April 11, 2024 – Third Street Music School

The Bachtopus Accordion Ensemble will perform a FREE concert in NYC at Third Street Music School on Thur. April 11 at 7pm, playing old and new music by J.S. Bach, Peter Flint, Conrad Cummings, Amy Denio, Guy Klucevsek, Nathan Koci, Giovanni Valentini, and more!!!

We will be playing an hour-long program of music spanning 400 years, both written for and adapted to the accordion, and it promises to be an engaging night of wide-ranging music.

Third Street Music School Settlement. 235 E 11th St, New York, NY 10003-7305

To register for free, click on one of the following links:

https://tinyurl.com/y5uur5fm


https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bachtopus-accordion-ensemble-400-years-of-music-tickets-876036728437?aff=oddtdtcreator

And we’re listed with their other events here:
https://www.thirdstreet.nyc/latest

Sept 27, 2023 – Rob and Mayumi on Person, Place, Thing with Randy Cohen

Join Rob and Mayumi participate as the live band on a taping of Randy Cohen’s “Person, Place, Thing.” The guest is architect Ken Smith, who designed many public spaces in NYC including the meeting location for this episode, Gansevoort Plaza. Ken Smith considers the implications of the past as well as the needs of the present: “Land has memory. It’s really a crime to erase the memory of a place.” 

Archival footage of the show can be found here: https://personplacething.org/465-ken-smith/

July 28-30th – The 2023 Accordion Seminars with Dr. Bill Schimmel

Bachtopus debuts a new video for River Rune, a piece written for us by Dr. Schimmel and sponsored by a grant from The Brooklyn Arts Council. The weekend seminar details follow:

IN THE SHADOW IN THE ….!
THE 2023 ACCORDION SEMINARS – DR. WILLIAM SCHIMMEL, CURATOR

Dates: Friday to Sunday, July 28, 29, 30, 2023; Master class 3:00 to 4:00; Concert 4:00 to 5:00

Admission: $165.00 for the entire program
PayPal: Accordionbill@gmail.com


Links will be provided prior to each day you register. 
Participants will include – in no separate order:
Micki Goodman, Paul Stein, Will Holshouser, Dr. Robert Young McMahan, Dr. Denise Koncelik, Doug Makofka, Carl Riehl, Erica Marie Mancini, Robert Duncan, Jeanne Velonis, Sydknee,
Rita Davidson, Hanzhi Wang, Dr. Marina Li, Dr. Thomas Massucci, Bob Goldberg, Brian Dewan,
The Main Squeeze Orchestra, Peter Flint, Mayumi Miyaoka, Bachtopus, Benjamin Ickies,
John Foti, Godfrey Nelson, Lorraine Nelson Wolf, William Komaiko, Dr. Hugo Goldenzweig, Dan Cooper, Elliott Sharp, Gene Pritsker, Mark Kostabi, Mary Spencer Knapp, Sari Kalin, Milica Paranosic, Dave Soldier, David First, David Stoler, Jack Di Bennidetto, Peter Jarvis, Corn Mo – and Dr. Schimmel.

For more details: http://www.billschimmel.com/

June 3, 2023 – River Arts Music Tour

Join us and over 350 musicians on Saturday, June 3, from 11AM to 9PM, throughout the Rivertown villages of Yonkers, Hastings on Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Irvington, Tarrytown & Sleepy Hollow. Bachtopus performs at 3pm, Dobbs Ferry Lutheran Church. For more information about the festival: https://2023musictour.riverarts.org/

For more information about performances in the Dobbs Ferry area: https://2023musictour.riverarts.org/category/dobbs-ferry/

For specific information about our show: https://2023musictour.riverarts.org/jeanne-velonis/

May 13, 2023 – Brooklyn Conservatory of Music: Open Stages 2023

Bachtopus is pleased to perform this Saturday from 5-6pm at the Open Stages festival sponsored by the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. We will be performing in front of the Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll St, Brooklyn, NY 11215

BROOKLYN OPEN STAGES is Saturday, May 13, 2023 — 3-8 pm (15+ Stages Throughout the Streets of Park Slope)
Join us on Saturday, May 13 for Open Stages 2023, BKCM’s spring music festival! Stoops, schoolyards, parks and local cafes throughout Park Slope will host 150+ inspiring artists sure to amaze families. Past acts have included Grammy Award-winners, talented teen rockers, high-octane marching bands, hip-hop artists, and music-makers of all kinds. And after a day of exploring the festival, families are invited to join BKCM from 7-8 pm for one massive celebratory closing concert.

The music at this event is FREE for all. However, proceeds from ticket sales help to support BKCM’s community programs, which bring music education and music therapy to thousands of people across all five boroughs of New York City.

For more details: https://bkcm.org/event/os23/#bwg13/396

July 29-31, 2022 – Accordion Global Association (online)

The 2022 Accordion Seminars – Dr. William Schimmel, curator


Bachtopus will be contributing a previously published video from their 2020 Composers Commissioning Fund to this year’s Accordion Seminars.

Dr William Schimmel’s Accordion Seminars scheduled for July 29, 30 and 31. This will be the 28th year. And like the last two years, they will be virtual.

The Theme is: TOO MUCH INFORMATION, TOO LITTLE TIME, BUT WE DO IT ANYWAY

The Seminars will be presented by a new organization, THE ACCORDION GLOBAL ASSOCIATION.

The Master Classes will be from 3 to 4 pm – the concerts from 4 to 5 pm

For more information / tickets, please contact Dr. Bill Schimmel at https://billschimmel.com/

June 4, 2022 – River Arts Music Tour

Bachtopus will be participating in the River Arts Music Tour, which features multiple performances at several venues in the Rivertowns community (https://2022musictour.riverarts.org/). The program will feature music from Guy Klucevsek, a world premiere from Denise Koncelik, and a few selections by J.S. Bach. We will be playing two back-to-back sets starting at 2 and 3pm at 99 Estherwood Ave., Dobbs Ferry, New York 10522. The event is free and open to the public.

May 14, 2022 – Guy Klucevsek’s 75th Birthday Celebration @Roulette BK

Guy Klucevsek presents a concert in celebration of his 75th year on earth. Having retired from the concert stage in 2019, Klucevsek is proud to hand over the performances in this program of solos, duets, and quartets to a distinguished cast of musicians he has worked with over many years and, in some cases, decades: Todd Reynolds, violin, Jenny Lin, piano, and accordionists the Bachtopus ensemble (Robert Duncan, Peter Flint, Mayumi Miyaoka, Jeanne Velonis), Alan Bern (doubling piano), Will Holshouser and Nathan Koci.

The pieces Klucevsek has selected represent 40+ years of his composing, from Oscillation No. 2 for piano (1980), through The Grass, It Is Blue (Ain’t Nothin’ But a Polka) (1986), Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse (1988), Eleven Large Lobsters Loose in the Lobby (1991) and Bar Talk (1998) (in memory of Béla Bartók), up to pieces from the 21st century, including seven World Premieres.

Alan Bern, accordion and piano
Bachtopus Accordion Ensemble (Robert Duncan, Peter Flint, Mayumi Miyaoka and Jeanne Velonis)
Will Holshouser, accordion
Nathan Koci, accordion
Jenny Lin, piano
Todd Reynolds, violin

For tickets and more information: https://roulette.org/event/guy-klucevsek-75th-birthday-celebration/

2020 Composers Commissioning Fund

Live performances have been supplanted by video presentations of recently commissioned works. Please see the Video page for details. We hope to return to live performance soon! Kindly follow us on email, Facebook, or Instagram for more details.