Starting from the 25th of February 2012, the thirteenth edition of the International Accordion Festival in Vienna invites music lovers to indulge into the endearing sounds of the accordion and its many musical facets. For one month the outstanding festival program will cover almost every form of music without limiting itself to stylistic boundaries.
Following the successes of recent years, the team around the artistic director Friedl Preisl have been working hard to offer us a number of musical highlights. As already proven in previous festivals, the mix of traditional music with innovative sound creations has brought something new to the festival table and results in an ever-increasing interest from the audience.
This year, music enthusiats can look forward to a wide range of exciting performances. Highlights include a focus on “Bella Italia”, which introduces several leading representatives of the Italian world music scene, such as Ricardo Tesi and his band Italiana, the Nuevo Tango Ensemble, the Simone Zanchini Duo and Daniele Di Bona Ventura. As every year, the festival will kick off with the traditional opening gala by Otto Lechner and is not to be missed. Benchmarks of the festival and audience favorites such as the very popular silent film cycle with live music will take place in the Viennese venue Filmcasino, as well as the “Magic Afternoon” for children in the venue Dschungel Wien.
A glance at the rest of the program is likely to make a music connoisseur’s heart beat faster. Outstanding international and local musicians and bands, such as the Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln, Renato Borghetti, Attwenger, Bratfisch, Catrin Pfeifer und Band, Soyka & Stirner, Annie Bonny and the Hiking Sinking Ladies, Stefan Sterzinger, die.hammerling, the Ot Azoj Klezmer Band, Klaus Paier & Asja Valcic, Lepistö & Lehti, Mika Vember and her trio, the Lebeau-Trio will celebrate a wild tryst on the many stages of the city (Baumgartner Casino, Theater Akzent, Ost Klub, Ehrbar-Saal, Sargfabrik, Reigen, Haus der Begegnung Floridsdorf, Schutzhaus Zukunft, Porgy & Bess, Metropol, Vindobona, Orpheum). Listing all of the festival’s musical highlights would simply go beyond the scope of one article.
The comprehensive and exciting festival program of 2012 shows yet again why the accordion festival has become a fixed component in Viennese musical life and justifies its spot at an international level.
Michael Ternai
(Photocredit Otto Lechner: Lukas Beck)