The young accordionist João Palma, born in Loulé, won 3rd place at the 42nd International Accordion Prize in Castelfidardo, Italian city where the industrialization of the accordion began and where the main factories of this instrument are based.
João Palma, aged 17, thus became the first Algarvian to reach the podium in the Junior Varieté category (up to 18 years old).
Among nine jurors, four awarded the first prize to the young man from Loulé. However, the average of the scores dictated that he took 3rd place.
João Palma has studied with Professor Nelson Conceição since he was 8 years old and, the week before, he had obtained a 5th place in the 70th Accordion World Cup in the same category, which took place in Osimo (Italy).
Meanwhile, the Algarve accordion players were also highlighted at the 70th World Accordion Cup, the main international accordion competition, which took place from September 5th to 10th in the city of Osimo in Italy.
In addition to the aforementioned 5th place by João Palma in this competition, also in the Junior Virtuoso category, the Algarvean Luís Mira, a student of Professor Gonçalo Pescada, got an 8th place.
On the other hand, in the Junior World Cup category, Sérgio Gladkyy (also a student of Gonçalo Pescada) ranked 11th, while in the Senior Virtuoso category, Luis Gama (a student of Professor Hermenegildo Guerreiro) finished in 9th place.
In competition, there were about two hundred competitors, representing 25 nationalities.
The World Cup was a joint organization of the “Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, Member of the International Music Council, an official NGO partner of UNESCO” and of the Italian Accordion Culture (IAC).
Mito Algarvio – Association of Accordion Players of the Algarve, an association accredited for this purpose, led the Portuguese representation in this competition, through its delegate and member of the International Jury Panel, Professor Hermenegildo Guerreiro. Mito Algarvio also granted financial support to its associated Portuguese competitors, in order to minimize the costs inherent to their travel.
Thus, for these representations, his first participations in competitions outside Portugal, João Palma had the support of Associação Grupo dos Amigos de Loulé, Municipality of Loulé, Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve and Associação Mito Algarvio.
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