Joe Marcerollo
2009 TMA149 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
Joseph Macerollo is truly a Canadian treasure — his brilliant career exemplifies outstanding achievements in many areas. As a performer, educator, administrator and advocate for arts organizations, Joseph’s influence has been felt internationally.
As an instructor at the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1969 to 1985, Joseph Macerollo taught free-bass accordion, music history and analysis. He developed the free-bass accordion syllabus in 1969, and has written several publications including Student’s Guide to the Accordion in 1979, and Accordion Resource Manual in 1980. Joseph is responsible for the acceptance of the concert accordion in Canada, establishing free-bass programs at Queen’s University in 1970 and at the University of Toronto in 1972. Joseph’s international roster of students are presently active in Canada, the United States and Europe.
As an artist, Joseph Macerollo is essentially the pioneer of contemporary music on the concert accordion. He has performed with every major symphony orchestra across Canada and has countless performances on radio, television, stage and film to his credit. His CDs, including Persuasion — The Contemporary Accordion, have been praised internationally. 2009 will mark Joseph’s latest release, featuring Phil Nimmons’ Duologue and PS42JS with James Campbell on clarinet. His tours have taken him across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and he has shared the stage with such artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Teresa Stratas and Henry Mancini. In 2009, Joseph will perform in Vienna, Zagreb and Bucharest. Encouraging composers to write for the instrument has led to over 200 commissions, many of which he has premiered. These include R. Murray Schafer’s Accordion Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gary Kulesha’s Concerto for Accordion and Brass Band with the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Alexina Louie’s Refuge for accordion, harp (Erica Goodman) and vibraphone (Beverley Johnston) and Walter Buczynski’s Fantasy on Themes of the Past.
As an administrator, Joseph has served on the Boards of New Music Concerts, the Pro Arte Orchestra, the Classical Accordion Society of Canada, the Canadian Music Centre, the Mississauga Music Council, the Guelph Performing Arts Centre and he is a founding member of the International Accordion Society in Finland. Joseph is an active fundraiser and development officer for numerous art organizations, which include the Esprit Orchestra and Patria Music Theatre Projects, and has served as a jury member for the Governor General’s Award, the Canada Council, and the Ontario Arts Council. Events Joseph has organized range from Contemporary Showcase (1972 and 1974), the International Accordion Symposium (1975), Soundstage Canada (a tour with 20 artists to Europe in 1981), the International Accordion Celebration (1993) and The Palace of the Cinnabar Phoenix (2003 and 2006).
Joseph has represented Canada in World Accordion Championships and is the recipient of countless awards, ranging from being recognized in Down Beat in 1981 in the Classical Keyboard category for serious music, to receiving the Silver Disc Awarded for Excellence in the field of teaching and performing from the Moscow Accordion Federation in 2005. Even with his incredibly busy schedule, Joseph Macerollo has also served on the Board of Directors of the Toronto Musicians’ Association, of which he has been a member for 45 years.
As a visionary creative leader and world-class artist, Joseph Macerollo continues to break new ground and gain respect for the instrument which has become synonymous with his name. His brilliance is universally respected, and his great sense of humour is loved by all.
The Toronto Musicians’ Association is proud to honour member Joe Macerollo with the TMA Lifetime Achievement Award.
