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After half a century and countless students, awards, performances, and recognitions, Joan Cochran Sommers has built a fervent fan base of accordion enthusiasts. I never imagined I would ever write “accordion enthusiasts,” but there it is. And now, after  in the packed house for the UMKC Community Accordion Orchestra’s 50^th Anniversary Concert on Sunday afternoon, I may even admit to being one myself.

The program of music theatre medleys, arrangements, and original compositions was varied and smile-inducing. Opening with Willi Münch’s arrangement of Rossini’s Overture to Italian in Algiers confirmed that this is indeed an orchestra. The mixture of timbres and distinct parts were clearly audible and the performers were surprisingly nimble.

Ditiramb, by Ivo Josipović (a name that might be familiar to Eastern European scholars as he is the current President of Croatia), was full of Stravinsky-esque accents and jagged eighth-note melodies reminiscent of Karel Husa. This piece would translate perfectly into a work for concert band. In performance, some of the transitions were a bit rocky.

Contrasting the angular Ditiramb was Leroy Anderson’s popular Serenata in an arrangement by Sommers. As is typical with Anderson’s works, it was charming and light and the chromaticism seemed to fit accordion especially well.

Soprano Suzanne Boucard joined the ensemble for Delibes’s Les filles de Cadix and Lerner and Loewe’s “I Could Have Danced all Night” from My Fair Lady. I think Bouchard was caught off guard at first by the amplification, but she quickly settled in, letting her low soprano interweave with the light accompaniment.

Concertmistress Betty Jo Simon dazzled on the MIDI accordion as the featured soloist for Lecuona’s “Malagueña” from Andalucia. KCEMA should look into working with her; I have no doubts the results would be fantastically demented and wonderful.

After a surprisingly lackluster “Triumphal March” from Aida, tango dancers Louis Barr and Laura Cantu sashayed and swiveled to the Piazzolla’s Adiós nonino. Sommers’s arrangement was a bit tame for my tastes, as I prefer my Piazzolla to be grittier. Barr and Cantu made for a seductive pair with their crisp kicks and extreme leans, especially given the small amount of space they had to work with.

The six-movement Iconospehere by John Franceschina was composed for Sommers. With a reduced ensemble of nine accordions, synthesizer, and four percussionists, this piece was the most challenging on the program. The second movement, “Parados,” was the most interesting and successful with its articulated countermelodies punctuating a lyrical melody. The fifth, “Syzygy,” was in a moderately fast subdivided seven. The rhythms were performed much cleaner than in the fast seven of the final movement, “Cordax.” Sommers and the snare drummer never locked in to the tempo, leaving the main body of the ensemble unsure of whom to follow.

Ensemble member Amy Jo Sawyer’s Recuerdos was composed specifically for this concert. It was a saucy number that reminded me of Earle Hagen’s Harlem Nocturne, even though this tune was a jazzy tango. The grace note embellishments were tossed off with panache.

Though I had thoroughly enjoyed the concert, the final two numbers tested my patience. The orchestra was joined by past members of the orchestra for a medley from The Sound of Music and by singers from Pleasant Lea Middle School Black and Gold Choir and Lee’s Summit Youth Chorale on Let There Be Peace on Earth. Although the pieces were saccharinely sweet, they were well played and well sung. The two boy soloists during Let There Be Peace on Earth were especially strong.

Joan Sommers is a Kansas City treasure. From the outpouring of support witnessed during this concert, here’s hoping that someone will take up her mantle and continue this fine ensemble for many years to come. 

REVIEW:
UMKC Community Accordion Orchestra
50^th Anniversary Concert
Sunday, May 22, 2011
James C. Olson Performing Arts Center
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, UMKC Campus, Kansas City, MO
For more information call 816-235-2799 or visit http://www.accordions.com/umkc

Top Photo: Joan Sommers and members of the UMKC Community Accordion Ensemble

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com