Everything Accordion Podcast

And we are back!! On this first episode of 2022, it is a pleasure to have Bjarke Mogensen, a Danish accordionist who is always on a lookout for new musical experiences to dive into. We talk about his first appearance with a professional orchestra at age 13, Echoes of Cliffs, an exciting sound project developed with his friend and composer Martin Lohse, paying a tribute to the island of Bornholm, l...

2021 is almost behind us, so it seemed only fitting for the last episode of the year to be a compilation of the wishes from the guests on the podcast to the accordionists and to you dear listeners.  The guests featured in this episodes are (in order of appearance): Inaki Alberdi, Matti Pulkki, Janne Valkeajoki, Martynas Levickis, Andreas Borregaard, Marie-Andrée Joerger, Maider Camarero Suspe...

In today's episode I want to talk about my experience with one of the gateway works towards a broader contemporary music repertoire. This work is "Alone" by the Finnish composer Erkki Jokinen's "Alone", written in 1979 for Matti Rantanen.  On this episode I briefly present the composer and then dive into different tips and tricks, as well as mental images, which Matti Rantanen and Stefan Huss...

Today is the second part of my caht with one of the living legends of the accordion world, Friedrich Lips, and his long time friend and collaborator Herbert Scheibenreif. The episode is in German, but you can find and read the full interview in English on the Patreon  page of the podcast. Links below. Today we talk about how Friedrich and Herbert first met, Firedrich's latest book "It seems l...

On today's episode, I am proud to be speaking to one of the living legends of the accordion world, Friedrich Lips, and his long time friend and collaborator Herbert Scheibenreif. The episode is in German, but you can find and read a transcript of the episode in English on the Patreon page of the podcast. Links below. We talk about their childhood and the encounter with the accordion, what it was l...

Today's episode is brought to you by LumaSuite, the world's first handmade carbon protection for professional accordions.  I have the pleasure of talking to Maider Camarero Susperregui, the brilliant mind behind LumaSuite. On this episode we talk about the importance of a good protection and accessories for our accordions, the meaning behind the name and how the company started, sustainabilit...

On today's episode, which is in Italian, it is a pleasure to have Marie-Andrée Joerger, a French accordionist and the first female accordionist on the podcast! You can find the written interview on my Patreon page and on the community page of my website [links below]. We talk about her journey to becoming a professional musician, convincing her parents of her choice along the way, about her new CD...

Today's episode will be a different one. I will present and talk about one of the milestone works of the modern accordion repertoire - Luciano Berio's "Sequenza XIII: chanson". The episode is made up of three parts. In the first part we get to know Berio as a musician and some of his most important works, including the Sequenza series. In the second part we get to know and make a brief analysis of...

On today's episode, it is a pleasure to have Janne Valkeajoki, a Finnish accordionist and conductor, on the forefront of exciting projects and collaborations. We talk about his journey to becoming a professional musician, on the importance of attending concerts and listening to music, his potrait CD dedicated to the music of Magnus Lindberg and more. To find out more about Janne, all of his projec...

Vincent Lhermet is one of the most active accordionists of today and I have had the pleasure to talk to him about how he started to play  the accordion, his recent projects, on the importance of taking accordion competitions with the right attitude, on the creation of the Ricordo al futuro database, his recordings and much more. It has been a joy to talk to Vincent. To find out more about Vincent...

On today's episode we have an Iranian composer, Arshia Samsaminia, who has written a lot of exciting music for the accordion in different formations, ensembles and even an accordion concerto. We will also hear bits of his works on the podcast! We talk about how he became a composer, his view of the accordion world and what attracted him towards the instrument, on the importance of improvisation an...

On today's episode I am talking to my friend, Finnish musician and accordionist, Matti Pulkki. We talk about how he started to play the accordion, his current DMA at the University of Toronto, the digital vs real-life concert experience and a few pieces of advice to young accordionists. To find out more about Matti, his recent projects and gigs, new CD release and more, visit his website at www.ma...

Iñaki Alberdi is one of the most active accordionists of today who is not afraid to experiment with new projects, be it chamber music, quarter-tone accordion or bringing to life a virtual academy. I have had the pleasure to talk to Iñaki about how he started to play the accordion, his unusual (for the times) choice of academies for further studies, his projects and what his advice to young accordi...

On this episode I have the pleasure of talking to the Danish accordionist Andreas Borregaard. We discuss his beginnings as a musician, some of the projects he is currently working on, his PhD artistic research and on the difficulty to speak while playing the accordion. To find out more about Andreas, his recent projects and recordings as well as videos of his Solo-Act and performances for the Bore...

On today's episode you will hear the second part of the chat I had with Martynas. We will talk about the chamber ensemble (or orchestra??) that he founded, his immense fascination with Antonio Vivaldi's music, how he stays fit during the pandemic and what advice would he give to a teenage Martynas today! To find out more about Martynas visit his website at http://www.martynasmusic.com/ , listen to...

I have the great pleasure of talking to Martynas Levickis, an outstanding musician from Lithuania who has created and worked on many projects, the first accordionist to record for Decca and a very special person.  Today's episode will be divided into two parts. In the first part you will hear about how Martynas started playing the accordion, his academic career, about the Composers+ Summer Ac...

In today's episode I will be talking to Corrado Rojac. Corrado is a wonderful musician, an accordionist, a composer, a musicologist...an all-round musician! He was also my mentor at the Conservatory of Trieste, so I am super happy that he accepted to join me on the podcast. We will talk about how he began his musical studies, his multifaceted career, what challenges await an accordionist who chang...

In today's episode, which marks the start of the A CHAT WITH series, I will be talking to Mirko Jevtović. Mirko is a Serbian accordionist currently based in Slovenia who is an active promoter of new music for accordion and accordion duo. We will touch upon his beginnings as an accordionist, his academic journey, projects and a bulletproof strategy of getting composers to write music for you ;) Be...

Welcome to the new podcast "Everything Accordion"! On this podcast you will hear about the instrument’s history, the different types of instruments of its VERY extended family, stories from and about accordionists from all over the world, stories about contemporary music and historical works of its repertoire, interviews with prominent musicians and much more! In the first episode some presentatio...