Our December Concert
Our December concert started with myself playing various tunes on my new expander while people arrived, our next player was John Robinson who had brought along his keyboard, John played Silent Night, I’m into something good, Walking In The Air and On A Sunny Afternoon. Our next player was John Lennox who also played a selection of tunes on the keyboard which was set up as a digital piano. John started with Cry Me A River, then continued with Just The Way You Are, Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer, A Child Is Born, The Nearness of you, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, She and The Entertainer. Arthur Frankland on Accordion played The Rainbow, Fields Of Athenry, Midnight in Moscow and The Ashokan Farewell. Up next was John Lennox on keyboard, he played Let Do It, New York New York, Cabaret and Manhattan. David Rigby was our next player, he chose the Accordion as his instrument of choice, David gave us Loveliest Night Of The Year, Clementine, On Top Of Old Smokey, The Wild Rover and Highland Cathedral. Ruben Hickinbotham was next on to the stage, Reuben played Time After Time, Jealousy, Perhaps Perhaps, How Wonderful To Know, Young and Foolish, Till Jingle Bells, Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas, Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer, If and I Don’t See Love In Your Eyes Anymore. Our next player was Andrew Baker on Banjo playing South Of the Border, Amazing Grace, Edelweiss, When I Saw Her Standing There, Silent Night and Duelling Banjos. Next we had a duet of Andrew on Banjo and John Robinson on keyboard, they played Jingle Bells, Santa Claus Is Coming To town, The Wild Rover, Let It Be and The Fields Of Athenry. Andrew then left the stage and left John to carry on with House Of The Rising Sun and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion. Rebecca played Moon River, My Wild Irish Rose and Valse D’Amiele. To finish the night I played a selection of tunes for the last half hour on my midi accordion. Thanks must go to everyone who brought food along for the Jacobs Join, we had a great feast and a nice laid back and enjoyable Christmas party as usual. You will find a selection of pictures from the night in this newsletter
David Batty
This Wednesday
This Wednesday is a Practice Night. This is an informal night of talking about accordions, drinking coffee, sharing tips and general socialising. This is also a great night for beginners to bring along an accordion and get tips, help and advice from the other club members. This is also a night to bring along items you want to sell or give away to a good home. Several potential buyers can try your accordion out on practice nights. Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.
Accordions at the Castle
10th—15th May at Norbreck Castle, Blackpool. During the day there will be workshops to join in if you wish to, and Play your party piece sessions. In the evening there will be concerts featuring some of the The Guest Artists: Alan Young, Steve Roxton, Jean Dauvin, David Vernon, Harry Hussey, Rosemary Wright, Bert Santilly, Denise & Stefan Andrusyschyn, Giancarlo Caporilli and Gennaro Ruffolo. To book Contact Sceptre Promotions 01780 782093. Day tickets are not available for this festival.
New Years Honour List
Amongst the names on the New Year Honours list is Peter McQuade who has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the community, Peter has spent more than 40 years playing the accordion at nursing homes and community events in Falkirk.
Julie Best and Jean Corrighan
We have booked Julie Best and Jean Corrighan for our May Guest Artist night. If you have never seen Julie and Jean before there are a few clips on our Youtube Channel from previous concerts where they have played for us. Visit youtube.com/accordiontv One video of Julie has been watched over 330,000 times!
NAO UK Championships
17th—19th April 2015 held at the Adelphi Hotel In Liverpool, As well as their own Solo, Duo & Ensemble competitions The NAO will also be hosting The National Composers Competition and the Roland V Competition. For more information email naouk@btinternet.com or visit www.accordions.com/nao
Samlesbury Hall Free Tours
Samlesbury Hall reopens to the general public on Sunday 18th January and for the rest of the month they are offering FREE entry to the Hall (Closed Saturday). This also includes their usual Sunday Tours – It would normally cost £3pp and £1 for children. They are open 7days a week 11am—4pm, Parking is free. Their Address is Preston New Road, Samlesbury, Preston, PR5 0UP Tel: 01254 812010
Membership
We are collecting Membership fees for 2015, this is to remain at the same price it has always been which is £5 per year. With inflation you could say that every year its got cheaper to be a member of the club and to attend our concerts. I try to keep prices down to make the club affordable, whilst still charging a small fee to help towards our expenses and pay artists to play for us. The proceeds go towards the great artists we have lined up in the coming months, stamps for postage and also for an Internet service to send out the newsletters to those who choose to receive the newsletter by email (those who get the newsletter by email get working links they can click on rather than have to type in). If you are paying by cheque please make your cheque payable to “David Batty”.
North West NAO Competition
1st March 2015 in Manchester This is the qualifying competitions for the UK Championships in April for more information contact Marika Pronyszyn on 0161 881 6763
Computer Games Programming Course
If you know of anyone from age 8 upwards who would like to easily learn to write professional looking computer games, then please tell them to visit www.bedroomprogrammer.com
Brendan Shine Concert
Irish Accordionist Brendan Shine is performing at the Thwaites Empire Theatre in Blackburn on the 10th March 2015 starting at 7:30 pm Tickets cost £17.00 Tickets can be bought online at www.thwaitesempiretheatre.co.uk or by calling 01254 685500 Thwaites Empire Theatre, Aqueduct Road, Ewood, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 4HT
Leyland Festival
This years Leyland Festival will be held on Saturday 20th June. I don’t know much else about this other than to let you know the date for your diaries. Further details about the festival are yet to be announced. Last years festival which had a world wide theme was attended by 15,000 people. Pictures from previous festivals can be seen at www.leylandfestival.co.uk
For Sale
Roland RA 90 MIDI Expander with power supply, in perfect working order. £200. For the above items contact David on 01772 454328 or email david@accordionclub.co.uk
September Accordion Festival
Weekend Accordion Festival at The Burlington Hotel, Folkstone. Friday 25th – Monday 28th September 2015. The Festival includes concerts by both UK and International leading musicians. There is of course a full supporting cast of traders and displays. Over ten hours of classes also run during the weekend. These include Orchestra’s, group and even individual private lessons. Music genres include Folk, Scottish, Jazz, Classical, Electronic and guests are more than welcome to bring their accordions along for both classes and to join in the afternoon guest concerts. Arrive Friday afternoon, leave Monday morning. Your stay includes Friday to Monday Dinner, Bed & Breakfast, all concerts, orchestra’s, trade stands, afternoon tea/coffee. The price is £239 per person. For more information and to book contact John Romero 01606 270148 or visit www.carillonstudios.com