CIA - Accordions Worldwide

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Larysa Bodell (Portadown)
John Brannigan (Poulton)
Lara Brincat (Hyde)
Karolyn Broadhead (Leicester)
Myra Brookes (Croyden)
Neil Copland (Perth)
Cheryl Diggens (Colchester)
Cheryl Dunlop (Carrickfergus)
Cathryn Fletcher (Flintshire)
Ingrid Gould (Birmingham)
Adrienne Griffiths (Southampton)
Daniel Hinchcliffe (Keighley)
National Accordion Organization of the United Kingdom (NAO)
Chairperson: Raymond Bodell
Deputy Chairperson: Anna Bodell
Treasurer: Robert Fletcher
Secretariat: Gina Brannelli
Executive Officers: Wendy Farran Alistair Gillespie, Harry Hinchcliffe,
Graham Laurie, Robert Morton and Pauline Noon
Music Committee: Gina Brannelli, Alistair Gillespie, Harry Hinchcliffe, Douglas Ward
Founding President: the late Toralf Tollefsen
Honorary President: Jack Emblow
Honorary Vice Presidents: Ken Farran, John Leslie, Colin Whitfield
Contact Information: NAO Secretariat - Gina Brannelli
17 Marsh Mill Village
Thornton, Cleveley, Lancashire
FY5 4JZ, United Kingdom
Telephone Number: +44 (0) 1253 822 046
E-mail: naouk@btinternet.com
News from the United Kingdom…
Governing Members (2008/09):
(Includes Executive Members and Past Chairperson)
Celebrating its 60 th
Anniversary in 2009, the
NAO roots trace back to the
National Festival, “Accordion
Day” in 1935, the first event
being at the Westminster
Central Hall, London. There
was a forced disruption
during the war years from
1938-48, however the
Accordion Day competitions
resumed in 1949.
As the great revival in the interest of music gathered
impetus and more and more accordionists rallied
together, the NAO gradually took shape under the
provisional leadership of Messrs. Black, Bridger and
Meyer. They were soon joined by many others wishing
to see a powerful association for accordionists founded
on a sound and democratic basis.
Kim Holdsworth (Coventry)
Shona Holmes (Watford)
Raymond Jones (Bradford)
Edmund Labuda (London)
William Langton (Blackpool)
Brian Laurie (Paisley)
Brian Lightowler (Macclesfield)
Dorothy Lukins (Middlesex)
Victoria Molner (L Buzzard)
John Page (Ferndown)
Frederick Parnell (Nottingham)
Alan Patterson (Ballymena)
Betty Pollard (Ashton-u-Lyne)
Sarah Smith (Colchester)
Sheila Steele (Bournmouth)
Fearghal Tennyson (Craigavon)
Declan Tennyson (Craigavon)
Jean Tubb (Purley)
Douglas Ward (New Milton)
Philip Wheeler (Caterham)
Pam White (Southampton)
Adam Wilkinson (Ballymena)
Elsie Yeoell (Warlingham)
In 1949, the first formal meeting of the NAO of Great
Britain was held, the original Memorandum of
Constitution was confirmed, rules were formulated and
adopted, and officers and committee elected. Toralf
Tollefsen was elected the first President, and Gerald
Crossman the first Vice-President. Dr. Otto Meyer was
elected Chairman, Mr. H. J. Bridger the Treasurer, and
Mr. Jimmy Black the Hon. General Secretary (Jimmy
Black later went on to serve as General Secretary of
the CIA (1958-1975).
From the outset, provision was made for teachers, and
Mr. Graham Romani was elected Organizer of the
Accordion Teachers' Guild. The NAO is a truly national
organization, which always caters to the main body of
British accordionists and includes almost every wellknown
name in the accordion world among its
members. In January 1950, the NAO was officially
admitted as a founder member of the Third Constitutive
Assembly of the Confédération Internationale des
Accordéonistes (CIA).