Joseph Petric reimagining the accordion
The Artist
“A performer of miraculous power and understated mastery” (Winnipeg Sun) Joseph Petric launched his uninterrupted 35 year solo career with an official London debut recital acclaimed by The Independent while his American debut merited a citation in “Performances of the Year” by the Washington Post’s Joseph D. McLellan. Mr. Petric's trajectory across the Classical concert hall includes appearances at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Bunkai Kaikan Hall and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. His opus of 360 commissioned works underscores his deep engagement with audiences and innovation in the concert hall, a curatorial initiative well in tune with the artistic stewardship of the Arditti Quartet, the Kronos Quartet and the London Sinfonietta.
Mr. Petric's acclaimed concerto debut with the Toronto Symphony under Jukka Pekka Saraste signalled his concerto-led career and a historic performance of three concertos in one evening with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, David Tudor, the Penderecki Quartet, Pentaedre, Christoph Pregardien, IRCAM, the Canadian Electronic Ensemble and Montreal's SMCQ and 'le NEM'.
As a historian Mr Petric's scholarly publications (Augemus Press) offer fresh perspectives of accordion essentialism in his historic rebabilitation of Giovanni Gagliardi’s forgotten 1911 treatise Manualetto del Fisharmonicista, an accordionist's parallel to Rameau's L'art de toucher le clavessin, 35 unknown concert instruments 1900-40, and a humanistic interpretive art 1910-55 by precursors G. Gagliardi, Gaetano Turco, Karl Hederer, and Carl Parenthaler among others. A titled professor leading the masters and doctoral performance programs at the Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal (Québec), Mr. Petric plays a bespoke instrument modelled on the 1910 Ancona Camerano built by Canadian artisan Leo Niemi, 1996 in Sudbury, Ontario.
He lives in Upper Canada, Montreal and on the old Ionian coast.
NEWS
October 1st - Launch of Accordion Dialogues and the Poetics of an Interpretive Art Augemus Press, Essen, Germany. Now available at www.Augemus.de
Planned recording of Iberian sonatas by composers Casanovas, Galles, Albeniz, Soler and Scarlatti on the ASTRILA label.
Ongoing research and manuscript preparation for An Invitation to Accordion Roundness [ Augemus Press ]
Updates, Universite de Montreal
The final masters recital by international student Julius Schepansky was awarded the status of "Exceptional Recital" and a citation for the Prix du President by jury unanimity. A first year doctoral performance candidate, he has performed at Montreal's Lichtenstein Hall, Salle Serge Garant, with the Hamilton Philharmonic, and Montreal's Nouvel Ensemble Moderne with conductor Jean-Michael Lavoie. Upcoming engagements include Gerard Grisey's Partiels with the University of Toronto New Music Ensemble, a German performance of Jukka Tiensuu's Accordion Concerto March 2026 and a solo appearance at the UofT New Music Festival 2027.
Lutosławski – Dance Preludes (1954)
Joseph Petric gratefully acknowledges the generous support of:
...External Affairs Canada, The Svenska Reikskonzerter and the late Toronto philanthropist Roger Moore.