2022 News Archive
August 25, 2022
Dear WMAS members and friends!
Robert Ford started as greeter for our August 21 meeting and morphed into the opening act, delighting us with a few classical/popular tunes, including “Despacito,” Mozart’s “Turkish March” (“Rondo Alla Turca”) and Chopin’s “Minute Waltz.”
WMAS President Peter DiGiovanni asked for suggestions for the Holiday Concert, as it’s already past the time that he usually starts organizing the music for that mid-December event. Please let him know what you’d like the orchestra to play.
The rest of the meeting was devoted to a play-along to music from the Firehouse Jazz Band Fake Book, projected on the wall. It was a fun exercise in sight-reading, if not producing performance-worthy music.
Upcoming Events
Stas Venglevski will star at our next meeting, on September 25. This guest-artist concert will be free for members, but we’ll ask nonmembers for an $8 donation. Let's fill up the room, so please invite your family and friends!
October 16 is our Oktoberfest, November 6 is our first rehearsal for the Holiday Concert, November 13 is our monthly meeting followed by a rehearsal, December 4 is another rehearsal, and the Holiday Concert itself is on December 11. As usual it will be preceded by a dress rehearsal.
Catching Up on Your Reading
As you may know, in the past several years Joan Grauman has been writing articles for the American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) website, more than 40 altogether. Some of them cover WMAS members and former members!
Here are ten that Joan recommends; please check them out!
Article 9: on Frank Busso, Sr.
Articles 11 & 12: on Lou Coppola
Article 21: on Joyce Palmer
Article 28: on JoAnn Pankow
Article 29: on Stella Allison
Article 30: on Rose-Marie Coppola
Article 32: two-part article on the accordion in the media spanning over nine decades
Article 33: on Peter DiGiovanni
Article 41: on Joan Grauman
We have lots of music and fun coming up and look forward to seeing you soon.
All our events are listed on the WMAS website, at https://www.washingtonaccordions.org.
December 31, 2022
Dear WMAS members and friends!
We hope your holidays have been peaceful and happy!
The 20th annual WMAS Holiday Concert, on December 11, was a big success and a lot of fun. Although some of the music –- almost all arranged by our president and conductor Peter DiGiovanni –- was quite challenging and our rehearsal time limited, everyone put in the necessary practice time at home, and we pulled it off. Bravo Peter, and bravo orchestra members! Many thanks also go to Ken Kunec for his masterful and entertaining master of ceremonies performance, which included leading an impromptu “choir,” and to John and JoAnn Pankow for handling the reception. We are grateful, too, to the volunteers who decorated the room and to everyone who showed up to watch the concert. Our 20th – amazing!!!
If you missed the event or would like to see it again, here’s a link to the private (unsearchable) youTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jh73Z_nBBg (In Settings, please choose 1080p (HD) for best viewing.) More kudos to Peter for working his magic on the raw footage!
Next Meeting
It’s that time again: elections! Our current, trusty officers are willing to stay on for another year, but if you would like to put up your name or another’s for one of the offices, please let us know asap. Otherwise we will ask members to vote in-person at the January 22, 2023, meeting or by responding to this email before the January 22 meeting.
Also at that meeting we will review the Holiday Concert and how it might be improved, and we will discuss ideas for improving the club’s programming. Please think about how you might contribute to the discussion! We’ll also have a play-along featuring the music of Elvis and Mozart, both of whom have January birthdays, so please bring your instruments.
If you would like to serve as greeter or perform a solo piece or two for the group, please let us know.
Thanks! We look forward to seeing you on the 22nd.
Happy New Year!
Message from Lou and Rose-Marie Coppola's Son:
Good day. My name is John David Coppola, and I’m interested in putting up my parents' Giulietti accordions for sale. See them here. (Please note that the Titano has already been sold.)
Of course, my parents were the rock stars of accordions back in the day! My dad (among other things) was the leader of the USAF Strolling Strings, performing for nine presidents at the White House. My mom performed on The Lawrence Welk show and at Carnegie Hall (when she was 17) before starting her own music business The Strolling Strings in Washington DC.
I too (& my brother) had to learn at an early age to play the accordion. I won the 9-year-old national accordion competition (on Giullietti Freebass) and then moved on to the upright bass -- which I play professionally still. How many accordionists do you really need in one family anyway, right?!
To see more about my dad, I would check out these links:
www.loucoppola.com
http://www.ameraccord.com/articles/Coppola/2013LouCoppola.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TtHWqSs5L0
And my mom’s business was www.thestrollingstrings.com
I have 4 Giuliettis, 1 Ace, and 1 Mussi available (& 6 assorted cases) -- all played by my parents.
If you check out my folks’ websites, you’ll see photos of these actual accordions being played at the White House -- and for many other celebrities, including Oprah, Merv Griffin (on his show), Joe Gibbs, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Fran Dresner, and even John F. Kennedy (who I was named after) and on and on.
These instruments are in excellent shape and stored well. My folks never smoked. I also remember as a kid, going up to NYC to see family with my dad and almost annually dropping off the accordions to Mr. Giulietti himself. I got to roam around the warehouse and his associates would tune the reeds. It was quite an experience (& sound), especially hanging out with Mr. G! One0time jazz great Art Van Damme happened to be there too. Back in the ‘70s. Crazy.
I did get an offer from “House of Bellows” in Philly for all the accordions but wanted to first see if anyone local would be interested. I’m open to any and all offers. I’d rather have them go to someone who might have known my folks.
Thank you for your time -- and for reading this long email.
John David Coppola
703.627.3372
johndc1@me.com
Dear WMAS members and friends!
Robert Ford started as greeter for our August 21 meeting and morphed into the opening act, delighting us with a few classical/popular tunes, including “Despacito,” Mozart’s “Turkish March” (“Rondo Alla Turca”) and Chopin’s “Minute Waltz.”
WMAS President Peter DiGiovanni asked for suggestions for the Holiday Concert, as it’s already past the time that he usually starts organizing the music for that mid-December event. Please let him know what you’d like the orchestra to play.
The rest of the meeting was devoted to a play-along to music from the Firehouse Jazz Band Fake Book, projected on the wall. It was a fun exercise in sight-reading, if not producing performance-worthy music.
Upcoming Events
Stas Venglevski will star at our next meeting, on September 25. This guest-artist concert will be free for members, but we’ll ask nonmembers for an $8 donation. Let's fill up the room, so please invite your family and friends!
October 16 is our Oktoberfest, November 6 is our first rehearsal for the Holiday Concert, November 13 is our monthly meeting followed by a rehearsal, December 4 is another rehearsal, and the Holiday Concert itself is on December 11. As usual it will be preceded by a dress rehearsal.
Catching Up on Your Reading
As you may know, in the past several years Joan Grauman has been writing articles for the American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) website, more than 40 altogether. Some of them cover WMAS members and former members!
Here are ten that Joan recommends; please check them out!
Article 9: on Frank Busso, Sr.
Articles 11 & 12: on Lou Coppola
Article 21: on Joyce Palmer
Article 28: on JoAnn Pankow
Article 29: on Stella Allison
Article 30: on Rose-Marie Coppola
Article 32: two-part article on the accordion in the media spanning over nine decades
Article 33: on Peter DiGiovanni
Article 41: on Joan Grauman
We have lots of music and fun coming up and look forward to seeing you soon.
All our events are listed on the WMAS website, at https://www.washingtonaccordions.org.
December 31, 2022
Dear WMAS members and friends!
We hope your holidays have been peaceful and happy!
The 20th annual WMAS Holiday Concert, on December 11, was a big success and a lot of fun. Although some of the music –- almost all arranged by our president and conductor Peter DiGiovanni –- was quite challenging and our rehearsal time limited, everyone put in the necessary practice time at home, and we pulled it off. Bravo Peter, and bravo orchestra members! Many thanks also go to Ken Kunec for his masterful and entertaining master of ceremonies performance, which included leading an impromptu “choir,” and to John and JoAnn Pankow for handling the reception. We are grateful, too, to the volunteers who decorated the room and to everyone who showed up to watch the concert. Our 20th – amazing!!!
If you missed the event or would like to see it again, here’s a link to the private (unsearchable) youTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jh73Z_nBBg (In Settings, please choose 1080p (HD) for best viewing.) More kudos to Peter for working his magic on the raw footage!
Next Meeting
It’s that time again: elections! Our current, trusty officers are willing to stay on for another year, but if you would like to put up your name or another’s for one of the offices, please let us know asap. Otherwise we will ask members to vote in-person at the January 22, 2023, meeting or by responding to this email before the January 22 meeting.
Also at that meeting we will review the Holiday Concert and how it might be improved, and we will discuss ideas for improving the club’s programming. Please think about how you might contribute to the discussion! We’ll also have a play-along featuring the music of Elvis and Mozart, both of whom have January birthdays, so please bring your instruments.
If you would like to serve as greeter or perform a solo piece or two for the group, please let us know.
Thanks! We look forward to seeing you on the 22nd.
Happy New Year!
Message from Lou and Rose-Marie Coppola's Son:
Good day. My name is John David Coppola, and I’m interested in putting up my parents' Giulietti accordions for sale. See them here. (Please note that the Titano has already been sold.)
Of course, my parents were the rock stars of accordions back in the day! My dad (among other things) was the leader of the USAF Strolling Strings, performing for nine presidents at the White House. My mom performed on The Lawrence Welk show and at Carnegie Hall (when she was 17) before starting her own music business The Strolling Strings in Washington DC.
I too (& my brother) had to learn at an early age to play the accordion. I won the 9-year-old national accordion competition (on Giullietti Freebass) and then moved on to the upright bass -- which I play professionally still. How many accordionists do you really need in one family anyway, right?!
To see more about my dad, I would check out these links:
www.loucoppola.com
http://www.ameraccord.com/articles/Coppola/2013LouCoppola.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TtHWqSs5L0
And my mom’s business was www.thestrollingstrings.com
I have 4 Giuliettis, 1 Ace, and 1 Mussi available (& 6 assorted cases) -- all played by my parents.
If you check out my folks’ websites, you’ll see photos of these actual accordions being played at the White House -- and for many other celebrities, including Oprah, Merv Griffin (on his show), Joe Gibbs, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Fran Dresner, and even John F. Kennedy (who I was named after) and on and on.
These instruments are in excellent shape and stored well. My folks never smoked. I also remember as a kid, going up to NYC to see family with my dad and almost annually dropping off the accordions to Mr. Giulietti himself. I got to roam around the warehouse and his associates would tune the reeds. It was quite an experience (& sound), especially hanging out with Mr. G! One0time jazz great Art Van Damme happened to be there too. Back in the ‘70s. Crazy.
I did get an offer from “House of Bellows” in Philly for all the accordions but wanted to first see if anyone local would be interested. I’m open to any and all offers. I’d rather have them go to someone who might have known my folks.
Thank you for your time -- and for reading this long email.
John David Coppola
703.627.3372
johndc1@me.com