Accordion Festival of the Icelandic Academy of Music and the Salarin in Kópavogur

On April 18th at 20 pm, a unique concert will take place in the Hall in Kópavogur, where the world's leading accordion and bandoneon players will perform the music of Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.

For the first time, Klaudiusz Baran, Raimondas Sviackevičius and Giuseppe Scigliano come together, along with Icelandic accordionist German Khlopin, cellist Steiney Sigurðardóttir and the string quartet Icelandic Strings.

The program includes well-known works by Piazzolla, including Oblivion, Adios Nonino og Le Grand TangoPiazzolla is known for having created Tango Nuevo, a style that combines influences from jazz and classical music with traditional tango music.

The evening's host is Paolo Picchio.

The event is part of a broad collaboration between the Iceland Academy of the Arts and the Salurinn Music Hall. The concert is the highlight of the Accordion Festival, which takes place from April 16th to 18th, and all events are open to the public. The Accordion Festival will be crowned with a grand concert in the Salurinn Concert Hall in Kópavogur.

Accordion Festival Program

Thursday, April 16 will take place a masterclass in the Hall in Kópavogur from 9:00–14:00 and later the same day in Dynjandi (Department of Music, LHÍ) from 15:00–17:00. Later in the evening, at 19:00, there will be a student concert in Dynjandi where participants will present the results of the course and perform works by, among others, Astor Piazzolla, Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt and Edvard Grieg, as well as more works for accordion.

Friday, April 17th Paolo Picchio gives a lecture on Piazzolla in the lecture series Context in Dynjanda. Picchio is the managing director of Bugari Armando the accordion factory in Castelfidardo and has given numerous lectures around the world on the life and work of Piazzolla, the history of the accordion and its relationship with chamber music. In 2021 he published the book Astor Piazzolla – the father of Nuevo Tango – Chronology, works and reasoned discography, in connection with the international 100th anniversary project of the composer.

The same day, from 15:00–17:00, Picchio will also lead a masterclass in Dynjandur, where the emphasis will be on arrangements for solo and chamber groups. Later in the day, Prof. Giovanni Barbato will hold a masterclass for violins in Skriða, the hall of the Icelandic Academy of Music at Stakkahlíð 1.

The concert in the Hall in Kópavogur concludes a diverse Accordion Festival with a touch of elegance.