I am pleased to be able to present to you the 2021 annual president’s report in our 50th anniversary year. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to present challenges, however like everyone else, we have had to adapt. The following is a summary of the major activities that our members have been involved in during the past year.

In September 2020, the 73rd Coupe Mondiale championships were due to be held in Castro Marim, Portugal. Unfortunately, this event was cancelled given the global pandemic. A general assembly was still held via Zoom which was attended by a full New Zealand delegation. The winter congress due to be held in Basel, Switzerland in March 2021 was also cancelled and again, a general assembly was convened via Zoom. Both times, the New Zealand delegation received the short end of the stick, having to tune in with a 3am (NZ time) start time.

The pandemic saw Kevin Friedrich being stationed in New Zealand for the year. This meant that Kevin was able to deliver more concerts to the Dargaville community with concerts being held at the Dargaville museum in July, November and March respectively. The March American themed concert featured performances from the NSAO, Alanah and Maurice Jones. In August Kevin compiled a CIA retrospective of the 1980 Coupe Mondiale held in Auckland, New Zealand. Both he and Marcel Riethmann had been contestants.

In October, Kevin Friedrich held a function in Dargaville to launch his CD The Journey, marking a 30 year collaboration between Kevin and composer, Gary Daverne. The CD consisted entirely of Gary’s works. There were performances by Kevin and supporting artists, Lionel and Elena Reekie.

English accordion and cello duo Good Habits remained stuck in New Zealand due to the pandemic. This has enabled them to perform nearly 100 concerts nationwide and they have just embarked on their farewell concert tour.

Stephen Vincent on organ and Stephanie Poole on accordion presented a concert in November at Holy Trinity Cathedral to showcase the cathedral’s new organ.

In January, New Zealand accordionists, Harley Jones, Grayson Masefield and Andre Samotoi participated in an international collaboration in a mixed aged orchestra, run digitally as part of the Shenzhen Competitions and Festival.

In March, Kevin Friedrich completed another CD Reflections consisting of remastered live recordings from the 1970s and 1980s.

6 May saw World Accordion Day being celebrated. The online event was hosted by CIA Vice Chair of the Music Committee, Grayson Masefield featuring special guest host, Robbie Chen. The event featured a special program on children’s accordion pedagogy.

The Canterbury Accordion Association continued to hold their Sunday afternoon variety concerts featuring soloists and the Christchurch Accordion Orchestra.

Both Grayson Masefield and Lian Jones gained their Institute of Registered Music Teachers’ certification in accordion.

In May, professional accordion entertainer, Tracey Collins completed a North Island tour of the Ryman Villages.

Lian Jones had an active year performing with her tango group Milonga De Cuatro. A concert was held in May, to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of the legendary tango composer, Astor Piazzolla.

In June, Grayson Masefield was able to attend the graduation of his Master of Music in Studio Pedagogy from the University of Auckland, a year after he had started his Doctorate.

We were able to expand from last year, our annual competitions and festival over the Queen’s Birthday weekend. The event was held at the Rose Centre in Belmont.

Given the trans-Tasman travel bubble, we were lucky to have one international guest in the form of the President of the Accordion Society of Australia, Ben Pattinson. Ben assisted with adjudicating, entertaining and giving a masterclass. Masterclasses were also presented by Grayson Masefield and Maurice Jones. With no restrictions on domestic travel, a contingent of seven members from Christchurch also attended, which included the scholarship winners for 2019 and 2020.

The farewell concert featured a lot of variety, with performances from championship winners, the massed orchestra conducted by local conductors, Gary Daverne and Bryan Holden, a duet from Martin Meyer (accordion) and Helen Jarrett (vocal), Notable Soundz, Grayson Masefield and the NSAO conducted by Bryan Holden. Marcel Riethmann presented Gray Daverne with the AEB Certificate of Merit.

The weekend was completed with a dinner at Aubergine restaurant in Takapuna. Thanks to Sven Balvan, Theodor Redepenning, Steve Cope, Maurice Jones and Ben Pattinson for entertaining us.

South Pacific championship winners for 2021 were;
1. 12 years and under – Reina Lin;
2. Accordion Solo – Ben Drury.

Thank you to everyone for your contribution towards making this event a worthwhile, and enjoyable experience for us all.

Long standing committee member and former Competitions Secretary Megan Jennings has decided to step down from the committee. Megan was presented with a well-deserved, NZAA life membership at the farewell concert. I would like to take this opportunity again to thank Megan for her invaluable contribution she has made to the accordion in New Zealand.

We are fortunate that we were able to carry on with events this year in New Zealand which resembled a return to some normality. Many other countries around the world have not been able to do so, at this stage. However, we are not there yet and I look forward to the day when we can welcome more international guests to our shores and move around globally without restrictions.

Sonja Palinich
President
New Zealand Accordion Association