Tedrow: a 30-button Anglo	Edgley: curley maple body with silver ends	Morse: the Céilí

Since fall 2002 I've been playing the Anglo Concertina. I started with an inexpensive Hohner 20 button C/G box and in summer 2003 acquired an 30-button C/G anglo concertina made by Frank Edgley. It is similar to the one shown above but with cherry ends engraved with the Celtic Lion design. I'd like to get a D/G box ... when I can save up the $$$. I play mostly Irish and other Celtic or British Isles music, and hope to start playing contra dance tunes soon. The pictures above show 30-button anglo concertina's made by the three primary builders in North America.

A colleague (Steffan O'Sullivan -- plays English Concertina) and I play weekly and would like to expand our twosome into a real "session". So if you play an instrument compatible with a couple of concertinas, and would like to join, please contact me at wjt@mail.plymouth.edu

Following is an annotated list of Concertina links.

• General Concertina Sites
  • The Concertina Net   This site has several discussion threads on history, repair, buy/sell music, and many other aspects of concertina playing. It's the "primary site" for concertina players.
• Concertina Makers
  • Frank Edgley is a wonderful concertina player, an excellent maker of concertinas and a great teacher. I've been fortunate to know Frank in all three of these capacities ... I've heard him perform; he made my concertina; I've taken courses and workshops from him. He's also a really great guy.
  • The Button Box   in Amherst, Massachussets sells concertinas and accordions. Proprietor Rich Morse makes Morse concertinas both Anglo and English. The shop sells music, CDs and all other sorts of things "needed" by players of free reed instruments.
  • Bob Tedrow in Homewood, Alabama makes wonderful concertinas. His site has great links and lots of information on concertina repair.
  • Colin Dipper ... the Master Concertina maker of the world ... doesn't have a web site. So why is there a "non-link link" to him? Because it's not possible to list concertina makers without a reference to Colin Dipper. A "dipper" is the instrument of choice worldwide ... if you have a few thousand $$$ and can wait 7 years!
  • Jurgen Suttner is a renouned German maker of concerntinas ... many of the great performers play his boxes.
  • The Concertina Connection   Wim Wacker from Holland makes good instruments, does restorations and sells parts
• Festivals of interest to Concertina Players
  • The Northeast Squeeze-In is an annual gathering of free reed players (and assorted other musicians) who join together for a great weekend in the Berkshires in mid-September of each year. It's sponsored by the Button Box (see below) and is an event "not to be missed".
  • The Celtic Roots Festival is an incredible week-long celebration of Celtic Arts held in Goderich, Ontario, Canada during the first week of August every year. Monday -Thursday is the "Celtic College" offering courses on "almost everything" artistic with Celtic roots. Music, dance singing, art, sculpture, Gaelic language, etc. It's all there.There's a lot of Celtic influence in French-Canadian music and dance, so there's lots of that too. Classes are held daytimes and in the evening the faculty performs for the students. Later in the night, or in the "wee small hours" the hotels and restaurants and pubs of Goderich provide a venue for sessions of all types. Student can take from one to four courses. On Friday, the various classes perform, putting on concerts of myriad forms. On Friday night the "pros" take over. World-renouned Celtic music performers from all parts of the globe perform on four different outdoor stages Friday night all day Saturday and Saturday night, and all day Sunday and Sunday night. Goderich is a beautiful, small, laid back town on the shores of Lake Huron. Don't miss this festival.