22/12/2024
On November 30th and December 1st, the Dargaville Museum and Lighthouse Function Centre became the epicenter of accordion activities as dignitaries, performing artists and guests assembled from as far afield as Italy, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, the USA and across New Zealand, attended the opening ceremony of the updated and expanded Music Wing.
Hosted by Music Wing curator Kevin Friedrich, special guests attending and speaking at the Opening Ceremony were Grant McCallum (Member of Parliament, Northland, National Party), Craig Jepson (Mayor of Kaipara District), Mirco Patarini from Italy (President of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, Member of the International Music Council, an Official NGO partner of UNESCO), Professor Li Cong from China (President - Accordion Association of Chinese Musicians Association and Vice President - Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes), Cong Yu (Crystal) Wang from China (Director - Accordion Professional Comm., Shanghai Musicians Assoc., Dean – Dept. of Western Music at Shanghai Normal University), Marcel Riethmann (Chairman of the Accordion Examination Board of New Zealand), Sonja Palinich (President of the New Zealand Accordion Association), and Ross Newlove (President of the Dargaville Museum).
You can read a full report with more pictures on the Accordions Worldwide website at: https://accordions.news/kevin/museum/reports/2024/