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Dates: Friday, June 26, 2009 to Sunday, June 28, 2009 Location: Victoria Edelweiss Club 108 Niagara Street Victoria, BC, Canada … within 5 minutes walking distance from the cruise ship terminal (Ogden Point) and 10 minutes walking distance from downtown Victoria **Click here to see map of our location in Victoria. Parking and drop off area	Our 2009 festival was an overwhelming success! We had a fabulous time with all the entertaining performers; young and not so young, from near and far, and of all “mastery” levels.
	Accordions By The Sea 2010: Watch here for details of upcoming plans. Details are yet being finalized, however, do reserve the weekend of June 25-27, 2010
Summary of our 2009 festival
**Schedule of events**
Friday, June 26, 2009	Evening dinner** – 5:30 p.m. Grand opening & concert – 7:30 p.m. ($20 approx.) Guest artists introduced & perform Dance
Saturday, June 27, 2009	Open Stage – 10 a.m. Workshops by guest artists Jam sessions if desired Vendors Lunch available** Private lessons (by registration) Evening dinner** - 5:30 p.m. Concert performances by guest artists – 7:30 p.m. ($20 approx.)
Sunday, June 28, 2009	Open Stage – 10 a.m. Workshops by guest artists Jam sessions if desired Vendors Lunch available** Guest artist performances & Concert for all ages including seniors – 2 p.m. ($10 approx.) Grande Finale & closing – 3 p.m.
	**final menu provided on site; includes many types of Bavarian foods. (click here for sample menu)
Private Lessons	Private lessons were available from highly professional and skilled instructors
Workshops & demonstrations	Here are the workshops conducted for the festival.
	** workshop times schedule (CLICK HERE)
Practice Techniques – How to practice efficiently – presented by Patricia Bartell -- Saturday morning	Find out how using this particular practice method solves technical issues, difficult passages and makes those difficult pieces possible. This workshop was geared to intermediate and advanced accordionists.
The Difference Between Demonstrating and Communicating – presented by Andy Mirkovich -- Saturday afternoon	Musicians and entertainers who are the most successful, the most sought after, score higher in competitions and earn more money for their performances, all have one thing in common; they don't just demonstrate their technical abilities, they communicate something special that touches moves and inspires their audiences. You can learn to do that too regardless of your age or experience. This workshop offered the opportunity to be more successful musically than you have ever been before.
Right Brain Left Brain – How it affects your music – presented by Patricia Bartell -- Saturday afternoon	Knowing how the brain operates for each individual gives us insights that help make our learning process easier. Learn about your natural strengths and weaknesses as it affects your music. Come find out which side of the brain you operate from and how you can improve as a musician.
The Best Practice Habits – presented by Andy Mirkovich -- Sunday morning	The amount of time you practice is not as important as how you practice. Learn how to gain the most when you practice and become a better player sooner than you would otherwise. This workshop will present practice principals that will be suitable and beneficial to accordionists from beginner to advanced, from hobbyist to professional. While optional, to fully benefit from this workshop attendees were encouraged to bring their accordion.
Open Stage	Open stage is an ever-popular element of our festival. Players of all ages, skills and styles played their favourite tunes for 15 minutes on stage, and delighted the audience. Open stage carried on throughout the festival each day.
Featured Artists:	These were the featured artists at our 2009 festival. The audience was truly entertained by these highly skilled musicians.
	Ivan Preanicov Ivan is a new member of the Victoria Accordion Club, but is a “veteran” performer and highly accomplished musician. His passion for the accordion started at age 14 when he found his uncle’s old instrument in his attic. He eventually graduated from a musical lyceum in Moldova in 2001. Soon after, he put away his accordion and concentrated on his education and earning a technical degree and moving to Canada. However, his love for the accordion soon re-flourished, and in March 2008 he began to play in earnest, and vowed never to stop. He recently competed and won the Canadian championship in the Roland world accordion festival and represented Canada in the world championships in Rome, where he did very well finishing in the semifinals. His virtuosity and technique stunned everyone.
	Patricia Bartell Patricia is a well-known accordion performer around the world. She holds a B.A. in music education and performance, and teaches accordion and piano full time. She travels world wide as an adjudicator, professional performer and teacher. She conducts the Spokane (Washington, USA) accordion orchestra and is involved in an Argentine tango quartet and is the guest artist for the swing jazz group Hot Club of Spokane. Studying in France under world-renowned accordion teacher Frederic Deschamps, led her to Bosnia in October 2008 as the official USA judge for the international competition world trophy for accordion. Her performances individually or with other artists in the US or in Europe, continue to receive high reviews and have rewarded her with many international titles.
	Andy Mirkovich Andy has a long history of performing on the accordion. He started at the young age of five, and studied privately with the well-known Joe Spano for 12 years. He graduated with a Bachelor or Arts degree in music from the Seattle University and later studied composition at the University of Washington, Graduate School of Music. He was the featured performer at the Seattle Space Needle restaurant for 11 years. He has lengthy performing experience in radio, television, movies, commercials, recordings and concerts; he has performed with and for people such as Lawrence Welk, Myron Floren, Dick Contino, Art VanDamm, Liberace, The Vienna Boy’s Choir, King Hussein of Jordon, the King and Queen of Norway, and many others too numerous to mention. He continues to teach and adjudicate, and performs about 150 engagements per year.