Daily Reports: 17 August, 2024 XinJiang Tacheng International Accordion Culture and Art Festival
August 29th 2024
Harley Jones
2023 XinJian Tacheng Festival Daily Report and 2016 XinJian Tacheng Festival Daily Report
The 2024 XinJiang Tacheng International Accordion Culture and Art Festival second day started in the morning with the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) World Accordion Museum Alliance (WAMA) Summit in Tacheng.
The accordion museum in Tacheng prefecture is the first of its kind in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. It boasts about 1,500 accordions from 10 countries, including China, Russia, Germany and Italy. The oldest accordion has a history of more than 180 years. Pictures below.
Pictures below:
Exploring the 19th Century Classical Diatonic Accordion Repertoire: Martin Paul (1843-1893)
Presentation from Dr Markku Lepistö at the 4th XinJiang Tacheng International Accordion Culture and Art Festival 2024. Dr Markku Lepistö is one of the most respected Finnish folk accordionists with over 40 years of music career. His skills on both diatonic and chromatic accordions are recognized worldwide. Lepistö was born in Southern Ostrobothnia in 1963, a region very well known for its rich folk music tradition. Lepistö graduated with a Master of Music in 1990 and as a Doctor of Music in 2016 from Sibelius Academy.
Afternoon concert by Dr Markku Lepistö.
Two of our friendly volunteers gave me an accordion ice cream showing just how many different ways the Tacheng population uses accordion shapes in there lives. The ice cream tasted really good too. On the right is a water bottle with accordion label. Wow!
The second night Ceremony of Accordion Culture and Art Festival Concert was another superbly organised concert. Every international guest are asked to play a vintage accordion and to play the song Auld Lang Syne on the stage to signify international friendship through co-operation and music. This was part of “A Thousand Accordionists Playing and Ten Thousand People Singing in Unison”. The Conductor of the huge crowd was Prof. Li Cong, President, China Accordion Association of the China Musicians Association and CIA China member. Program and pictures below.
Video of the “A Thousand Accordionists Playing and Ten Thousand People Singing in Unison”.
Concert performers
