The eleventh edition of the International Accordion Festival in Theater Geert Teis in Stadskanaal was a success. In this edition, youth predominated.
We had a nice varied program with the 15-year-old Jamiro, the 18-year-old Italian virtuoso Emanuele Viti, the 29-year-old Egle Bartkeviciute from Lithuania and the Dutch Youth Accordion Orchestra (NJAO).

Below you will see some photos taken by Albert Franse, Grapho, Nieuw-Buinen.

Egle Bartkeviciute (LT).

At 1:30 PM the program was started by Egle Bartkeviciute.
She was born in Lithuania but has been working and living in Paris since 2021.
In her first set she played solo with compositions by Fomenko, Galliano and Piazzolla, among others.

She closed the afternoon with her second set together with the band consisting of Bert van Erk on double bass and René van Astenrode on drums, including the songs Minor Swing, Caravan and Made in France.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eglutacco

Emanuele Viti (IT).

The performance of the 18-year-young Italian accordion virtuoso was also very interesting.
In his first set he came on stage playing the song Louisiana by Franck Angelis and ended with Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Joannes Brahms with accompaniment only by double bass.

In his second set he played the beautiful song by Ennio Morricone entitled Nuovo Cinema Paradiso and he closed his performance with Italian Polka by Sergei Rachmaninov arranged by Iwan Yaskevich.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emaueleviti/

Nederlands Jeugd Accordeon Orkest.

A first for our festival was the Netherlands Youth Accordion Orchestra, abbreviated as NJAO, with two members from Groningen. They played one set of 30 minutes.

The conductor of the NJAO, Jorend Josemans, had put together a beautiful program with songs such as Arioso by Wolfgang Jacobieen and Laurena by Jhan Nijs, in which the different parts merged into a beautiful harmonic whole.

Website: https://www.njao.nl/

Jamiro (NL).

The performance of the 15-year-old Dutch talented accordionist Jamiro was also interesting. In his first set he played Turkish March by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Flick Flack by Albert Vossen. He enjoyed his performance and had good contact with the audience.

After the break, he played about 5 songs in his second set, including Reine de Musette, La Foule and a beautiful medley of Dutch sing-alongs. He closed his performance with Circus Renz.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamiro.accordeon/

Bert studied classical guitar at the conservatory in Amsterdam. After switching to the double bass, he played with various artists, including accordionist Harry Mooten. He currently plays in the Gronings Drie Sterren Trio with Gertie Bruin (accordionist) and Don Hofstee (guitarist). Every week on Monday in the concert hall of the Kunstencentrum Vrijdag in Groningen, he leads the "Open Jazz Session", which is attended by a mixture of advanced musicians and beginners. This is street football in music.

website: https://www.bertvanerk.nl/

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Muziekhuis Da Capo was unfortunately unable to come with its accordion stand.

But next year on Sunday April 13, 2025, Da Capo will be present again with a beautiful stand in the foyer of the Geert Teis theater.

For accordionists, Muziekhuis Da Capo is a household name not only in the Northern Netherlands but throughout the Netherlands with great knowledge, skills, service and customer friendliness.

Website: https://www.muziekhuisdacapo.nl/

 Afsluiting.

This wonderful musical afternoon ended around 4:55 PM with all participants on stage.

Traditionally, the song We'll meet again by Vera Lynn was used by the musicians.

This year Mary Veldkamp was present again to sing the closing song.

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Organisatie en Presentatie:
Jac & Jeanne Puts m.m.v. de Stichting Internationaal Accordeonfestival.

It is always a relief for the organization when everything goes well, because of course anything can go wrong with such an event. In July 2017 we founded the International Accordion Festival foundation with a board consisting of 5 people, including accordion teachers Gertie Bruin and Henk Puister, and we found Gina Verhoeven to act as treasurer. We hope to ensure the continuity of this unique accordion event into the future. And here is a friendly request to bring one or more people from your family and/or acquaintances with you for the 12th edition that will take place on Sunday, April 13, 2025, so that we can fill the room downstairs.

Thanks to all sponsors and funds and everyone who helped make this wonderful accordion event possible.

We hope to welcome you again in the Geert Teis theater on Sunday, April 13, 2025.