The Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) held their 127th General Assembly of Delegates in Miesbach, Germany from 23-26 February, hosted by one of the CIA founding members, the Deutscher Harmonika-Verband e.V. (DHV).

Picture left: Main conference organiser and German DHV delegate Georg Hettman.

The Congress was held in conjunction with the DHV German National Accordion Music Prize, the qualifications in the Bavaria region, entitling successful candidates to proceed to the German National Championships.

The event opened with a champagne Welcome Reception followed by a Concert hosted by the DHV at the Bauerntheater in the nearby town of Schliersee. The concert featured the Landesjugend-Akkordeonorchester Bayern conducted by Stefan Fusseder and Hedy Stark-Fussnegger.

CIA Awards: Each year the CIA can award up to two CIA Merit Awards and four Honored Friend of the Accordion Awards. Only two applications were received this year and were awarded as follows:
CIA Merit Award: Matti Rantanen (Finland)
CIAHonored Friend of the Accordion Award: Ken Farran (United Kingdom)

New Technology: This year, the CIA will trial the elimination of paper music scores for the Jury members. Also, for one category, the Masters Coupe Mondiale, candidates will be asked to submit a Acrobat pdf file of their music to be viewed by the Jury on IPADs or similar devices, provided by the CIA.

This new format will eliminate the need for candidates to bring music with them, it will enable the judges to have clear access to the music in digital format for viewing, it will be environmentally friendly, plus be easier for the contestant to maintain control of their music.

The full report is online at: http://www.accordions.com/cia/winter_12_review.htm
Picture below: German DHV delegates, Fritz Dobler, Andreas Nebl (Music Committee member), Hedy Stark-Fussnegger.