My name is Joey Manfredi (age 13). I have been playing the accordion for about five years. Throughout those years, I have had one amazing teacher, Marjorie Konrad. She helps me learn things that look daunting at first, but once Marjorie works her magic, I completely understand not just the song, but the entire subject. For example, I was once learning a song called Joe’s Carousel. When I first looked at the music, I thought that I would never be able to learn it. I especially thought that after Marjorie play it beautifully. It sounded amazing but complicated. Low and behold, it ended up becoming my favorite song of all time, and I’ve used this piece for around half of my performances. I know the song by heart, and that’s all thanks to Marjorie.
I could go on and on about how amazing Marjorie is, but if I listed all of her marvelous qualities, this article would easily turn into a book. But just know that she is so much more than an accordion teacher.
One of my main interests, besides the accordion, is to solve Rubik’s Cubes. I have lots of different types. The fastest time in which I’ve solved a regular one is about 20 seconds. Although it’s not bad, it doesn’t come close to the world record, which is 4.22 seconds! Another one of my interests is juggling. I was bored one day and decided to watch a video of someone juggling. This inspired me to start trying to juggle. It really helps you focus on one thing, and will make you less stressed in overwhelming situations. My favorite sport is basketball. I have been playing for a while. (I don’t know the exact amount of time) My biggest strength is shooting three-pointers. The most I’ve ever made in a game is five. I currently play on a team called Born to Ball. Overall I am very honored to be selected for this paragraph. I love spreading my knowledge of the accordion and hope to inspire people to learn how to play it.
Joey is an amazing ambassador of the accordion. So happy he’s with us again this year – Linda Conner, Producer
updated 2019
