It is once again my pleasure to present to you my Annual President's Report.

The past year, of course, was dominated by the Coupe Mondiale with the final planning leading up to the event itself consuming all who were associated with the organisation and running of NZ's second ever Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships.

So inevitably the predominant focus of this report will be the Coupe Mondiale, together with a summary of the past year's other activities.

Our newsletters have detailed the many outstanding individual performances provided by many of our leading students, in particular those by the NZ Coupe Mondiale entrants who had each devoted themselves to hundreds of hours of practise to attain the extremely high international standards required to compete at Coupe Mondiale level.

I must also acknowledge the many other talented accordionists who have in the past year highlighted the versatility of the Accordion with highly successful concert performances and competition results.

You will notice the absence of a report on the Annual Allan William Jones Memorial Scholarships presentation function. With so much focus and energy required during the build up to the Coupe Mondiale, the AEB decided that it would defer the event until 2010.

The funds customarily offered to AWJ Scholarship recipients were instead allocated as Coupe Mondiale prize money, in the memory of Allan William Jones.

A special meeting of the NZAA was held at the Music Education Centre on Sunday, 1 November. Its purpose was to present the NZAA audited accounts to 31/12/08 which were not finalised in time for the 2009 AGM in June. The accounts were presented by the Treasurer, discussed and duly ratified.

The 2010 NZ National and South Pacific International Accordion Championships and Festival were held over Queen's Birthday weekend at the Raye Freedman Performing Arts Centre. As was expected, the overall number of competitors was down largely as a result of overseas entrants, especially those from Australia who had visited NZ for the Couple Mondiale event, not able to afford another visit so soon. Also, many top NZ students who had prepared so intensely for the Couple Mondiale preferred to "take a break" this year. Nevertheless, overall this was a very successful event which ran like clockwork thanks to those who work tirelessly to ensure its success.

Our special guest artist this year was He Qian from China, the winner of the 2009 Coupe Mondiale Piano Accordion Competition. This year instead of a Friday evening function the event was timetabled to provide for a Saturday afternoon concert in addition to the customary Sunday only one. Following the success of the NZ and World Accordion Orchestras that featured at the 2009 Couple Mondiale, we decided to incorporate a NZ "All Comers" Orchestra this year to help create a more festival focus. This proved to be a very popular choice, with the orchestra featuring in the Sunday Finale Concert, together with our special guest artist and selected class winner.

The Sunday evening Farewell Dinner was filled to capacity and enjoyed by all. One of the highlights was when to everyone's delight, birthday girl Alanah Jones unexpectedly joined her father, Maurice, on stage to accompany him on her own accordion, playing a catchy little dance number.

Trophies were presented to the South Pacific Championship winners:

• 12 and under - Helen Wang
• 15 and under - Patrick Lin
• Open Solo - Campbell Thwaites
• NZ & South Pacific Champion - Eddie Giffney
• Runner Up - Bor-Kuan Song

2010 Special Awards were presented to this year's recipients:

• Samantha Rutherford Memorial Trophy - Bor-Kuan Song
• Cecil Smith Trophy - Leyna and Petra Coleman
• Cocurullo Family Trophy - Tony Davies-Jones
• Doreen & Ben Emmett Memorial Trophy - Eddie Giffney
• Ben Emmett Accordion Orchestra Commemoration Trophy - Gary Daverne

Sadly, I acknowledge the passing of legendary Jazz Accordionist Art Van Damme, who died 15 February this year at the age of 89. He had been ill with pneumonia for several weeks. Taking up the accordion at nine years of age, he discovered Jazz as a teenager, honing his skills and repertoire, pioneering the use of the Accordion as a jazz lead instrument, and influencing most of the Western World's jazz accordionists with his playing style. Many of you will remember Art Van Damme as the feature guest artist at the 1980 Coupe Mondiale, here in Auckland.

Last year, I devoted much of my report to the planning and preparation in the countdown to the 2009 Coupe Mondiale. This year we can now look back and reflect with a high degree of satisfaction on what unquestionably was an extremely successful event.

Held only for the second time in NZ, this week-long international music extravaganza welcomed the elite of the Accordion world to our country, hosting international delegates representing their national organisations, some of the finest young accordionists in the world competing in seven categories of international competitions, distinguished members of the International Jury Panel and acclaimed international concert artists.

In making a commitment to stage a festival that would hold its own against any other international event, the NZAA needed to ensure that the international delegation of delegates and contestants from around the globe, as well as our own membership and guests, were provided with highest calibre organisation. No detail could be left unturned - from one of the finest concert venues in Auckland, to the stunning festival programme book, to the excellent variety of musical pre and post concert foyer performances, to the school children's concerts, to the VIP and social functions, to the TV and press coverage, to the outstanding concerts - all contributed to an event described by outgoing CIA President Kevin Friedrich, as one that "has gone down in CIA history, as did the 1980 event, as the one to judge other festivals by".

Many people played such important roles in ensuring the success of the event such as:

Harley Jones -	for his vision in co-ordinating the 2009 Coupe Mondiale to be held in NZ in the first place, and being the liaison between the NZAA and the CIA.
Heather Masefield -	for her co-ordination of Coupe Mondiale activities including the Coupe schedule, correspondence and NZ & World Accordion Orchestra III.
Alison Worthington and Carol Yan -	for their tireless efforts in co-ordinating accommodation, publicity material, Coupe Mondiale programme, liaison with the North Shore City Council and Spencer on Byron.
Danielle Beston -	for her efforts with fundraising and sponsorship applications.
Jenna Murray -	for promotional and marketing liaison.
Pamela Yan -	for lending her expertise in graphics and design, in producing such excellent promotional posters, photos and other material.
Sonja Palinich -	for media and public relations, and publicity.
Annemarie Panzic -	for her work co-ordinating all the visa requirements for our international guests.
Christine Adams -	for her work co-ordinating the World Accordion Orchestra.
Lionel Reekie -	for organising all the non-competitive performance and entertainment during the event, and for organising the popular School Children’s Concerts.
Marcel Riethman -	for his leadership in the Coupe Mondiale development team, assisted by Heather Masefield.
Amber Masefield -	for all her work with office set-up and preparation of results.

My sincerest thanks also to Gary Daverne for his generous support of the festival in bringing his renowned Auckland Symphony Orchestra to the stage, featuring a diverse array of soloists, including Stephanie Poole and Tracy Collins from NZ, his newly commissioned "Auckland March" and releasing his new work "Koriana" as well as his talents in directing the World Accordion Orchestra III.

I also thank those that assisted the CIA as international adjudicators - Heather Masefield, Stephanie Poole and Stephen Vincent.

Thank you also to the many behind the scenes workers such as Maurice Jones and Tony Davies-Jones who co-ordinated much of the transportation of instruments and people to and from the airport, and technical support.

Lastly, but by no means least, I sincerely thank Kevin Friedrich, the outgoing President of the CIA, for all his support, encouragement and wisdom in assisting us with all the details associated with staging a Coupe Mondiale event.

And so to the event itself and the realisation of something we could all but dream about "a New Zealander winning the Coupe Mondiale held in their own country". Grayson Masefield achieved the "impossible dream" winning both the Coupe Mondiale and the Virtuoso Entertainment Music categories, achieving the distinction of being the first player in the 62 year history of the Coupe Mondiale to win both categories in the one Coupe Mondiale event. It should also be recorded that Grayson has achieved many other significant milestones as NZ's most accomplished accordionist, including winning the AIMES Award of $10,000 and the Roland Competition in Rome. While we heap our congratulatory praise on Grayson, we must not let the achievements of our other six Kiwi solo contestants and one ensemble go unheralded. These talented young students, after months and months of dedicated practise to attain the required international performance standards, truly did us proud and we congratulate each and everyone of you.

Full results achieved by the NZ entrants is as follows:

To the financial aspect of the event. When you consider that New Zealand hosted the elite of the Accordion world, engaged one of the country's finest concert venues, featured international celebrities, premiered new original works, showcased seven international competitions, featured both national and international artists and World Accordion Orchestra III which were showcased on National TV, radio and media, to name just a few of the major benefits received and all this right in the middle of a serious world-wide recession a deficit of around $20,000 becomes less significant.

Finally, it is sadly time to formally say "good-bye" to several long-standing members of the NZAA Committee who have decided to step down from committee responsibilities in favour of other commitments and pursuits -

• Danielle Beston, who has filled a most important role in preparing and submitting applications, the various funding organisations to gain financial assistance and sponsorship grants for the NZAA. She has also been our competitions judging co-ordinator for the past several years.
• Carol Yan, our Treasurer, has capably carried out this unenviable role and also played a huge part in organising the 2009 Coupe Mondiale.
• Alison Worthington, Competitions Co-ordinator and also worked tirelessly organising and co-ordinating the Coupe Mondiale.
• Annemarie Panzic, our Competitions Secretary for the past 10 years, who also was responsible for co-ordinating all the visa requirements for Coupe Mondiale international guests.

To you all I say a huge thank you for the years of service you have so willingly given to the NZAA and the great contribution you have made to the Accordion World. To the other members of my committee, I also say a heart-felt thank you for your support and the time you so freely give to further the accordion movement in our country. You have all been such a wonderful team to work with.

John Statham
President
New Zealand Accordion Association Inc.