Canadian provinces, and Castelfidardo, Italy.
Many lifelong friendships have been made at this event. Each year’s event is a sweet reunion for the returnees and is always a welcoming and warm experience for the new campers. Our terrific “staff” help to make things run smoothly from start to finish. Bruce Lawrie, our amazing photographer and sound technician has been with us since the first event. He provides us with hundreds of beautiful, professional-quality photos annually, sets up the sound equipment for all activities and also plays in the orchestra! Our videographer, Mike Roche, has created beautiful videos of all of our evening events and concerts since 2008. We could not run this event without the constant, generous assistance of these two men!
We have had world-renowned guest artists through the years such as Stas Venglevski’s wife, cellist Roza Borisova, domra and mandolin great Misha Litvin, and accordionists Eddie Monteiro, Mary Tokarski, Joe Natoli and Stas Venglevski. In 2009, Frank asked Stas to be our Assistant Music Director. Stas has delighted us for years with his sense of humor, sensational performances, compositions and arrangements, and skills as a conductor. With Frank’s sad, untimely passing in 2012, Stas has become the Music Director of our camp, now called the “Mesa Accordion Event”.
Two of our campers, Frank Petrilli and Gail Campanella, who came to the camp as recreational accordionists, have now become celebrated and sought-after performers. Young camper, Gabe Hall-Rodrigues, started playing accordion after attending our 2009 concert in Mesa. At our following event in January 2010, Gabe had progressed so much, under the tutelage of Ilmar Kuljus, that we all encouraged him to compete in the AAA Festival that would take place in July. He did, and the 2010 AAA US Virtuoso Champion was our Gabe! Bass player, Sean Brogan, and percussionist, Was Anderson, have been with us annually — to the delight of all — and are now performing professionally all over the country with Gabe and also with Frank Petrilli.
We are very excited about our upcoming event in February as we will be celebrating the 80th birthday of world renowned educator, arranger and conductor, Joan Cochran Sommers. Stas will once again be our conductor and Music Director. Joan Sommers will be our Concertmistress and will also conduct the orchestra in two pieces.
Saying goodbye to this event has been very, very hard for us, but also quite necessary. Since the first camp eight years ago, two of our children have married and our youngest is now engaged. We are the very happy and proud grandparents of three young children who live in Texas (we live in Maryland). We simply need to spend more time with our family. However, we will never forget the wonderful times spent in Mesa with our cherished accordion family!
The final Mesa Accordion Event concert will take place at the Arizona Golf Resort in Mesa on Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 7 pm. For more information about the concert, please email Joan and Dan at mesa.accordion@verizon.net.
Camp photo credits: Bruce Lawrie
Photo captions:
Top Photo: Frank Marocco Accordion Event orchestra members (and mascots) prior to 2011 concert
Right Photo: Frank Marocco always enjoyed evening activities with the campers (2009)
Left Photo: Event directors, Dan & Joan Grauman, handing out “perfect attendance” certificates to the many campers who attended all seven events (2013)
Bottom Photo: Music Director, Stas Venglevski, and 2014 Mesa Accordion Event Guest of Honor, Joan Cochran Sommers
