Accordions Around the World is four-week series that brings over 100 accordionists, as well as bandoneón, bayan, concertina, and harmonium players of different musical genres to perform in midtown New York’s Bryant Park in the spirit of celebrating the accordion's important musical presence around the world.
Accordion Picnics is the program's weekly event that occurs on Wednesdays from now until July 19 in Bryant Park and features 24 individual 15 minute sets of varying artists each day from 6 to 8 p.m. This year focuses on artists from Egypt, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, in addition to acts from other parts of the globe. The culminating event is the Accordion Festival on Fri., July 21, which will highlight the Colombian accordionist Gregorio Uribe and feature additional acts from Lebanese music to Gypsy punk.
Ariana Hellerman, the curator of this series, started Accordions Around the World in 2013 to combat the American image of the accordion as a kitschy instrument of the past. With these accessible performance experiences Hellerman has highlighted the instrument's crucial role in the traditional and contemporary sounds of so many regions around the world.
A detailed look at the remaining Accordion Picnics as well as the lineup for this year’s Accordion Festival can be found here.
