TWO ACCORDIONS

by

Maryann Miller

Winnsboro has a wealth of artistic talent, which is part of what draws people to the area to retire or to visit on weekends. Much of that talent was on stage at the Trails Country Center for the Arts on August 20, including two incredible women who play accordion. What Jessica Faltot and Rebecca Ratliff coax out of their instruments is pure joy to listen to. "We loved playing for the Vaudeville show," Rebecca said. "We loved watching the other performers, who were all so talented. And we had such an attentive and responsive audience. It did our hearts good."

The women have been playing accordion. since they were young, Rebecca eight and Jessica nine. They knew each other in Indiana where they studied with the same music teacher, world-class accordionist and musician Gene Van. "He had quite a studio," Rebecca said. "He had over 200 students, and many of them went on to professional careers in music. But he was also a great character builder. There was a great deal of discipline and motivation in what he taught us."

While still in Indiana, Rebecca and Jessica played in the same symphony for a time and competed in some of the same competitions, but Rebecca said they were not real close friends. "There was a three year age difference, and that can be significant when you are teenagers."

After college, the women pursued other careers and didn't play very much for about thirty years. Rebecca worked in engineering and manufacturing of semi-conductors in Dallas, and did manufacturing management until she decided to take another path in life and come to Winnsboro. "I wanted to simplify my life and get out of the corporate world," she said. "And Winnsboro has a lot to offer with all the interesting people who live here and the active art center. I've been more socially active here than I was in Dallas."

Jessica's field was sales in data-communications and telecommunications where there was lots of stress and high pressure. "It's been an interesting transition coming to Winnsboro," she said. "And I'm amazed at how much is going on."

The duo had lost touch for almost twenty five years, Rebecca said. "Then after I moved here Gene, our former teacher, told me that Jessica was in Dallas. I contacted her to see if she was interested in performing together again."

Jessica came to visit and decided that she, too, would like to simplify her life and get back to music. The women started practicing their duets and had their first public performance last October at the home of Andy and Adrienne Walters, who wanted entertainment for a group of house guests. Since then, they have played at a number of wineries in East Texas, as well as some venues in Dallas.

Last June, Rebecca and Jessica competed in the United States Adult Advanced Duet Accordion. Competitions at the Texas Accordionist Association Annual Convention in Dallas and took first place in three categories, Pop Standard, Classical, and Ensemble. "The ATG had to put together new categories for us," Jessica said. "They created the Adult Advanced category. The judges said they weren't going to let us slide. They were going to hold us to a higher standard."

The American Accordionist Association and Accordion Teacher Guild (ATG) is a nonprofit, noncommercial, educational organization, which is governed by the teacher members and accordion professionals. Not only are Rebecca and Jessica members, they have also been instructors. At the convention held this past June, Jessica conducted a workshop on how to better utilize the basses (left hand) on the accordion.

Several hundred Accordionists from beginners to advanced attend the convention each year. The TAA  is one of the more popular and active accordion associations in the United States and the annual convention brings in top accordionists from around the world.

Rebecca said that the duo prefers to be known as classical accordionists. "There is such a wide range of music that can be played on an accordion. beyond the standard polka. Not that there is anything wrong with that genre, but we just like to educate people to the variety of music that people can perform with an accordion."

The 2Accordians will play at the Winnsboro Bakery on Sept 8th; at the Trails Country Center for the Arts in King Kong, the Musical, later in September. In October they will be in Addison, Texas for Oktoberfest. Check their website for more details. 2accordions.com

The women also run a Web Design and Web Optimization business, Virtual Velocity, and more information is available at that website virtual-velocity.com