The accordion on PBS

[Alans]

About a month ago a singer performed on PBS in a live concert setting and front and centre,very close to the singer in front of the other instrumentalists,was an accordionist. The singer was the very young and very popular Andrew Rannels who appeared in the tv series Girls and on Broadway many times. The accordionist played in almost all selections,but when he sang Born to Run she had a prominent solo and when she finished the audience applauded very enthusiastically. For those of us who feel the accordion’s glory days are decades behind us, this very hip presentation of our beloved instrument was astonishing. Rannels is a massive star and he has an enormous following so no doubt many young people watched this on tv. I bet there is really going to be a huge resurgence in the study of the instrument because of public broadcasts like this one.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Alans,

It is encouraging to hear that an accordion has featured so prominently on TV, and I hope you are right about young people becoming interested in our chosen instrument.

My only observation is in regard to the modern desire for instant (or almost instant) gratification. I'm afraid that many young people (not all) seek out the path of least resistance, and would be more likely to chose a simpler instrument because of that.

I truly hope that younger people will be inspired by the show you mention.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[AccordionUprising]

Great find. I wanted to see who the accordionist was but they wont let me watch it in Canada...
https://www.pbs.org/video/andrew-rannells-in-concert-4xtvtb/