World-Class Accordionists to Perform at 74th Annual Accordion Festival Hosted by the Accordionists & Teachers Guild International, July 24–26, 2014 in San Francisco

Burlingame, CA, July 24, 2014 --(PR.com)-- World-class accordionists Stas Venglevski, Cory Pesaturo, Xia Gang, and the Peter Di Bono Trio will perform at the 74th Annual Accordion Festival hosted by the Accordionists & Teachers Guild (ATG). It will be held July 24–26, 2014, at the Crowne Plaza San Francisco International Airport Hotel in Burlingame, Calif. All festival events are open to the public, including lunchtime and evening concerts, as well as competitions, workshops and exhibits.

"The Accordionists & Teachers Guild is pleased to announce its 74th Annual Accordion Festival being held July 24–26, 2014, in Burlingame, Calif.,” said Betty Jo Simon, president of the Accordionists & Teachers Guild. “We are excited to present member and guest accordionists from around the world performing in both evening and lunchtime concerts as well as two accordion orchestras. There will also be a wide array of competitions, workshops and exhibits, all of which is open to the public.”

Accordion concerts will be held on Thursday, July 24; Friday, July 25; and Saturday, July 26, at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $15.00 per person. All concerts will be held at the Crowne Plaza San Francisco International Airport Hotel. Tickets are available at the door. No charge for accredited press.

In addition to the concerts, accordion competitions, workshops, exhibits will be held the same days, all of which are open to the public. Day passes are $15.00 per person.

Featured guest accordion artists:

- The Peter Di Bono Trio has been serenading Bay Area audiences for more than 25 years. The music covers a very wide spectrum from Broadway to Bach. The trio was selected to perform at the gala dinner celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the song, “I Left My heart In San Francisco,” at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel where Tony Bennett, who was in attendance, introduced the iconic piece 50 years ago. The trio consists of:

- Peter Di Bono, accordionist, whose performances include musical theater and guest soloist with Bay Area symphony orchestras. He is on faculty with The Community Music Center in San Francisco;

- Harriet Newhart, violinist, who was classically trained on piano and violin at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music; and

- Steve Hanson, string bass, who is one of the busiest of Bay Area musicians. He received his master’s degree in music from The University of North Texas.

- Stanislav "Stas" Venglevski, a native of the Republic of Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union, is known as a virtuoso of the Bayan, a type of accordion with only buttons and no keyboard. A two-time first-prize winner of the Bayan competition in the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Venglevski is a graduate of the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. He immigrated to the United States in 1992 and currently resides in Milwaukee.

- Making his American debut, Xia Gang is a renowned Chinese Bayan accordionist and serves as associate professor at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. Mr. Xia earned his Master’s Degree from Russia’s prestigious St. Petersburg State Conservatory in 2003. In 1999, he won the first prize at the “Baltica-harmonica” International Accordion Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia.

- Antonio Spaccarotella is an Italian accordion artist who has won many international competitions and currently teaches modern and classical accordion at the Nuove Armonie Musical Institute in Italy.

- Gary Blair has performed at many of the world’s largest accordion festivals, including the Las Vegas Accordion Convention, KIOTAC, The Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration, Carrefour Mondial De L'accordeon (Quebec) and the annual United Kingdom Accordion Championships. He currently resides in Renfrew, Scotland, and is a full-time accordion teacher and performer.

- Cory Pesaturo is a graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he was the first musician ever to major and graduate in the accordion. He is one of only four accordionists to win World Championships on both the acoustic and digital accordion and is the only person to also win a World Championship in Jazz. Cory currently resides in Rhode Island.

The Festival Accordion Orchestra will be conducted by Joan C. Sommers, a world-renowned accordion orchestra conductor and accordionist herself. Sommers is a past president of ATG and currently serves as a vice president of the Confederation International of Accordionists.

On Friday, July 25, at 3 p.m., ATG will host a special Original Music Concert, which will be devoted entirely to original music written for the accordion, both newly composed and from previous years. An accomplished composer with a master’s degree in Jazz Composition and Performance from Southern Illinois University, Amy Jo Sawyer, ATG second vice president, has written a new piece for an accordion quintet, “Reverie,” which will be performed at the Original Music Concert.

For more information, visit: http://www.accordions.com/atg/