We’re no strangers to accordion concerts, festivals, or even hootenannies. But a symposium? Indeed, the first-ever “Thinking Outside the Squeeze Box†Accordion Symposium will take place this September 23-25 in Cedar Rapids, IA.
The symposium will celebrate the way accordionists have been mixing traditional music with new approaches. There will be jam sessions, dance parties, and workshops on topics ranging from “Techniques of Rock Accordion” to “Stretching the Horizons of the Button Box”. Presenters and performers are coming from across the country and include Paul Rogers (of Those Darn Accordions), Maggie Martin, Renee de la Prade, Roxanne Oliva, Ron Borelli, and more.
Why Cedar Rapids? Cedar Rapids is home to the Czech and Slovak National Museum and Library and has a long tradition of accordion music. Leo Greco, who passed away this week, was one example — he played accordion for years and led his own band (Leo and the Pioneers) in the 50s and 60s.
Can’t make it to Iowa? If you still want to support the symposium, consider backing their Kickstarter campaign and help offset the cost of hosting the event.
2 Comments:
what was the result of the symposium? What have we learned or steeled ourselves to do? much ado about something? . . . or nothing? did the Iowans take to the san francisco thing?
by terry on October 29th, 2011
this is a great blog! We’d like to add that our hometown of Denver, Colorado has a really rocking accordion scene. One of our better known bands from Denver, Devotchka, has already been nominated for a Grammy for their soundtrack on the popular indie flick “Little Miss Sunshine” that features accordion prominently. We recommend all fans of accordion music check this great band out: http://www.devotchka.net
by Dutch on January 26th, 2012