[ad_1]
SUPERIOR — Cultures of the world meet a various musical repertoire on the nook of Belknap Avenue and Hammond Avenue.
A World of Accordions, 1401 Belknap St., was created by the lifelong ardour of the museum’s founder, Helmi Harrington.
“Helmi’s dedication to the instrument is boundless,” mentioned Willard Palmer III, the son of acclaimed pianist, accordionist, composer and music educator. “In case you have toured the museum, you possibly can see that there are numerous completely different sorts of devices which can be known as accordions, and Helmi can play all of them.”
![Curator Helmi Harrington stands next to “Big Red,” a 10-foot long harpsichord, on the stage of the performance hall at A World of Accordions Museum](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/48755cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1300+0+0/resize/840x546!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F41%2Fb9%2F84bccf2d47ada9990ff8f313015b%2F102122.n.st.Accordions1.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
Palmer’s devices together with a 10-foot custom-made harpsichord referred to as “Massive Purple” are among the many assortment that options greater than 2,000 devices along with music, recordings and reference supplies housed on the museum.
Harrington mentioned her ardour for the instrument developed early in life.
When her mom, a German who emigrated to the US throughout World Struggle II, arrange her personal studio in Corpus Christie, Texas, Harrington admits: “I caught my nostril in her enterprise from very early on.”
![Instruments and memorabilia are on display at A World of Accordions Museum](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/11fc642/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fcb%2Fb7%2F8e6608914129a0888d8a727a33ae%2F102122.n.st.Accordions8.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
By age 9, she was working along with her mom’s slower college students. At age 12, she had her personal college students, and by the point she graduated from highschool, Harrington mentioned she managed to avoid wasting $5,000 from giving 50-cent music classes.
“And naturally, I’ve stayed with the accordion and piano perpetually; that has been a ardour,” Harrington mentioned.
Harrington went on to the College of Houston, the place she earned a bachelor’s and twin grasp’s levels in piano efficiency and music literature earlier than getting into the doctoral program to earn a level in musicology after learning for 2 years in her mom’s native Germany.
Then referred to as Helmi Strahl, Harrington was amongst Willard Palmer’s college students, his son mentioned.
“This was not ‘oom-pah’ music,” the youthful Palmer mentioned. “It was classical music that required nice technical talent and dedication to grasp.”
![Helmi Harrington, A World of Accordions Museum president and curator, sits alone as she repairs an accordion in the basement of the Harrington ARTS Center](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/32b414f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1370+0+0/resize/840x575!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F66%2F24%2Fca6e34cf49dea81c795153c1d361%2F102122.n.st.Accordions3.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
Harrington mentioned after incomes her levels in Texas, she married and moved along with her husband to Duluth, the place she took over the Duluth Accordionaires and the accordion restore division at Purple Wing Technical Faculty. It was there she realized the draw the instrument had for individuals.
“They allowed me to make use of the shows within the commons space, which I full of accordions and different attention-grabbing paraphernalia associated to that division,” Harrington mentioned. “I noticed how individuals have been interested in it. They got here from throughout simply to take a look at that show.”
The museum acquired its begin as a subsidiary of the Accordion-concertina Restore Technician’s Faculty (ARTS), began by Harrington in Duluth in 1994, after her division at Purple Wing Technical Faculty was eradicated.
![Helmi Harrington, A World of Accordions Museum president and curator, gives a tour of the museum](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/ca69407/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd5%2F69%2Fa2020d234c4394db442f00519be0%2F102122.n.st.Accordions4.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
A World of Accordions grew to become a separate entity in 1998 and the next yr affiliated with the American Accordionists Affiliation Worldwide, the identical yr it acquired the musical property of a world-prominent musician, Charles Magnante.
![Helmi Harrington works on a display in the performance hall of the Harrington ARTS Center](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/cb6ac99/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1333x2145+0+0/resize/840x1352!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Ff7%2Ffa%2Fe17f639140ca978c48a2453ac84f%2F102122.n.st.Accordions12.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
Magnante’s work as a piano-accordionist and composer are credited with serving to to lift the accordion from an instrument appropriate for folks music to an instrument accepted in lots of genres.
“The accordions listed here are right here by selection, not by happenstance,” Harrington mentioned. “It’s not a house for misplaced or misplaced accordions, however for people who train the historical past of the accordion in a novel approach.”
With about 1,000 devices in its assortment, Harrington mentioned the varsity and museum merely outgrew its area in Duluth, prompting the transfer to Superior. Nevertheless, the museum is as much as its rafters once more, Harrington mentioned.
![A World of Accordions Museum is located inside the Harrington ARTS Center at 1401 Belknap Street](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/77cc602/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1199+0+0/resize/840x504!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Ff0%2Fde%2F06db52e64b6ba363d55deda58baf%2F102122.n.st.Accordions10.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
The previous St. Peter’s Swedish Episcopal Church in Duluth, 2801 W. First St., within the Lincoln Park neighborhood — the place it began — is being restored for a second museum, Harrington mentioned.
![Accordian museum.jpg](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/5c794ad/2147483647/strip/true/crop/959x681+0+0/resize/840x596!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F28%2F71%2Faaccb81442e38230b8a19a1a4f92%2Faccordian-museum.jpg)
Gary Meader / Duluth Information Tribune
A World of Accordions II will function the George Curletto assortment and different digital and electronically enhanced accordions as a specialty heart within the small church in West Duluth the place the museum acquired its begin.
Nevertheless, Harrington mentioned one of many benefits of the museum in Superior is “good acoustics” within the Hanni Strahl Live performance Corridor, the place performances are held frequently, typically highlighting the varied cultures the place the instrument options prominently.
In 2019, the museum had its first-ever efficiency by Japanese artists, Harrington mentioned. Mihoko Goto and Chiharu Ebihara carried out for a sell-out crowd.
![An area dedicated to the breakthroughs by George Curletto are on display in the archives room at A World of Accordions Museum](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/56ceb8e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F01%2Fb1%2F619a0d114b16a18f6b81cfae668c%2F102122.n.st.Accordions9.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
“Culturally, it’s simply very vital in Superior,” Mayor Jim Paine mentioned of the museum. “It’s the biggest assortment of accordions in your complete world. That looks as if a foolish factor to be happy with, however the accordion, as I realized on the museum, is likely one of the commonest devices to look in each tradition all over the world.”
A show of a few of the museum’s devices is being showcased within the show window exterior the mayor’s workplace within the Authorities Heart.
![Helmi Harrington replaces one of the 120 individual bass rods in an accordion in the repair shop in the basement of the Harrington ARTS Center](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/26b88c0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1341+0+0/resize/840x563!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F73%2F55%2Fd7fd1a44477a9768bf6fbee919db%2F102122.n.st.Accordions6.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
“The World of Accordions Museum isn’t only a constructing stuffed with accordions,” mentioned Palmer, who donated his father’s devices to the museum after assembly Harrington in Texas in 2011. “It’s a household. It’s a shrine to the accordion and the good gamers of the instrument residing and lifeless who’ve confirmed its versatility and significance as an instrument.
“After I walked into the previous sanctuary and skilled its ambiance, not solely acoustically, however visually and spiritually, I spotted this was a really particular, fantastic place,” Palmer mentioned.
A World of Accordions is internet hosting a conventional German celebration beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at Harrington ARTS Heart, 1401 Belknap St.
![Helmi Harrington sits on the corner of a pew as she looks over the performance hall](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/c3808d7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4e%2F9c%2F4b5b92eb4f9ebde0179a9360cdb3%2F102122.n.st.Accordions13.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
Rejoice Oktoberfest 2022 with completely happy music by accordion ensembles and the band.
“Everybody is aware of what a basic automotive present is, and that is the primary time we will invite individuals to deliver their basic accordions and jam in with the orchestra,” mentioned Harrington. “We’re wanting ahead to seeing a bunch of basic accordions and nonetheless listening to fantastic accordion music of Oktoberfest-type.”
![Helmi Harrington, A World of Accordions Museum president and curator, takes a quick break while she explains a display during a tour of the museum](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/c85364c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1333+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F55%2Ff8%2F26456c37447a8c719089ad9c27f4%2F102122.n.st.Accordions7.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
The “basic” jam session begins at 3:30 p.m.
A video of the Munich Germany Oktoberfest shall be enjoying within the background and typical German refreshments shall be accessible.
Harrington mentioned the general public is inspired to come back in conventional German garb like lederhosen and dirndl.
![Helmi Harrington, A World of Accordions Museum president and curator, looks up as she inspects an instrument that is on display in the performance hall of the Harrington ARTS Center](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/e0594b5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1352+0+0/resize/840x568!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F92%2Fca%2F437c86634a98bfe00fe34b5e8bc4%2F102122.n.st.Accordions5.jpg)
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({
appId : '351649779681244',
xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
[ad_2]
Source link