Richard Mellish Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 9 hours ago, Alan Day said: Thanks for your replies regarding the Annual competitions . I throw these ideas into the ring and if it would put off even one person from joining ,I am happy for it to be thrown back.. I hope you all have a better year this year. Al It would do no harm to enquire how many of the present membership would wish to enter competitions if those were offered. If they do seem viable, prospective members can be reassured that competitions are just one facet of the ICA for those who wish to have their skills assessed, probably nowadays a minority. Finding appropriate adjudicators could be tricky, given the range of styles as well as the variety of systems. It is also of course possible for a tutor to assess someone's skills and offer advice about what they are already doing well and how to improve, outside the context of a competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arti Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Perhaps a compromise would be an 'I did that' section on the ICA site. I rejoined a while ago after a 40 year absence. I attended once (AGM?) - travelling up from W Dorset with a brilliant Anglo player - and don't recall it being competitive. Could be my memory. It was a (then) rare chance to hear concertinas. I believe performances were commented on and helpful suggestions made. I still have fond memories of the day's music. PDF is a great idea in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolm clapp Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 15 hours ago, hjcjones said: My only encounter with the ICA was in 1983 when I entered their competition, more out of curiosity than any hopes of glory. Father Ken and the noted violinist Vera Kantrovich were the judges. I was pleased to come away with a small cup for playing by ear, although in the anglo class Ms Kantrovich complained that as I hadn't provided a full score she found it difficult to assess the accuracy of my harmonies. I wondered what she thought her ears were for, but thought better than to say anything. Most of the participants were elderly* EC and duet players who solemnly worked their way through classical pieces without appearing to be much enjoying it. I decided it wasn't for me. No doubt things have changed since then. * probably no older than I am now, but they seemed ancient. I remember it well, Howard. (iirc, Michael Turner's Waltz/Old Molly Oxford/Glorishears). Almost, but not quite the same criticism was made of my own "Ear Player's" entry; I dutifully supplied them with a copy of the dots, but was criticised for not looking (even once) at my copy which was sitting on the music stand while I played. Mind you, it was upside down.... I have a copy of a recording that was made of "highlights" of that years competition, which I dug out and played earlier today. Greatly enjoyed your rendition of The Battle of the Somme. Your description of the playing and style of many of the participants is pretty accurate. However it was good to recall the likes of those no longer with us such as Tom Dukes, Charles Jeffrey, Harry Dunn, Tom Prince, John Hutcherson etc. who contributed greatly in keeping the concertina flame smouldering (if not blazing) during the lean years, and I was glad to have had the opportunity to meet and talk to them. Slightly off topic, but sad to report that duet player Polly Mason (later Garland) who also played at that year's competition, passed away late last year here in Australia. A talented multi-instrumentalist, her enthusiastic love of, and ability with the concertina will be long remembered by those who knew her. RIP, Polly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjcjones Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Goodness, Malcolm, that's an impressive feat of memory! Thank you for your kind words. I enjoyed that day, but I felt that I did not have much in common with most of the other players, and living 200 miles from London where most ICA activity took place I didn't feel it had anything to offer me. I'm afraid I knew little about other concertina players (it's easy to forget how isolated we were pre-internet) and failed to take advantage of the opportunity as you did. I think competitions have their place, provided they don't take over the organisation and people don't become too focussed on them. Comhaltas is often criticised for encouraging (perhaps unintentionally) uniformity of style in order to please the judges, and some seem to take the competitions a bit too seriously. As part of a day of playing, with the opportunity to receive criticism and to find out how one's playing compares with others, they can be both fun and worthwhile. After all, no one should be obliged to take part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Hersh Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 1/6/2021 at 6:15 AM, Don Taylor said: I just let my membership lapse - sorry, but I will renew if the ICA ever gets around to issuing digital journals. I looked at the stacks of old magasins and journals in my book cases and decided that they all had to go as I felt it showed evidence of hoarding. Plus I doubt that I could ever find anything in them that I might be looking for. Please publish the journal as a PDF - it will save you money and trees. The most recent issues are available to members online. (Though I personally prefer a print version and I suspect I'm not the only one.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 1/6/2021 at 5:16 AM, lachenal74693 said: So, what's in it for an ordinary bloke like me? A mediocre squeezer with a couple of projects in hand which might one day be worth writing up for some sort of semi-formal publication... Member benefits are here: https://concertina.org/2020/12/03/member-benefits/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 2 hours ago, Daniel Hersh said: The most recent issues are available to members online. (Though I personally prefer a print version and I suspect I'm not the only one.) We have gone round the loop on this one in committee several times. I would also like to see the magazine issued optionally as a PDF, and in fact in the year I was Secretary of the ICA we agreed to trial it. I don't think it ever happened. However, things are changing, and I think there is a possibility that it will happen. The contentious issue is simply how it is kept within the membership for both copyright reasons and also to maintain it as a member benefit. This is why previous issues are available to the public online when a new issue is released. The current issue is available to members online. Members can create an account on concertina.org. It is not available as a download, but can be viewed online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 12 hours ago, arti said: Perhaps a compromise would be an 'I did that' section on the ICA site. I rejoined a while ago after a 40 year absence. I attended once (AGM?) - travelling up from W Dorset with a brilliant Anglo player - and don't recall it being competitive. Could be my memory. It was a (then) rare chance to hear concertinas. I believe performances were commented on and helpful suggestions made. I still have fond memories of the day's music. PDF is a great idea in my opinion. As Webmaster for the ICA, I am interested in what you mean by an 'I did that' section? We have a growing sound archive, but mostly old recordings that I have been steadily restoring. I would love to get more recent recordings to show how the music and playing has developed. If people wished to submit recordings, then please email me at webmaster@concertina.org. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolm clapp Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Not really just memory, Howard. Like I said, I have the recording. While you were credited for Battle of the Somme, I just guessed that the uncredited ear-player's medley was yours.... 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Taylor Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 4 hours ago, Colin Whyles said: The contentious issue is simply how it is kept within the membership for both copyright reasons and also to maintain it as a member benefit I digitally subscribe to a number of magazines that publish both a print and a PDF edition. These folks are in it to make money and have come to terms with this issue. I really do not think that many, if any, folks are going to 'share' their copy of an ICA publication, and I especially doubt that the ICA would lose any revenue because of pirated copies of the journal. You might actually gain some members! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, Don Taylor said: I digitally subscribe to a number of magazines that publish both a print and a PDF edition. These folks are in it to make money and have come to terms with this issue. I really do not think that many, if any, folks are going to 'share' their copy of an ICA publication, and I especially doubt that the ICA would lose any revenue because of pirated copies of the journal. You might actually gain some members! (I thought I had replied to this last night, but it seems to have vanished into the great bellows in the sky). You and I do not have an argument here, Don. Personally, I agree completely with you. The ICA is certainly not in it to make money. However, I sense there has previously been much confusion over who owns the copyright on what in Concertina World (CW), and there has been a sense of possession and ownership, some of which may have been misplaced. I won't go over the copyright debate here. The way we are tackling it now is to release past copies of CW online in PDF readable format, but not downloadable or printable. This protects dissemination of it. I suspect that it was not known generally that that is possible. Unfortunately we do not have a full set of PDF copies of past issues. The current issue is available in the same way, but to members only. Members need to create an account on the site in order to access it. I think this satisfies everyone, as everyone can see the quality of the magazine, but there is still a benefit to membership. The music supplements have to be kept for members-only in most cases for copyright reasons, but they can be downloaded or printed. We trust that people will respect the copyright issues as they would with any other material. It has taken time to get to this, but you must remember that our community plays 19C instruments and this digital malarky is still new-fangled to some of them! 😀 Edited January 8, 2021 by Colin Whyles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes williams Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 8 hours ago, Colin Whyles said: ... The way we are tackling it now is to release past copies of CW online in PDF readable format, but not downloadable or printable. This protects dissemination of it. I suspect that it was not known generally that that is possible. Unfortunately we do not have a full set of PDF copies of past issues... I made PDF copies of many ICA magazines in the Horniman Museum Library, donations from other members and my own collection up to issue 400 of Sept 1995 (~200 issues) back around 2004, and lodged them in the ICA Archive. There are still some at the Horniman that I didn't find time to do, their collection ranging from issue 136 (with gaps) upwards . Research at that time suggested that Frank Butler (an early ICA secretary) had most of the earlier issues, and had donated them to one of the National institutions in Scotland (National Library or National Archive). Health problems prevented me doing anything further, but at least we established that the ICA was founded in 1952 via the Accordion World magazine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 1 minute ago, wes williams said: I made PDF copies of many ICA magazines in the Horniman Museum Library, donations from other members and my own collection up to issue 400 of Sept 1995 (~200 issues) back around 2004, and lodged them in the ICA Archive. There are still some at the Horniman that I didn't find time to do, their collection ranging from issue 136 (with gaps) upwards . Research at that time suggested that Frank Butler (an early ICA secretary) had most of the earlier issues, and had donated them to one of the National institutions in Scotland (National Library or National Archive). Health problems prevented me doing anything further, but at least we established that the ICA was founded in 1952 via the Accordion World magazine. That is interesting, Wes. When I took over the website after Michel died, I did a lot of tidying up of the files. I found many files were missing: there were links, but the folders were empty. Do you still have copies that I could have to complete things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 I would be grateful if one of the older members could put down your memories of the yearly Concertina Competitions or Festival that took place in London The Royal Horticultural Hall was one venue. What were the catagories ,number of tunes to submit etc ?. I attended some of the meetings, but never from memory the Yearly competition. Thanks Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 4 minutes ago, Alan Day said: I would be grateful if one of the older members could put down your memories of the yearly Concertina Competitions or Festival that took place in London The Royal Horticultural Hall was one venue. What were the catagories ,number of tunes to submit etc ?. I attended some of the meetings, but never from memory the Yearly competition. Thanks Al Long before my time, but I can pass on the request. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wild Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 (edited) My recollection is that they were bi-annual festivals. The last one (I believe) was in the early 1990's, possibly 1991 or 1993. This could be confirmed from newsletter reports of the time. This refers to the ICA festivals. There were possibly others outside the aegis of the ICA. Edited January 9, 2021 by John Wild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 10 hours ago, Alan Day said: I would be grateful if one of the older members could put down your memories of the yearly Concertina Competitions or Festival that took place in London The Royal Horticultural Hall was one venue. What were the catagories ,number of tunes to submit etc ?. I attended some of the meetings, but never from memory the Yearly competition. Thanks Al I've just checked the list of recordings in Peter Trimming's archive, and these cover the period you mention. You can see it here: I have this all digitised now, and will get it online in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Gawley Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Colin Whyles gave a pointer to the tangible benefits of ICA membership above. He did not mention the warm, fuzzy feeling that you get from belonging to the global band of concertina enthusiasts. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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