Local accordionists Betty Bridges, Terence Penn, Joe Gauthier, Virginia Agee, Daniel Glass and Danese Knott-Craig.
Accordion music and the number of students has dwindled in the Birmingham area since the 1970s.
Because of major efforts from the Alabama Accordion Association, new interests have been spawned. Sponsoring internationally renowned champions such as Cory Pesatura in concert last May brought huge audiences and sparked new interest.
With this renewed interest, plus advances in digital accordions, accordionists are finding they can make all the sounds of an orchestra, playing many instruments at the same time. This has led to an increase in local accordion players, including eight new players who started at Betty Bridges' studio last year.
Bridges has been teaching accordion more than 45 years, including private lessons, small groups or orchestras for all ages.
More information about the Alabama Accordion Association is available at bamaccordionists.com.
Submitted by Betty Bridges
