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Seminars! Dr. William Schimmel, Moderator/Curator DON'T LIKE OPERA!? WELCOME TO OUR SIXTEENTH SMASH YEAR! MUSINGS by DR. SCHIMMEL, Accordion Philosopher and Artist in Residence in Residence First Opera experience: The Philadelphia Accordion Orchestra and The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company conducted by Dr. Jacob C. Neupauer - LA TRAVIATA - selections - electrifying - heightened Reality. I loved it. I attended a performance of a full length staged opera later that year - hated every moment - flimsy orchestrations - no accordions - over the top singing - and loooooooooooong! Vincent Persichetti was one of the first composers asked by the AAA to compose an accordion piece on commission - He declined stating: DON'T LIKE OPERA! Walked into a restaurant in Turin, Italy - in the back room was a party complete with glitter cat masks and a drunken painter named Molinari sketching the event. I walked over to a sparkling red accordion and played the Drinking Song from La Traviata - everyone joined in on cue. I left shortly afterwards. I went back the next night - I could not find the restaurant - Yes, I'm pretty sure it happened. Took a late night walk one evening in Williamsburg. I forget which Williamsburg - Virginia or Brooklyn?! As I approached a dark street I could see an old Rollo-plane ride staring at me. It was shut down for the night. It was some sort of block party, carnival or amusement park. In the distance I could see a shadowed figure strutting back and forth. Somehow, I wasn't afraid. As I approached, He said he was a MUMMER. He was wearing an accordion but there was no sound. It's my costume, he said - my accordion, that is. He fanned it out and in - expanding and contracting. With the accordion, there's no need for words, lyrics or voices for that matter. All one needs is Franz Von Suppe and an audience of one - YOU! AND NOW, THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND: What better way to show the accordion's Built in Ironic (IN YOUR FACE) Duality than with a performance of JESUS G. FAUST and TANGO MEPHISTO featuring King of Ragtime, Dr. Mark Birnbaum. Dr. Robert Young McMahan will take us through the history of the ACCORDION CONCERTO, which in reality, are more like MINIOPERAS. He will also premiere his new yearly 12 tone work, composed for the occasion. WATCHMAN/NEWSMAN is a short opera by Yours Truly - about a vicious murder and even more hideous punishment by beheading, hanging, gassing, electrocution, injection, cremation and urination (pissing) of the ashes. Jimmy Breslin interviewed a gravedigger at the funeral of John F. Kennedy. Aside from the obvious Hamlet reference, the gravedigger is a perfect metaphor for the accordionist - GIGGING while DIGGING. A new work entitled BREZLIN, tells the story. LATRAVIAIDA - an attempt to combine the two Verdi classics and to get to the essence in about 10 minutes. The accordion is the perfect force for compression of time, space and visual/sound drama. We.ll also do CARMEN in about 4 - all of it. We'll also do L'ODOUR D'ESPIRT, a fifty second reality on a Kurt Cobain masterpiece. SEEMS LIKE DARK STUFF: ANYTHING LIGHT? ACTUALLYYES . AND SOME OF IT FUNNY. Paul Stein.s Political Satire stings, bites and at times even burns . and always laugh out loud funny. THE TUNNEL OF LIGHT AND LOVE, a new interactive video work by the eminent choreographer, director and video artist Micki Goodman will explore the notion of nature, love and rebirth in a pastoral visual elegy . not operatic, but certainly dramatic and life affirming. ST. MATHEW THE MUMMER . St. Mathew.s Passion retold in a Mardi-Gras Style . in strutting upbeat tempos. Jazz Accordion great Will Holshouser will pull you in with his non-dramatic subtlety and elegance. OPERA JOSEPHINE . a short opera about Josephine Baker through the eyes of The Pointer Sisters . devised from a segment of WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF NO CONTEXT by George W.S. Trow. Lee Mc Clure.s digital flute will dramatize any accordion moment. BEYOND WORDS . A REALITY on Haydn and Gubaidulina, taking the notion of SEVEN WORDS to new heights . dedicated to the mummer, Joseph A. Ferko, who died seconds after accepting an award for 50 years of mummer service. His Seven Last Words were: I HOPE TO MARCH FIFTY MORE YEARS. Humorist, Ken Laufer, making us see and Stars, Stripes, Scars and Scrapes forever. TAKING STOCK - A series of Realities on Stockhausen . including TELEMIX, which includes a rap on SURFER BIRD by the TRASHMEN. A Visual and Sound installation: JUILLIARD 1960.S TO EARLY 70.s showing present day realities and recreations on this famous school's most Avant Garde period- through the eyes of an accordionist who was there to experience it: CIRCLES become SQUARES, NONO becomes YES/YES, ECLAT becomes ÉCLAIR, PITHOPRAKTA becomes PITHOKRAPTA and PATIENCE becomes LACK OF IT. Concert Virtuoso Mary Tokarski - knowing the difference between Monteverdi and Montovani. MISSA TANTRA - showing the sensual side of the liturgical dimension. Godfrey Nelson and Lorraine Nelson Wolf - new age at its highest peak. Actress Kathleen Tipton charming us with penetrating words and gestures. MORITAT VON MACKEY MESSIAN . uniting Brecht, Weill and Bobby Darin as Mystics. Benjamin Ickies, the punk accordionist in your face - famous, infamous and just a dot. SHO WEST - a work for (Japanese) sho, accordion and violin, uniting GAGAKU with the great western violin concertos as well as Hillbilly ramblings - with Yoichi Fukui, Sho and Mami Okada, Violin. Rock Artist John Foti - a jersey shore vibe - more Springsteen than Sopranos. EXPENSES
- a work about life, death and taxes. A FIRST
AVENUE OPERA - An Opera designed just for you . with you playing the leading
role - by simply walking - with or without an accordion. Sing Arias if
you wish - make some up. Create your own walking tempos - speed up, slow
down - the ultimate fitness experience. Find your personal Holy Grail. |
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For
Reservations and Information: Dr. William Schimmel (212) 876-0827
American Accordionists’ Association (AAA) Linda Soley Reed - President 152 Home Fair Drive, Fairfield, CT 06825 USA Phone: 203-335-2045 | Fax: 203-335-2048 | E-mail: aaa1938@aol.com |
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