Adriana de Los Santos (Brazil) — Gaucho-fire from the Pampas of Brasil
Adriana de Los Santos comes from the South of Brazil. As a “gaucho-girl”, she bravely stands her ground in a field dominated by males.
She said about her first accordion: “It didn’t take me long to realize, that it was impossible not to touch this instrument. When you open it, it’s like laughter, and a heart and soul conquering music flows out.”
Adriana plays with her all-female band “Gurias Gauchas” at rodeos, motorbike gatherings and gaucho-barbecue-parties. She is the first woman to represent the gaucho culture in Europe – at the Akkordeonale!
Gulam Kerimzade (Iran) — Jazz from One Thousand and One Nights
As a small child, Iranian Gulam Kerimzade was given a concertina. For him, this gift marked the entrance to the miraculous world of music. He studied composition and piano but his love for bellows-driven instruments remained.
On the Garmon (a diatonic unisonoric harmonica) he is one of the very few who use this instrument beyond folkloristic music.
Gulam plays composition mixtures of traditional Iranian music and Jazz.
Raquel Gigot (Belgium) — Star in the sky of Musette
Raquel Gigot comes from Belgium, a land with a great accordion tradition. So, as a matter of course, she came into contact with the most different styles of accordion music.
She plays chromatic as well as diatonic accordion. The musette accompanies Raquel since her childhood and her interpretations take us back in time to the swing-jazz-epoch in Paris and Brussels.
She loves the accordion because it cuts across all social classes and is at home as well in pubs and village fairs as in concert halls.
Jordan Djevic (Serbia) — Balkan Passion
Through his accordion, Serbian Jordan Djevic tells tales of his region, the Balkans – of melancholy and joy, of wars and victories – a modern man full of spirits who tries to change this world for the better with his music.
With a magnificent virtuosity, Jordan merges Balkan traditions with classical influences, jazz and evergreens. His music is his religion, his style, like a ritual, that expresses and embodies his world view.
Servais Haanen (Germany/Netherlands) — The Master of Fine Sounds
Dutchman Servais Haanen, musical contrarian, and organiser of the Akkordeonale, composes and arranges the festival’s ensemble pieces and, with a lot of wit and expertise, guides the audience through the program.
He has been working on bursting the boundaries of his diatonic accordion, integrating elements of New Music, minimalistic structures and other unusual and exceptional sounds.
Thanks to his versatile work with bands (i.a. Appellation Contrôlée, Quatro Ventos, KlangWeltenFestival) and his activity as a composer for various productions at music theatres and for film documentaries, Servais brings into play most diverse musical material.
In addition to being a docent for accordion, one of his dearest activities is his manifold ensemble work with exceptional or impossible instrumentation.
“It’s always a lot of fun for me to invent a new program every year with musicians from the most diverse countries, to be on tour with such a group and create such great concerts!”
All titles were recorded live at Akkordeonale 2013
Accompanying musicians
Rafael Fraga (Portugal, Portuguese Fado-Guitar)
Portuguese Rafael Fraga studied jazz guitar and classical composition. He is a musician much in demand for guitar and fado guitar, composer and orchestrator (Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Maria de Fatima, Quatro Ventos, Carlos do Carmo).
He also wrote the opera “O Casamento do Diabo”.
The fado guitar is an instrument with 12 steel strings related to the cittern.
Johanna Stein (Germany, Cello)
Known to many from past years, Johanna will augment the Akkordeonale with her accompaniment on cello.
Following her classical studies, she conducts workshops for string players, is part of the classical collective Ensemble Alondra, but above all she plays and arranges with a lot of love for her string quartet Badz. Be it classical music, jazz, rock, pop, blues, fusion or world music – no style is foreign to her!
In 2013 Johanna joined the "Global Strings" ensemble, taking part in Rüdiger Oppermanns "KlangWelten"-Festival.