Ethan “Sam” Rofman, M.D. is a semi-retired psychiatrist who studied piano as a child, tympani as a teenager and started playing accordion 20 years ago when he bought an instrument from a used furniture shop in Wellesley. He studied with Roberto Cassan and Sunniva Brynnel in Boston for over 15 years. In the past he…

Annmarie grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, and studied accordion under the instruction of Donna Michael, owner/director of the Miguel School of Music. As a youngster, she competed annually at the ATAM Contests in Newton, Massachusetts as a soloist and a member of various ensembles, most notably the Lowell Accordion Orchestra—the 1982 U.S. Virtuoso Accordion Orchestra…

I began accordion lessons at eight years old with Gaviani Conservatory in Lynn, MA. I was a student there for three years. As a youngster, I was always a big hit at family birthday parties and anniversaries. After watching many outstanding accordion performances on YouTube, I returned to the accordion world in 2013, taking lessons…

Dan Mackowiak grew-up playing the accordion, and now it’s his favorite retirement activity. He plays with several ensembles, including his own ballroom dance quartet. He performs locally incorporating music from the American Songbook and from various European traditions: Scandinavian, Polish, German, Italian, French and Celtic. He particularly enjoys getting his audiences to remember the music…

I started learning accordion when I was about five, taught by Prof. Jiang, a well-known accordion teacher in my hometown in the 80s and 90s. Before joining the RUK Orchestra, I had only one experience of performing accordion together when I was ten, playing the Radetzky March with other students in Jiang’s accordion class. The…

From: Providence, RITeacher: Domenic DiBonaventura (his teacher: Frank Gaviani)Time Playing: 60 yrsInstrument: Roland 8XOrchestra: Music Selections PlayedFavorite: Mario TaccaMember of the Massachusetts’ Accordion AssociationMember of the American Accordion AssociationMember of the New England Digital Accordion Orchestra

Listening to Polish music at an early age was a family ritual in western Massachusetts. When I was ten, I started lessons with a tutor and continued for the next eight years, including Sunday morning band practice. Later in college, a memorable event was playing both the accordion and saxophone in “Cabaret”. My Work kept…

Just before the Covid pandemic I was fortunate enough to hear some excellent tango bands in Buenos Aires. I returned home and promptly immersed myself in learning the accordion. Although I have been involved in music for most of my life, the accordion is new to me. I started playing trumpet when I was in…

So, I was I an antique store about 8 years ago and found an accordion ina case and surprisingly thought – “I have to have that!”– never mind thatit was around 40 pounds and way too heavy for me.That was the beginning… Since then, I took my first lessons with Emilian Badea (he also sold…

Joy started to play the accordion at five years of age. She took lessons from Nick Mecca in Torrington, Connecticut until she left for college where she continued to study piano and classical guitar. Joy became a board- certified music therapist after studying the Nordoff- Robbins music therapy method in England and in New York.…