The breath of the accordion produces compressions and expansions that transform the instrument into something that is constantly different from what it was, causing it to perpetually redefine its boundaries. This image is the inspiration for the theme of the seventh edition of the Fadiesis Accordion Festival: “CROSSING BOUNDARIES”.

Crossing boundaries is the underlying aim of our project, which seeks to broaden the potential of the accordion, taking it beyond the world of folklore to which it has been relegated and launching it into new musical and artistic territory, from classical music to contemporary, from sacred music to ethnic jazz. 

Crossing boundaries has been the destiny of many accordions, sharing the journeys of migrants, becoming companions in their suffering and homesickness and, at the same time, partners in some stunning cultural exchanges. Few instruments have the empathy of the accordion or share its ability to find a way to people’s hearts and close distances.

Crossing boundaries is in the nature of this Festival, which as early as its second edition in 2012 travelled beyond the boundaries of Pordenone to replicate itself on stage at Matera, bringing together two regions of Italy with a natural desire to seek out others and to look abroad, the result of centuries of population movement, of an East-facing otlook that has shaped the history of these two lands and their civilisation.

CROSSING BOUNDARIES: a gripping and thought-provoking experience that takes us to the edge of lands (and neverlands) that belong to everyone and noone in this time of displacement and of passages to an uncertain future, laden with the baggage of memories that still have not taught us enough.

Gianni Fassetta
Art director of Fadiesis Accordion Festival