ATG Festival Wrap

Rose City Club members, once again, attended the ATG (Accordion Teachers Guild) festival, this time in Lisle, Illinois, 20 miles from Chicago. Kathleen Gramsch, Lisa Roeder, Matt Cooper, and myself were treated to world class talent, both in workshops and evening performances and participated in the orchestra conducted by Dr. Joan Cochran Sommers. We attended workshops by Sergei & Maria Teleshev, Seven Ways to Make the Accordion More Popular, Gordon Kohl’s, Playing Austrian Polish, Tyrolean and Oberkrainer Music, a Master Class with Dr. Michael Bridge where he instructed two students on new ways to express their musicianship, and a workshop on Playing Latin Rhythms by Joaquin Munoz Donoso. We also enjoyed concerts in the evening by Peter Soave (bandoneon) with a string quintet, Joaquin Munoz Donoso, the Teleshevs, and Dr. Michael Bridge along with clarinetist Kornel Wolak. Throughout the day, performances by a couple of the local accordion ensembles performed their repertoire in the hotel ballroom to the delight of audience members. In addition to this expert accordion entertainment, the four of us attended daily rehearsals, culminating in our concert with 46 other accordionists from around the world on Saturday night where we performed 5 works of classical music. Throughout the duration of the festival, there was music available for sale, as well as new accordions to purchase.