The New Zealand Accordion Association (NZAA) is delighted to invite you to our beautiful country of New Zealand to attend the 2009 Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships to be held in Takapuna on the North Shore of Auckland. This promises to be an exciting, never-to-be-forgotten event on the international accordion calendar for 2009!

Takapuna, Auckland is set to become the "World Accordion Capital" from the 25th to the 30th August 2009, and we are very proud to have booked the world class Bruce Mason Centre to host the 2009 Coupe Mondiale. This modern concert venue and theatre complex has many features, including:

• main auditorium seating 1,000 people; with wonderful acoustics, meaning a solo accordion sounds live and is easily heard
• large stage able to fit over 130 players, ideal for orchestral concerts and easy logistics
• located in the heart of the Takapuna district
• excellent array of restaurants and bars beside the Bruce Mason Centre
• beautiful Takapuna beach is a 1 minute walk away, with sea views from the venue itself
• additional venue pictures
  

Now 29 years on, the New Zealand Accordion Association is honoured to host the Coupe Mondiale for a second time, under the auspices of the Confédération Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA, IMC-UNESCO). Our Coupe Mondiale event in 1980 was so superb it has been quoted by French accordion personality Jaques Mornet as "the Coupe Mondiale to set the standard for all future Coupes Mondiale".

Other prominent internationally recognised accordion personalities like Faithe Deffner, Joan C. Sommers, Walter Maurer, Art Van Damme, Alfred Melichar, Herbert Schiebenrief, Lech Puchnowski, Wolfgang Eschenbacher, Werner Glutsch, Alain Musichini, Peter Soave, Sam Falcetti, will remember the event as well as I (and many other New Zealanders) do, and I am sure, will also speak highly of the 1980 Coupe Mondiale event. The New Zealand Accordion Association is now well underway in its preparations for the 2009 Coupe Mondiale, to make it an event to surpass any expectations.

Once again I'd like to cordially invite you to the Coupe Mondiale 2009 in Auckland, New Zealand, but I also hope that you will take the opportunity to visit our beautiful country. New Zealand as a whole extends its warm hospitality to you, and the 2009 Coupe Mondiale will be a great occasion to make a holiday in New Zealand, to experience its pure natural surroundings and wilderness, and unique culture. You only need to see a clip of any of the "Lord of the Rings" films or "The Last Samurai" to appreciate the natural spectacle which is New Zealand. The 2009 Coupe Mondiale will be your perfect excuse and opportunity to have the adventure of a life time.

Looking forward to seeing you in August 2009!

John Statham - President, New Zealand Accordion Association (NZAA)