The AAA - My Personal Reflections

The AAA...My Personal Reflections

by Mario Tacca

The year was 1959. I was in this country for only a few months and couldn’t speakany English. Born in Italy and raised in France, I was pleased to be introduced to Lee Deiro, who would converse with me in French and Italian.

I decided to enter my first AAA sponsored National Competition which was being held in New York City. At that time, the contestants could only enter the competitions through a music studio. I registered through Joe Cucchiara Music Studio in Peekskill, NY, where my seven year old nephew was taking lessons. I took second place in the competition (behind Sergey Basalyga). Charles Magnante was one of the judges. Since I was the only chromatic accordionist in the competitions at that time, musicians and people in general didn’t know what to think of my instrument. For a short time, I had mixed feelings from people’s reactions and many times I felt like an outsider. Shortly after my first competition I was introduced to Carmen Carrozza. His playing impressed me instantly because as he played, he truly made music! I studied with him and in addition, we developed a long lasting friendship and great respect for each other, which we still maintain to this day.

In 1960 I took the required test and became an AAA member. I frequently attended concerts at Carnegie Hall. I also attended most of the Town Hall concerts, listening to performances by Carmen, Charles Magnante and the NY Accordion Symphony Society under the direction of Joe Biviano. I was always inspired and couldn’t wait to get home to practice harder. The AAA was very active with concerts, competitions and workshops, and it was an education and great inspiration for me to attend these programs.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of past presidents (Carmen Carrozza, Faithe Deffner and others) as well as support from outstanding board members, the AAA survived this fast changing world. And under the leadership of our current president, Linda Soley Reed, the organization is flourishing with new ideas, more events and going full speed ahead. I’ve been a board member for the last five years and Second Vice President for the last two. I’m proud and happy to serve and to contribute, giving me an opportunity to draw from the many experiences in my musical and professional career.