A "Tight-Knit 'Family'" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about a young man named Cody McSherry, an accordionist from Lancaster PA., whom has performed throughout the United States, and parts of Europe, most notably the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He performs mainly in the genres of European folk music, classical music, and jazz. Most recently, he has ventured into the genre of Eastern European folk music, and has greatly fallen in love with this genre. At the age of 4, he started studying piano. After two years of study, he found the piano accordion and fell in love with the instrument. Currently Cody performs on piano accordion, C-system chromatic accordion, and Steirische Harmonika (an Austrian traditional diatonic accordion). He has won awards at various accordion festivals throughout the U.S, at events such as the American Accordionists' Association festivals and the Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration. Cody is also an organist and a classical vocalist, and has received various awards and recognitions for classical voice. As an organist, Cody plays both classical and liturgical styles as well as theatre style. In addition to musical studies, Cody has studied foreign and ancient languages for many years. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and has reached proficiency in Latin, Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian, and German. He plans to major in Classics with an emphasis on Ancient Greek and perhaps a dual-major with music. He hopes to teach ancient and modern languages in his future. I can still remember beginnng to play the accordion when I was a young boy. I started around the age of 12 with an 80 bass accordion which at the time was a good fit. An 80 bass key accordion has a regular right hand keyboard with a left-hand panel of 80 bass buttons. I learned on an accordion of this size, and after about 3 years I found I was large enough, size-wise, and strong enough to hold a regulation sized accordion which has a larger right-hand keyboard with 120 left-hand bass buttons. The biggest difference is the wider range of sound you can achieve with the 120 bass buttons instead of the 80 buttons. Most adult accordions are what are known as the 41/120 accordion which is 41 right-hand white keys and 120 push-button bass keys on the left keyboard. I started at the age of 12 with an 80 bass key accordion and that was a good fit.  A few years later I graduated to the 120 key accordion.   I'm sorry to say I haven't played the accordion for close to 60 years now, but if someone offered me a chance to give it a try again, I would certainly do so!  Only problem would be that I would have to sit down while playing it, since my back could no longer stand the weight and pressure that the full-sized accordion yields.  Cody grew up in Manheim Township and will soon perform with the Tamburitzans at Warwick Middle School, his final local show with the troupe he is a part of.  After he graduates from college in the spring, Cody hoped to pursue graduate school and eventually get his doctorate, sharing the world of Eastern Europe through academia.  "I think there's a lot of performing that's involved in teaching," Cody says.  "It's the other way of sharing your love for the culture."  On Saturday, October 19, Cody will perform his last local show with the Tamburitzans at Warwick Middle School before he graduates from college in the spring.  After graduating, Cody is planning to enroll in graduate school.  "It feels bizarre, for sure, and there's a lot of bittersweet feelings of being able to enjoy my last home show with the Tams," Cody says.  "But I'm hoping that we get an enormous audience, it's much more fun that way."  The Tamburitzans are a nonprofit, collegiate and scholarship-based dance troupe based in Pittsburgh.  They combine the dance and music traditions of several Eastern and Southern European cultures, touring the country to share performances, says executive director Alyssa Bushunow.  "It creates the space for everyone,"  Bushunow says.  "We have people that are tied to us because they like the historical cultural perspective, people who are tied to us because they feel connected through the student and the scholarship, and then we have some people who just love a good show. The group is currently touring with its new show, "Legacy."  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.