Ivan Urakov
Our first player of the night was one of our youngest students, Ivan Urakov. Ivan (Pronounced Eevon) is a student of Marjorie Konrad and has made quite a bit of progress under her tutelage. Ivan took the stage and exhibited confidence and the ability to speak to the audience. He also communicated very well with his accordion as many audience members could attest to. Ivan player the following songs: “Ode to Joy”, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, and “Oom Pa Wa Wa.” Ivan did very well. Kepp up the good work young man!
Steve Balich
The next “youngster” to take the stage was our own past president Steve Balich. Steve is a bay area favorite and plays gigs constantly. If you didn’t know this already, it bears repeating that a young Steve Balich studied under the same accordion teacher as world famous showman Dick Contino. Steve grew up in San Francisco where he met a pretty young gal named Jennie and they got married. We are lucky to be their friends. When Steve isn’t cooking for our club or directing the ACR band, he takes the stage to delight us with a selection of many of our favorite tunes. (Mine has always been the El Rio Drive Polka.)
Steve’s selections included: “Mannin Polka”, “La Paloma”, and “Daig Daig Snow Waltz. Thanks to Steve for entertaining us once again and for being such a great friend to all of us.
George Simko
George Simko visited once again from the great state of Texas where he says it’s less crowded, there’s less traffic, and the folks are friendly, just like George. George started his set with a nod to past president Kris Nelson, it was a Cajun tune called “Biscuts and Honey.” The rest of George’s set included a variety of influences and showcased George’s many talents. “Let’s Dance ‘til Dawn”, “Australian Polka”, Western Waltz”, “Reci Le Zakai”, and an old favorite “The Pennsylvania Polka.” Thanks George it’s always good to have you back in town. Thanks for dropped by to visit and play for us.
Bart Beninco
Bart Beninco played in our final tunes of the night. Bart’s teacher was the well know East Coast accordion instructor, Rudy Molinaro. Rudy has the reputation as being one of the best accordion instructors in America. He was well known for his numerous accordion orchestras and competition level students. You can hear Rudy’s influence today in Bart’s playing. Bart remembers many summers spent at the Molinaro school practicing eight hours each day. It was regiments like this that forged Bart into the virtuoso player that he is today. As his first performance of the night Bart played a stirring rendition of the “National Anthem.” The entire audience was brought to its feet by the passion of Bart’s performance. Bart played a lengthy and varied set which included: “Sentimental Night”, “Italian Pollka”, “Red River Valley”, “Never on a Sunday”, “Oh, Danny Boy”, “Swinging Shepherd Blues”, “Baby Elephant Walk”, “Beer Barrel Polka”, and “Tango of the Roses.”
Thank to Bart and Rudy for another Great performance.
