As Covid-19 resulted in lockdowns, the North Shore Accordion Orchestras in Auckland, New Zealand were unable to rehearse for most of this year.

So the conductors held a meeting and decided that for the last few weeks of 2020, they would run some fun jam sessions for all orchestra members (young and old) to come along and just have some “good old fun” playing together.

The music ranged from light classical to rock & roll and all members sight read while the parents play percussion.

On October 28th, the session included a variety of players including New Zealand past champions Kevin Friedrich, Maurice Jones and Campbell Bettridge, New Zealand Accordion Association (NZAA) Secretary Heather Masefield, Music Education Centre Director Lionel Reekie, NZAA Competitions Secretary Renee Jeffries, AWW Weekly News Editor Christine Johnstone, Lian Jones (member of the tango group Milonga De Cuatro), and Alanah Jones (accordion premiere with composer David Hamilton).

The jam sessions also gave younger players the opportunity to play alongside more experienced accordionists, who were only too willing to help the junior players.

Maurice Jones offered a few useful tips for handling this kind of gathering so that the players could get the most out of it.