Concert: John Scaffeo and Friends

Concert: John Scaffeo and Friends. Sunday, November 8 at 4 p.m. at the Harrington ARTS Center in Superior. $20.00 admission per person.

During the years that Senator Florian Chmielewski organized annual Ironworld Polkafests at Ironworld USA Discovery Center in Chisholm, many thousands of visitors enjoyed the three-day attractions that featured some of the nation’s finest entertainers. I was allowed to show museum accordions and to present programs in the air-conditioned theater, a popular area for hot, tired dancers and foot-sore wanderers of the immense grounds. It was also an important yearly event for me and my students. They “put us on the map” when the accordion-concertina repair technicians’ school (ARTS) plus its then-subsidiary instruments museum was just beginning, and I was new to Minnesota. One year a gentleman named John Scaffeo of Thunder Bay, Canada, introduced himself. I recognized his skills and invited him to perform with my ensemble even though he had never seen our complex scores before. He sight-read effortlessly and never missed a note.

In subsequent years we maintained only occasional contact, but I tracked his musical career with great joy. John has accumulated credits that many others envy despite the loss of all but one finger in his left hand. I never asked what had happened to that hand because when he plays there is nothing absent in the sound and nothing wrong with the hand. He is an incredible musician!

John has played at many different venues and is one of the busiest area musicians on any instrument. Besides performing at weddings and banquets, he has played with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra as “guest performer” and as “featured artist” in two sold-out evenings. He has also performed at Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay and with the Lakehead Choral Group in such renowed plays as “Edith Piaf” and “Fiddler on the Roof”. He is also a repeated guest artist in the “Elvis” Tribute band that plays at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium. In 2002, he was the only Canadian entered into a North American Accordion Association Contest where he walked away with first place. John also finished in the top three in an all-Canada Roland V Accordion Competition.

John performs often with Wayne Faulconer on guitar and Enzo Riccio on drums. Their entertaining styles will leave you wanting more.