January 10, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
We hope your holidays were peaceful and happy and 2024 has started out well for you! It’s good to see a little more daylight each day, as we move through the winter.
Our 21st annual Holiday Concert, on December 10, 2023, was a big success and a lot of fun. Some of the music – all arranged by our president and conductor Peter DiGiovanni – was quite challenging, but we mostly pulled it off. Bravo Peter, and bravo orchestra members! Many thanks also go to our greeter, Halina Banas-Jones; our master of ceremonies, Ken Kunec, with his seemingly endless supply of jokes, musical talent, and ability to warm up the room; and our impromptu hospitality team, mainly John Pankow and Luis Uribe. We are grateful, too, to the volunteers who decorated the room, handled the door, brought snacks for the reception, and cleaned up afterwards. And thank you, audience! We had 101 people in the house!
Following the concert, some members suggested we start learning the music earlier in the year. Peter is willing to start arranging it right now so we can practice it during our time together each month. What do you think? What pieces would you like to play next December? We need your ideas asap. Thanks!
Next Meeting: January 21 at 2 pm
It’s that time again: elections! Our current, trusty officers - President Peter DiGiovanni, Vice President Robert Ford, and Secretary-Treasurer Mara Cherkasky - 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 now. Otherwise we will ask members to vote in-person at the January 21 meeting or by responding to this email before the January 21 meeting.
Following the election we’ll try playing some rounds together, 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.
The Business Side
The executive committee met on January 9 to plan programs for the year (more information coming soon) and discuss a few other matters.
Zoom Meetings. During the shutdown, we met by zoom, widening our circle and making new friends. The zoom meetings stopped as soon as we were able to gather in person again, but we’re thinking we maybe could schedule some zoom meetings in between the in-person meetings. Not every month, but maybe quarterly, late on a Sunday afternoon, so we could catch up with the new and old friends we saw during Covid. Is anyone interested? Please let us know.
Membership and Dues. Our membership numbers have been falling, and that means we have fewer people to share the work of running the club and fewer to play in our concerts and present workshops and other programs. It also means our income from dues has been falling. Regardless of the number of members/participants, we still make a donation to the church every month (in lieu of rent), pay guest artists, and buy insurance. Like everything else, those expenses are rising.
In the longer term, we need to attract more members, for the energy, fresh ideas, and talent that new people would bring. Can you help with this? If you know anyone who might be interested, please invite them to a meeting, preferably when we have a concert or a good program scheduled.
Given the financial outlook, for the first time in the life of our club, dues are going up, effective immediately, to:
$30 for individuals and
$45 for families.
The few people who have already renewed for 2024 can pay the extra amount if so inclined.
Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing you on the 21st.
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January 22, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
On a cold but sunny winter’s day, about 20 people showed up for the first WMAS meeting of 2024, enough to make a quorum for the election of officers. To no one’s surprise, the current officers were approved to lead the club for another year: Peter DiGiovanni as president, Robert Ford as vice president, and Mara Cherkasky as secretary/treasurer.
Following the business portion of the meeting, we tried playing a set of rounds. Peter organized this, splitting the players into smaller groups and directing each group when to start playing, producing a cascading effect in which the melodic lines overlapped and formed harmonies. It was a lot of fun and great practice for sight reading and coordination – something to try another time with different songs.
Thanks go to Karen and Luis Uribe for their fun greeting music at the start of the afternoon. They did a great job coordinating the accordion with percussion and a little instrument Luis could blow into to make the sound of birds singing.
Thanks also go to Robert Ford bringing a cake to celebrate January member birthdays, including his own, and the club’s upcoming 21st birthday.
FEBRUARY MEETING
Speaking of which, we’ll have a bigger celebration of our 21st birthday next month when Papa Joe De Clemente will present a guest-artist concert and workshop on February 25 at 2 pm. If you attended the February meeting last year, you’ll remember what fun we had with Papa Joe and his wife Janet in attendance, on their way through town from Florida. We’ll be asking nonmembers for an $8 donation. Please spread the word. A flyer can be downloaded from the home page or calendar of our website.
Robert Ford has signed up to greet, but we’re counting on you to bring snacks for the reception following the concert and workshop. Thanks!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Concert at the Austrian Embassy
The Austrian Embassy invites the public to a concert with Styrian accordionist Jakob Steinkellner at 7 pm on Thursday, February 15. According to the embassy's announcement, Steinkellner's musical arrangements convey a certain lightness of being while displaying colorful influences from a variety of world music.
This event, which is followed by an Austrian wine reception, is free, but you need to register ahead of time.
American Accordionists’ Association
Karen Uribe passed along these items from the recent American Accordionists’ Association newsletter:
2024 Events
Your AAA governing board has been working hard to produce a 2024 AAA events plan unlike any other year, so keep your eyes on www.ameraccord.com for more details.
Elsie M. Bennett Accordion Composition
One of our 2024 highlights will be the annual Elsie M. Bennett Accordion Composition Competition. Please visit this site for full details on how you can contribute to the growth of new music for our beloved instrument. Submissions are due by April 12, 2024.
Ready to Pursue your Childhood Dream and Compete for $100,000?
The AAA is proud to collaborate with Casting Duo, a premiere unscripted casting company of hit shows like Project Runway, The Glee Project, and The Great American Baking Show. Casting Duo is now casting a new, heartwarming talent competition show for the Max streaming network: SECOND ACT!
SECOND ACT is on the lookout for an incredible accordionist deserving of their second act! The show will celebrate everyday, exceptionally talented people whose dreams were never pursued because life had other plans for them. SECOND ACT seeks non-professional – or formerly professional – singers, instrumentalists, dancers, comedians, and visual performers of all kinds, aged 29+, who want to share their talent and story of why they never had a chance to fully pursue their destiny.
The winner of the show receives a life-changing cash prize of $100,000. Filming will take place in March 2024 and all expenses will be paid for those selected.
Here are articles on the show from Deadline and Variety.
To apply for yourself or to nominate a loved one, fill out an application today! More info about the casting company is here or on Instagram @CastingDuo.
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April 1, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends,
Happy April Fools' Day!
The club made it a twofer on Sunday, March 17, by celebrating both St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day with Irish and Italian tunes. Robert Ford, Ken Kunec, and Mike Rubin performed for the group, the latter providing accompaniment for a singalong as Peter DiGiovanni projected the music and lyrics on the wall. Our greeter was pianist Biswita Chaudhuri-Mozumdar, and a special thank you goes to her.
Unfortunately the meeting was cut short due to an unexpected commitment by the church to host a hypothermia shelter, so there was no time for the planned play-along. Next year, we may want to keep our start time at 2 pm through March to avoid this happening again.
Next Meeting
On Sunday, April 14, we will be hosting the amazingly versatile accordionist Elena Stenkina for a concert and workshop, at 4 pm. Please invite your family and friends; Elena is playing this concert as a benefit for our club and we want to have a good turnout. We’ll be requesting an $8 donation for nonmembers, but members and children under 12 enter free.
Elena has developed her own unique performance style, which includes dance as well as music. In the course of her career, she has garnered numerous honors, including a silver medal at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, the Grand Prix at the Vilnius International Folklore Festival, and the Platinum Prize, Technical Mastery Special Award, and Artist Award at the Universal Stars Music Competition.
More on Elena is here https://www.youtube.com/user/lenastenkina.
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April 19, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
The club enjoyed a fun and exciting afternoon when virtuoso accordionist Elena Stenkina paid us a visit last Sunday, April 14, to perform a concert, discuss technique, and provide tips to those of us brave enough to “approach the podium” and play something for her to critique.
Elena hails from Moscow, and she played some Russian pieces, as well as selections from other parts of the world, including Astor Piazzolla’s dramatic “Libertango.”
She performs dance steps as she plays, and a short video on our Facebook page provides evidence that Mike Rubin and Robert Ford did a pretty good job when they volunteered to dance alongside her.
The day’s greeter, Phillip Kancianic, got the afternoon off to a great start with music from Fiddler on the Roof. Phillip teaches music at Herndon High School and will be part of the pit orchestra when the school presents the musical May 3-5. See https://herndondrama.org/ if you’d like to attend.
Thanks to everyone who made our April meeting such a success! We were pleased to welcome some new accordion fans and welcome back a few members we hadn’t seen for a while.
NEXT MEETINGS
Mark your calendars! The next WMAS meeting, a jam session and play-along, will take place on Sunday, May 19, at 4 pm, at the usual venue, Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church. If you’d like to serve as greeter or play a few tunes for the group that day, please let Robert Ford know. (The WMAS secretary (Mara) will be away the entire month of May and may not be able to respond to emails replying to this update or the upcoming meeting reminder.)
Our annual member concert will take place on June 23. Please start working on a solo (or duet, trio, etc.) to perform for the club and guests that day. We’ll also need a greeter.
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June 1, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
A small group of us gathered May 19 for a great meeting! Halina Banas-Jones and her husband Michael Jones kicked things off as greeters, with Halina on the accordion and Michael on the spoons, playing a wonderful selection of popular tunes.
The meeting continued with Robert Ford’s presentation on Miscellaneous Accordion Techniques. Everybody had their accordions on to try some of the techniques and exchange comments/experiences on topics including accordion position, bellows, expression, and fingering. Robert also demonstrated the use of his Samsung Galaxy Tablet S7 FE (12.4” screen, Android system) with the application MobileSheets for reading sheet music. The discussion was so interesting that we ran out of time and had to skip the play-along. The projector came to great use as Robert was able to show slides illustrating various discussion points and demonstrate his tablet. You can find the slides on the Lessons & Lectures page of our website.
Next Meeting
The next WMAS meeting will be Sunday, June 23, at 4 pm at Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church, our usual venue. This will be our annual member concert, so please sign up to perform a piece or two of your choosing. We’ll also need a greeter! Please invite your friends and family for this free event.
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July 1, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
Our guests on June 23, a Scottish country dance group, turned our last meeting into a dance party. Using both recorded and live music—the latter provided by Peter DiGiovanni and Halina Banas-Jones—the group broke down and put back together various dances. These included reels (“The Braes of Mellinish” and “Miss Isabella McLeod”) and jigs (“Haste to the Wedding” and “Brisk Young Lads”). Although many of their moves resemble those used in American square dancing, the names are different. In addition, the moves aren’t called, so their names may not register as firmly in the brain. Who among us has forgotten the “Do Si Do” and “Allemande Left” of our gym classes of auld. In any case, the demonstration was beautifully athletic and entertaining. Check out a snippet of it on the WMAS Facebook page.
Audience members had a chance to dance, too. The group taught us a Scottish circle dance, and then we waltzed to a few tunes played by Peter and Halina, although the waltz is not big in Scottish country dancing.
Some of the group’s members wore kilts—or other types of tartan-patterned skirts—and they’d brought other tartan samples to display. In describing them for us they explained that it is not only clans that have their own tartans; the Smithsonian and other institutions, as well as various states and other entities, do as well. WMAS could presumably have its own tartan, if we designed and registered it (and paid a fee). Here’s how.
The accordion is big in Scottish folk music. Some of us have followed Phil Cunningham over the years, and Joan Grauman Morse wrote a second part to his lovely, melancholic “Miss Rowan Davies,” captured in this video of Joan’s Potomac Ensemble. Here's Mr. Cunningham with his brother Johnny on fiddle, in an amazing, decades-old video.
Following a break for refreshments, everyone regrouped for our annual member concert. Mike Rubin, Joe Kulick, Robert Ford, JoAnn Pankow, Biswita Mozumdar, Phillip Kancianic, and Ken Kunec offered up a wide variety of styles.
Joyce Palmer’s CHAOS group served as the day’s greeters.
Thank you, everyone, for the excellent music and all-around good time!
A Must-Read
Don't miss Janice Lavoie’s article on how the accordion made her a better nurse:
https://magazine.nursing.virginia.edu/nursing-narratives/janice-lavoie-ethical-accordion/
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July 28, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
A small number of us met on a hot July 21 to play some music and catch up on news. The afternoon started with a set of favorites by Halina Banas-Jones and Chuck Silio on accordion, and Michael Jones on the spoons. Halina and Chuck had not rehearsed together but had simply agreed on which tunes to play and then practiced them separately. It worked; they sounded great. Halina suggested that others could do the same, so in August she and Mara will give it a try.
The rest of the meeting was a play-along run by Halina and a break for refreshments.
Next Meetings
Our next zoom meeting will be Sunday, August 4, from 3 to 5 pm (and not 4 to 6 pm as previously announced). This is a chance to get together with our out-of-town friends and members, and it's always a fun time. Here’s the zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6217279673
The next in-person WMAS meeting, on Sunday, August 18, at 4 pm, will be a Zydeco workshop with Phillip Kancianic. It should be great, so please mark your calendars. Mara and Halina will be the greeters.
Holiday Concert 2024
It won’t be long before we start preparing for the WMAS Holiday Concert –- which takes place on December 15. In fact, Peter DiGiovanni is already working on new arrangements for the Holiday Orchestra, and he would like to know who plans to participate. Rehearsals are scheduled for October 13 at 2 pm, November 17 (at the regular meeting, which will start at 2 pm), December 1 at 2 pm, December 8 at 2 pm, and December 15 at 2 pm (before the 4 pm concert). All these dates are Sundays.
Peter plans to get all the music out to orchestra members by mid-August, so everyone will have ample time to practice. If you are not one of the 14 people who have already committed to play in the concert, please contact Peter asap if you would like to participate. (Call or text 703-919-5701 or email [email protected].) We are going to have a great group this year, and some nice new arrangements.
Thank you, everyone, for the excellent music and all-around good time!
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August 27, 2024
Dear WMAS members and friends!
Phillip Kancianic’s Zydeco workshop on August 18 was a load of fun! Even longtime Zydeco fans learned something, as Phillip discussed the history of this Southwest Louisiana musical style, the origin of its name, his connections to the region and visits there, and his connections with some of the musicians. He did a great job demonstrating a few examples of Zydeco songs, as did the volunteers who accompanied him on rubboard (see video clips on our Facebook page). Everyone was smiling.
If you’d like to receive Phillip’s slide deck, please let us know.
Our greeters for the day were Halina Banas-Jones and Mara Cherkasky on accordions, with Michael Jones on spoons. They got the meeting off to a bright start, albeit in a totally different musical style: Irish.
It was good to see some new faces at the meeting and we hope to see them back again soon.
By the way, please check out our online calendar for opportunities to hear live Zydeco music in the DC area: https://www.washingtonaccordions.org/calendar.html
Holiday Concert 2024
Peter DiGiovanni has sent sheet music and MP3s to Holiday Orchestra members, but there’s still time to sign up if you haven’t already. Please contact Peter asap if you would like to participate. (Call or text 703-919-5701 or email [email protected].) Our first rehearsal -- by which time you should be comfortable with the music -- takes place at 4 pm on October 13 at Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church. That’s the week before our October (Oktoberfest) meeting. (The concert itself takes place on December 15.)
Next Meetings/Events
By popular demand, Mariachi Esmerelda will be returning for a guest-artist concert on Sunday, September 15, at 4 pm. Please mark your calendars and invite your friends and family. Nonmembers will be asked for an $8 donation, but members and children under 12 enter free of charge.
Our annual Oktoberfest will take place on Sunday, October 20, at 4 pm. Everyone is invited to play a polka or waltz (or two or three) for the group, dust off your dancing shoes, and bring your friends and family. Also, please plan to bring Oktoberfest-style snacks to share.
One week later, Sleepy Hollow will hold its Howl-o-ween drive-through blessing of the pets -- on Sunday, October 27 from 2 pm to 4 pm. A group from WMAS has played at this fun event each year and we’re invited back this time, too. Please let us know if you’d like to participate so we can send you the music to practice ahead of time.
A Plea
We’re still looking for someone, or a team, to coordinate hospitality: to bring out the boxes of napkins, cups, etc. (they’re stored at the church) and set up for refreshments; keep track of when we need to replenish supplies; set up the donation jar; and coordinate cleanup. There are always volunteers, but we need someone to be in charge. Thanks in advance for stepping up!