The beautiful voice and
accordion of Silvio De Pra is now at rest.
R.I.P.
|
Eulogy:
by Heather Masefield, Secretary, New Zealand Accordion Association and Secretary, Accordion Examination Board of New Zealand read at the funeral on Friday May 4th, 2012 at 3.30pm, Morrison’s Funeral Chapel, 220 Universal Drive , Henderson. |
Hello I’m Heather Masefield.
I’m delighted that the family have asked me to speak about Silvio and his major contributions to the accordion world.
All my life Silvio has been an important person. Firstly my family was important to him. We sold him the accordions he played & serviced them & he was always a welcome visitor to our 3 generation family home. When we ran into language difficulties with our Italian supplier, Silvio would cheerfully help out my father Allan Jones. Silvio’s instruments were always immaculate – kept with the same degree of pride in ownership for all things he purchased.
Silvio would always keep abreast of the newest technology in microphones, electronics and finally MIDI equipment and was interested in all developments and was keen to utilize things that made his job easier. My brothers Harley & Maurice were also to keep a close contact for the rest of Silvios life, Maurice continuing the family business after my father died & Harley promoting, advertising & selling Silvios two CD’s and his 4 MP3 Albums on what has become the largest accordion website in the world.
 Picture left - 1987. I’m sure others will talk of his past so I will just mention that during his years in Auckland he continued broadcasting for Radio and Television and I know that many of you here today would have seen him perform at The Wintergarden Lounge, Sorrento, Fagels, Pinesong, Hi Diddle Griddle, The Dutch Kiwi, Poenamo Hotel, The Intercontinental Hotel and at many private functions. Until recently you could still find him at private parties or at Santa Lucia.
I’m wearing a few hats today and one of those is as Secretary of the NZ Accordion Association.
Silvio gave great support to the NZAA, always making himself available to attend & adjudicate the national competitions. He would happily take part in promotions and perform at the competition Dine & Dance. Remember, I’m talking of over 40 years of unpaid work and service to the accordion community.
Silvio enjoyed travelling & sometimes the Air NZ Accordion Orchestra or the North Shore Accordion Orchestra would be travelling somewhere he wanted to go. Mostly it was to perform at concerts on the Gold Coast held by the Queensland Accordion Club. He also travelled with us to China, playing in our group, along with other professional musicians. Silvio regretfully after climbing 100 steps in 40 degree heat needed urgent medical attention. When in hospital his first mission was to tell us “Don’t tell Leslie” so it was 2 days later before he phoned home to let her know that he was fully recovered & had rejoined the group in Shanghai.
However it is Silvio’s work as Chairman for the Accordion Examination Board of New Zealand that must surely be the pinnacle of his accordion community achievements.
When the Board was first formed over 40 years ago it was with the ambition to set up and administer practical accordion examinations in New Zealand. Silvio was at the helm of this organization for nearly 30 years and I the Secretary for most of that time. Under his steady hand it became and remains the longest running NZ music examination system. Silvio began examiner training under Dr Douglas Mews of Auckland University, an examiner for Trinity College, and upon his death took over as the Accordion Examination Boards Chief Examiner. Please pay tribute to this staggering feat for a man born in humble circumstances, with little chance of education, to work with an academic, producing Mark Sheets – in English, his second language, under examination pressure. During this time Silvio would have examined thousands of candidates, personally examining every Grade 8 & Diploma.
The last time he examined was in February this year, he joined a panel for a Performers Diploma, most fitting that the last candidate he examined was my son, 5 times World Champion Grayson Masefield.
Many of the people here today to pay tribute to Silvio have been examined by him.
This certainly engendered an aura of respect that was to continue to grow.
In 1992 the Air New Zealand Accordion Orchestra performed 2 concerts organized by Silvio, one in the larger town of Belluno, Italy and the other in the small village he grew up in. Whilst only 300 still lived in the village an amazing 600 people turned up for the concert. One of the proudest moments of my life was to secretly bring the certificate for Life Membership of the NZAA & present this to Silvio in front of his family & home crowd. A very very long standing ovation ensued accompanied by lots of happy tears – Silvio’s of course!
The NZAA decided that they would commission a work for accordion orchestra in Silvio’s honour. Gary Daverne composed Musical Party - a very suitable name for this work & it was premiered to him in June 2001 at the national competitions with many of Silvio’s family & friends present.
In June 2008 Silvio was chosen by the NZ Accordion Assn to represent them at an evening reception hosted by the Governor General at Government House.
When in 2011 Silvio sensibly saw that he might not be able to accept the 5 year appointment of Chairmanship of the Accordion Examination Board for a further term, he chose his replacement, Marcel Riethmann that he had been training for 10 years for this appointment. Silvio accepted the unanimous appointment from the Board to become Chairman Emeritus, also receiving the Certificate of Merit later that year for Outstanding Services to the Accordion Movement.
 Silvios body of work did not go unnoticed Internationally. The World accordion body Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes IMC, UNESCO, annually chooses up to 4 people who have made a significant contribution, not only in their own country, but also in other countries.
Each country puts forward a suitable applicant. Kevin Friedrich, President of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes, presented the 2008 CIA Honored Friend of the Accordion Award to Silvio de Pra in honor of his important contribution to the accordion in New Zealand over many years. (Picture left of the presentation at the 2009 Coupe Mondiale held in New Zealand).
Again, this was to his home crowd, with his grandchildren present, in Auckland, New Zealand at the opening ceremony of the 2009 Coupe Mondiale World Accordion Championships at the Bruce Mason Centre.
Silvio would have to be the most popular cultural ambassador Italy has had in New Zealand.
With the news of Silvio’s death I began to receive an avalanche of emails from friends that knew his music that cannot be present today as they live in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, China, Fiji, and the Cook Islands. Too many to mention here so for all of them I say a sad goodbye – Ciao Silvio. |
Excerpt about Silvio De Pra:
from the book, The History of the Accordion in New Zealand by Wallace Liggett. |
 World War II was on, but it always seemed at a safe distance. Sure, some friends had left and most consumer items were rationed or hard to get, but at least no lives in the immediate vicinity were endangered. Then things changed.
With the collapse of the fascist regime in Italy came a virtual occupation by German troops. The activities of Italian partisans provoked barbaric reprisals, with the first ten Italians located in a locality being shot for the death of one German soldier. Villages would be torched and burned to the ground, indeed one of NZ's most popular accordion entertainers came close to losing his home when half of his home village, Pieve D'Alpago, was burned by a German reprisal party. He was fortunate that his home was among the half that survived.
Silvio de Pra had played the accordion from a very young age and at twelve he became a member of his father's dance band. Italian weddings often last from afternoons to well into the hours of the next day. Silvio remembers playing his accordion until so tired he could hardly continue to hold it and push out a tune. Later he formed his own group.
After the war, work was scarce in his own village, and so the young Silvio moved away to find employment. At first he found work in a spectacle factory in the Dolomites, where his pay was 16,OOO lire per month. It is not hard to see why he supplemented his income with accordion playing when board and lodging took L.15,5OO of this. After some time, he moved to Switzerland, where the Basori Company (for whom he worked) had international operations that took him to Belgium Denmark, England and finally to NZ. Of course Silvio took his accordion and fine baritone voice along with him wherever he travelled.
While working at Hamilton for this company, lining concrete tanks with a special composition lining, he secured contracts with the local Radio Station 1XH and played weekends at the Riverlea Cabaret. It was at this time that Silvio, although an accomplished player felt the need to further his accordion studies and improve his technique. He tells the story of how he went into a local music store and enquired about the possibility of obtaining accordion lessons. He was informed that this was possible but a few minutes later when the shop keeper heard him play, the offer was withdrawn and reversed, with Silvio being asked to teach.
Soon after (c.1958) Silvio moved to Auckland where the popularity of his entertaining made it possible for him to make his living at playing and singing. He has done so ever since. Silvio comments, with appreciation, that here in the person of Allan Jones, he found a teacher who had the expertise to help him and who willingly gave him a series of lessons that enhanced his performances. In 1958 he broadcast for National Radio as accordion soloist and subsequently joined the Paul Lester and Nancy Harrie groups, performing with them at the Great Northern Hotel and Winter Garden Lounge for nine years. Following this Silvio formed his own group and presented
"Continental Cabaret" for almost twenty years. Silvio rapidly became one of the most sought after entertainers in NZ. Sorrento, Fagals, Pinesong, Hi Diddle Griddle, Dutch Kiwi, Great Northern Hotel and the Intercontinental are a few of the venues where he has entertained regularly.
 (Photo left: Ever popular Silvio being greeted by famous Australian accordionist John MacDonald and his son who came to see him at work when visiting New Zealand.)
Silvio would have to be one of the most popular cultural ambassadors Italy, or any country has ever had in NZ. Silvio also feels part of the NZ scene and he became naturalised as soon as he was able to in 1960.
He and Lesley, his attractive NZ born wife have two, daughters Gianna and Chiara.
Silvio met Lesley one New Years Eve when she was a part time waitress at Fagals, supporting herself through Teachers Training College. The playing engagement at Fagals was the second of two he had that night and Silvio recalls that due to the taxi driver not being able to find his first engagement venue, they arrived late and left late, which meant he did not arrive at Fagals until after midnight, where he was introduced to the young lady who was to become his wife.
Since Silvio has settled in NZ he has travelled extensively and entertained at many overseas locations. Included have been Noumea, Fiji, Australia, and Italy to where he has returned several times. He has also been in demand and performed for audiences at tourist centres in NZ such as in Queenstown and other locations both in the South and North Islands.
Silvio has incorporated the electronic accordion into his performance and more recently a midi accordion, which enables him to accompany his singing in a semi orchestral fashion. This tremendous flexibility of accordion reed sounds plus electronic sounds to which he has added an electronic rhythm machine both obviates the need of a backing group and makes Silvio one of the most versatile, and self contained solo artists in NZ.
In 1987 the NZ Variety Artists Club awarded him the Benny Award recognising his contribution to NZ entertainment as Entertainer of the Year. Silvio has made a large contribution to the accordion in NZ as Chairman of the AEBNZ, and also as an examiner for many years. He is also a regular adjudicator at the NZAA Championships. A recording "Souvenirs for You" made in 1981, provides good listening and a record of his vocal and accordion talent. |
|
