Kate
Saw her first accordion at the age of 7 when her best friend at the time was given one for his birthday. She remembers sitting on the steps of the primary school with this wonderful instrument. Neither could play it properly, but the sounds it produced were entrancing and that never left her. She started playing the piano also at about 7, but couldn’t compete with her supremely talented older brother, so just played for fun. Forays at the cello and flute followed, and she has sung in choirs for many years, but it took until 2012 for her to buy her first accordion and she hasn’t looked back since. She owns a lovely 1950’s Bellcordion straight tuned Italian/American accordion, but bought a beautiful Vignoni last year to have different musical options. She spends as much time as possible playing accordion with friends, in a trio, at sessions and now with the LAO. Two years ago she had an episode of Transient Global Amnesia while on a day trip on holiday in Croatia and apparently played several tunes on the host’s very large and old accordion to a captive audience, but has no memory whatsoever of this! She lives on the Malvern Hills with her husband, 2 elderly cats and a much loved, but untidy scenic garden.