Arts
No one like Iona
BY BOB BALE
Summer 2010 |
Sudbury's Iona Reed is one of the top accordion players in the world. Twice in my life, I have had the good fortune to be in the presence of royalty. On the first occasion, I had five seconds of direct eye contact with Princess Diana from a distance of six feet. More recently, I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Sudbury's Iona Reed. I was awed by her charm, beauty and regal manner. Without doubt, she is Sudbury's reigning Queen Of Music. Bob Bale is a Sudbury writer and concert promoter.
Born in southwestern Ontario, Reed grew up in Mount Forest along with her four brothers and two sisters. When her father passed away, her mother, Marjorie, was left with the task of raising seven children and running the family farm. In an effort to make ends meet, she started a family orchestra.
"We played in church halls, Women's Institutes and strawberry festivals. It paid for our family's groceries," says Reed, who started playing piano when she was 5.
She began working at a "real" job when she was 16 serving as a tabulator at Dominion Life Insurance in nearby Kitchener.
Her older brother Ronald had moved to Sudbury to teach high school. (Ronald is the father of internationally acclaimed fiddler Donny Reed. In addition to his own musical talents, Ronald also taught music at St. Charles College for many years.)
Having lost the accordion player from his band, Ronald suggested his sister move to Sudbury where she could earn income by playing in the band on weekends and giving piano lessons.
"I decided to come for three weeks in April 1957. I'm still here!" says Reed.
"I stayed with my aunt and paid for my room and board by playing in Ronald's band and by helping my aunt with janitorial duties at a school. Ronald bought me an accordion and gave me a few lessons so I could use it in his band.
In an effort to boost her skills on her newly acquired accordion, Ronald sent her to Karl Pukara for lessons. He became musical partner, and finally her husband in 1982.
She learned quickly and soon she was giving lessons at Prom Music. In 1958, at Pukara's urging, Reed entered a Kiwanis music competition in Hamilton.
"I'll never forget that day. Charles Magnante was a very well known accordionist who judged the competition. He said very kind things and encouraged me to continue."
In 1959, Pukara was successful in convincing the Canadian Accordion Association to send Reed to the World Accordion Championship in New York City as "second" to their contest delegate. She placed 11th out of 32. The "second" came in 16th.
" I really don't know what they saw in me. I didn't think I was very good," she remembers.
In 1961, Reed came in third at the world championships in Italy. A year later, she travelled with her mother to Prague, Czech Republic, for another world competition.
"I remember it like it was yesterday. At seven in the morning, I had to play a test piece that had been assigned to the 30 contestants. We also had to play a piece of our own choosing.
"I was the last to go on stage at 11 that night. The concert hall was massive with three balconies that were completely full with adults and lots of children. I could hardly believe it when they announced I had won."
When the competitors filed out of the hall near midnight, the streets were lined with people who offered the winners bouquets of flowers.
"There are still world competitions, but whereas it was previously more open choice, now it is more contemporary with pieces chosen for competitors who now use button accordions as opposed to the piano accordions that we favoured in years gone by, says Reed.
In 1964, she opened a teaching studio on Pine St. with Pukara. They had many students, many of whom have gone on to careers in music.
The Karl Pukara Senior Accordion Orchestra, made up of top students performed in Canada and the United States including Kansas City, Springfield, Nashville and several cities in California.
In 1996, Reed planned a celebration of her husband's 50-year career as a music teacher by hosting a reunion of former members of the senior orchestra in a performance at the Great Hall at Laurentian University. Eighty former students traveled from various parts of the world to participate in the recital.
"We had a rehearsal the night before and many of those former students had the same look on their faces that they had when they were kids. There they sat, some with white hair, some with no hair."
Another milestone event in Iona's life centres on a performance for the Oscars in California. "We were invited to play at Cheryl Cecchetto's wedding in California. She used to live in Sudbury but now is an event coordinator in California. Karl and I were out for a stroll on the beach and were playing our instruments just for the joy of it. A fellow stopped to listen to us. It turned out he was a music director for the Oscars. As Cheryl organizes the Governor's Ball for the Oscars, he suggested to Cheryl that we be invited to perform. It was wonderful to be there."
Pukara died in 1998, but the music didn't stop. Reed continued to play music as a member of Karl Pukara Trio for many years. The trio is now known as the Iona Reed Trio with Ron Kelly on guitar and Bill Tuttle on drums.
During my interview with her, the telephone rang at least six times with the answering machine taking requests to book lessons.
The Iona Reed trio has recently released a recording that is doing very well for sales. She plays each Thursday evening with former members of big dance bands including Con Disalle and Dick Perras. She tours regularly with Pandora Topp in the "Edith Piaf" show along with band members Brian Quebec and Ron Kelly. Gary Gibson is a local sound engineer who does production for the Piaf show and he states,
"Iona is such a class act. She always has time for everybody else. She is so humble but she has this incredible royal demeanor about her."
Reed adds a few other duties to the workload. On Friday evenings she strolls from table to table playing her accordion at Verdicchio's Restaurant with her partner Ron Kelly. She plays piano for the women's choir at St. Mathews Church and now has assumed the duties of pianist for the Sudbury Chamber Singers Choir directed by Jeff Wiseman.
"She is totally awesome. I gave her a very complicated classical piece lately and two days later she played it at our practice. She said, ‘Jeff, I think I'm missing some notes.' I said to her, ‘I don't know about any missing notes. I love what you're doing so just keep playing it the same,';" said Wiseman.
How does she find the time, energy and passion to be so dedicated to music? Would she change anything if she could?
"I wouldn't change a thing! However, I could use another day in the week. Maybe we could fit one in between Sunday and Monday and then I could take a day off. Perhaps we could call it Funday, " she says.
As I'm about to leave, the telephone rings yet again. This time it's an urgent request from someone looking for Reed to accompany her at the Kiwanis Music Festival in two days time.
As I head out, I hear her say, "I'll be right over. We can work it out."
