Best Show Yet!
Check back we will be updating soon with more pictures!
Celebrating our Fifth
Anniversary the Las Vegas International Accordion Convention had over 440
people from all over the world. Attendees came from as far away as
Barbados, Scotland, and even South Africa. This year there were many more
young accordionists who attended the convention on youth scholarships than
ever. With an overwhelming response the convention was deemed a HUGE
SUCCESS.
Featured this year were top
talents in almost all areas of the accordion. Highlights to this years
event was three time Grammy Award winner Walter Ostanek who brought a smile
to everyone’s face including the Tonight Show filming crew.
Pictured to
the left is Gary Blair Junior. He and several other talented young people
attended the event including Gary's father who came from Scotland. Gary
Blair senior performed as a surprise guest artist and set a new definition
for speed! Thanks Gary and Gary Junior for being part of our event!
The Tonight Show filming crew
along with Howie Mandel visited the Convention and the segment
aired Wednesday June 23 on your local NBC affiliate. Shots were
taken of many of the attendees and performers with Howie in many different
accordion situations. The segment was an entertainment
and comedy segment that did feature only one aspect of the convention which
was polka music (almost all genres were represented with 7 concerts). The
segment did show people having fun and showing the accordion in a positive
fun light. No jokes where made directly about the accordion and Howie did
thank the Las Vegas International Accordion Convention on air for allowing
them to do the segment. We thank the Tonight Show for allowing 6 million
viewers to realize the accordion is ALIVE and doing well!
Featured this year
were 16 World class Accordion artists plus backup musicians. The lineup
included, Walter Ostanek, Art Van Damme, Peter
Soave, Mario Tacca & Mary Mancini, Gary Blair, Don
Lipovac, Tony Lovello, Stas Veglevski Alex Meixner, Janet Todd, the “K”
Trio, Gina Brannelli, Mady Soave, Mirco Patarini, Ron Borelli, Gordon Kohl
and Steve & Michael Trucco along with backup musicians Gaylord & Eddy
Klacncik plus Ken Seifert on bass and Rich Dalabio on drums.
Over 40 workshops and classes
were offered and the classes were well attended. Four evening concerts were
each varied in variety of music from classical to jazz to polka.
This year the Deiro youth
performers were Daniel Jakolich, Sammy Thomas and Spencer Wagner – the final
judging was done by Guido Diero Junior who awarded all the recipients a gold
medal and he awarded the Crystal Deiro award to Spencer Wagner.
Other awards given this year
were to Joan Cocharn Sommers as the Honory Conductor of the 2004
convention. The Good Time Accordion Club was honored with the Crystal
Frosini Award for their outstanding work in promoting the accordion. The
lifetime achievement award was presented to Tony Lovello with a special
video presentation of his life and a Honorarium was giving Jay Todd for his
work in publicizing the event.
Over 125 attendees were so
excited about this years event they paid a deposit and signed up for next
years event that will be held June 26 to 29, 2005 at the Gold Coast Hotel
and Casino Convention Center. We are looking forward to a great new year
with our move to the Gold Coast. Also note that the convention headquarters
and those of Accordions International have also moved the:
1760 South 450 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
All phone numbers and email
will remain the same.
Contact Information
Below please find our contact information. Out HOT LINE is a 24/7
messaging center that provides the latest up to date news and allows you to
leave a message. You may also contact us via fax, email or by post. Or if
you need to contact a board member we are listed
- HOT LINE
- TOLL FREE 1-800-472-1695 | INTERNATIONAL +01
CompanyPhone
- FAX
-
801-596-7315
- Postal address
- CompanyAddress
- Salt Lake City, UT 84115
- Electronic mail
- General Information:
lasvegas@accordioninfo.com
Webmaster:
webmaster@accordioninfo.com
- Board Members & Staff
- Paul Pasquali - Presenter -
Accordions International
+01.801-485.5840
Marilyn Showalter - Registration and Guest
Services Manager
- Jim Duane - Convention
Production Manager
- Eric Browning - Convention Stage Manager and IT
Specialist
- Bradford Nelson - Event
Manager
-
- Gina Brannelli - Europe & UK Agent -
Music World UK
+44.1253.778764
- Marian Kelly - Program Editor
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