The Maryland Accordion Club

06/18/2026

We've passed the halfway point of !
Nils Lofgrin is an all time great rock and roll musician, known for solo albums; the E Street Band; recordings with Neal Young and other artists. Accordion was his first instrument; he won prizes at competitions before rock and roll took over his life in his teens. In this clip, he plays Idas Sommarvisa in Sweden.

Bonus: He was born in Chicago and spent time in Maryland!

Nils Hilmer Lofgren of the E Street Band is the Vasa Order of Ameri...

06/17/2026

MAC members who participate in the UMBC Gamelan Ensemble welcome you to their open sessions in June and July!

Sessions continue on Tuesday, June 23rd, Tuesday, July 7th
Tuesday, July 14th, from 5-8pm. Sessions are in the Music Box located on the ground floor of The Performing Arts and Humanities building. (1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD 21250)

Participants can enter and leave at their convenience. If you’re having trouble finding the room, just follow the sounds of clanging bronze!

06/14/2026

SUNDAY, June 14~
Enjoy a MUSICAL family afternoon in Timonium.
(MAC members that play wind and brass instruments will be in the ensemble.)

HVWE is presenting a concert for children on Sunday, June 14th at 3pm at Dulaney High School! We will be demonstrating each instrument group and playing some fun recognizable music. Concert is FREE!

06/14/2026

A trio of MAC members were delighted to make some JOYFUL NOISE with the community at St Paul's Lutheran Church of Gambrills and Crofton's Patriotic Sing-Along today! Thanks to Pasto Iromar Schreiber, Donna Willingham, musicians in the ensemble, pianist Junghoo Park and dozens of FULL-VOICED Patriots!

A link to the recorded live stream is in the comments.

https://www.facebook.com/events/995889936455636/permalink/1024491703595459/

06/11/2026

Mature MUSIC LOVERS!!!
Here's a concert for YOU and your youthful associates!!!
Movement in Music Ensemble is performing the symphonic favorites that invited us to enjoy fairy tales, fantasies, and suspense! This repertoire has grown into multi-dimensional universes in literature and video. Introduce your family to LIVE performance and creative artistry this weekend!!!

PS: One of our members will be performing (but not on accordion).

06/10/2026

YOU'RE INVITED!!!

Saturday, June 13, the chamber ensemble at St Paul's Lutheran Church of Gambrills and Crofton will present a Celebration of American Music, featuring Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, performed by Junghoon Park.

An accordion trio from The Maryland Accordion Club will enlarge into a quintet with two accordionists and St. Paul's Ensemble for a Patriotic Sing-Along including I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy, You're a Grand Old Flag, and This Land Is Your Land. We'll honor members of the US Armed Forces and join the Ensemble for America the Beautiful.

FREE ADMISSION

06/08/2026

Saturday, 6 June was the last meeting of our 2025-26 meeting cycle and it was a DOOZY that became an afternoon of FIRSTS! It was the first time NINE of the 18 folks in the room visited the club; the first time a recently-enrolled attendee stood to demonstrate his new diatonic concertina and explain how he participates in jams, providing rhythm and bass on his 48 bass; the first time we met an accordion alumnae of the Catonsville School of Music (defunct for about 50 years) who currently lives in Florida and fully recovered his musical chops following a stroke; AND the first time a family of five brought two accordions played across two generations.

For the last few months, we've invited folks who inquire about sales and donations (we don't broker sales and have no storage space for donations) to bring their legacy instruments to the meeting. We individually and collectively try them out (because we love playing any available instrument). Members let visitors know how their unplayed instruments stack up with our current favorites. Today, we had four instruments with family heritage stories on display. We were delighted to learn that a student model had been refurbished to return mom to the instrument her son had once laughed about. Shortly after teasing Mom about the instrument, he found his first instrument; then realized her original should be restored. After fiddling with his first piano accordion for a couple of years, the son decided to make the shift to a CBA. Two months ago, he purchased a Crucianelli. Today he rocked our room with a powerhouse rendition of music derived from the legacy video game DOOM.

A comment on an online accordion site led a young woman to bring a Czechoslovakian instrument her grandfather "found" to our Melodeon master. They discussed work to be done to make it playable.The instrument was tuned differently than anticipated. The find may differ from what online commenters assessed: "a curious antique" or "a cheaply made mail order accordion that had no value as a playable instrument. . . .as seen in vintage Sears & Roebuck catalogs." Granddaughter now knows what kind of attention it needs. We hope she can find out more about its behind-the-iron-curtain Eastern European heritage.

This may have been the third time in the 2025-26 cycle that we met a long-closeted instrument that was fundamentally playable. It was dusty. The switches were stiff, but responded. It needs cleaning. It lost a gem on the C fundamental. The mother of pearl keys were creamy, along with its ornamental bellows. Chest-side bellows need tape. The daughter who kept her dad's instrument stored in a closet for nearly 40 years spoke with our rising technician. In a few weeks she'll have a reclaimed instrument to pass along.

Our social hour was nearly 90 minutes long! It was chatty, friendly, chaotic. It became more musical because another 1st-time visitor pulled out his Roland 8x; moved to the front of the room; and began noodling. The ambience was so like MAC's early tradition that our clarinetist settled in to play along as he did 10 years ago. Before long, others in the room joined them, singing along.

Once the excitement around new visitors and new or legacy instruments resolved into our regular round-robin, we enjoyed other firsts: new presentations by six committed MAC members. Those presentations included some never-before-impromptu duets. Presenters covered the musical spectrum of western music: traditional to modern, hardcore to punk rock. When the noodling newcomer returned as the final presenter, he played an extended set with the clarinetist and their vocalists as the room was reset.

It was an unusual, chaotic, novel, carefree, interactive afternoon that closed with invitations to enjoy summer vacations and opportunities for until we meet again on 5 September/Labor Day Weekend.

06/06/2026

June has busted out all over!
Who'll land in the last meeting of MAC's 2025-26 cycle TODAY! ?
Watch this space for information about where we'll be with friends through the summer!

06/03/2026

We're recycling this June meeting announcement!

We'll share plans for summer opportunities before our meeting cycle returns in September.

06/01/2026

The June www.accordionusa.news is online. Did you know that June is National Accordion Awareness Month?

June is officially recognized as National Accordion Awareness Month in the United States. It was established in 1989 to promote awareness of the accordion, encourage people to learn about the instrument, and celebrate its contributions to many musical traditions. The month is generally credited to accordion advocate Tom Torriglia of San Francisco.

The oldest name for the accordion is derived from the Greek word ‘harmonikos’, which means ‘harmonic’ or ‘musical’. It goes by many names across the world — ‘Akkordeon’ in Germany, ‘Fisarmonica’ in Italy, ‘Bayan’ in Russia, ‘Sun-Fin-Chin’ in China, ‘Harmonium’ in Pakistan, and ‘Trekspiel’ in Norway. But it is commonly just called ‘accordion’ in many countries.

How can you celebrate accordion awareness month?

1. Buy an accordion�What better way to honor this instrument than to permanently bring one into your life? Research the best and most affordable accordions and grab one for yourself. Worried about the space it might take? Got no time to learn this instrument? Do a good deed and give it to someone who appreciates music, or donate it to your local music class. Send a little music out into the world.�

2. Take accordion lessons�This instrument is not only beautiful to hear but to play, too. Multiple instructors offer quick lessons online including on YouTube. Master the basics with enough practice and maybe you will soon put out your own concerts featuring famous songs played on an accordion.�

3. Support local accordion players�Playing this instrument requires skilled dexterity and talent that takes a lot of hard work to master. Honor those who have put in the work, check out some local players, attend their programs or watch them play online. Share your discovery with the world and help spread awareness about the accordion and its musicians.�

4. Learn about the accordion by reading www.accordionusa.news This monthly free publication is a wealth of information about the accordion, concerts, festivals, competitions, events which feature and include the accordion. You will be amazed by the versatility of the accordion and the many types of music that can be played on it. Watch videos, join zoom events, and educate yourself about the accordion.

Did you know that World Accordion Day (WAD) was just celebrated on May 6? World Accordion Day is celebrated on May 6 each year to honor the day the accordion was first patented in Vienna, Austria.

See the May publication of www.accordionusa.news to read articles about the many events that took place to honor WAD. You can read every past publication of www.accordionusa.news by clicking on “Past News” at the top of the page.

Your comments are welcome. Write to Editor Rita Barnea at [email protected]

Accordion USA, the largest accordion website for USA, North America with news and events about all bellows related instruments