I didn’t believe it. To tell you the truth, at the time of the results, I was ordering myself some sauerkraut, I didn’t think I was going to win. And yet, Estelle Laroche, 43, accordionist, won the first two prizes of the prestigious World Accordion Trophy, in Montargis (Loiret), Tuesday November 26, 2024. “ I was rewarded in the two categories in which I competed: accordion alone and accordion with vocals. », explains the music and singing teacher who runs the Grange du Poirier, a school at a place called Le Poirier in Sargé-sur-Braye and which welcomes 110 students.
“They didn’t think I could play techno”
But for the enthusiast, the goal of the maneuver was not to get on the podium. “ Of course, I’m happy to have won, she smiles, but all I wanted was for people to talk about the accordion and show it in its true light. »
Often associated with an old-fashioned image, sometimes mocked, the instrument is, for the musician, the victim of unfair stereotypes. “ So yes, the bag exists and I have nothing against it. But the accordion is much more than that. It’s such a unifying instrument, it’s frustrating to reduce it only to Little white wine and to Come Poupoule. »
Between rock, jazz, tango or even classical arrangements, Estelle Laroche wants to prove that the accordion adapts to everything. “ Some evenings on stage, when I take out the accordion, I see the faces of the young people, they are disappointed. On those evenings, I want to surpass myself, to show them that I can make them dance. » Even if it means thinking outside the box. “ One evening, some young people told me that I wasn’t capable of playing techno for them. I improvised and they didn’t believe it was the accordion! »
“A call to Vendôme and Montoire”
Estelle Laroche performed two songs of her creation during the competition. “ The accordion is an instrument of the heart, with which we express our emotions », Explains the one who did not come alone to the event, but with two of her students, in the under 16 and under 10 categories.
For the professor, the desire to anchor this instrument in the territory is obvious. “ I want to appeal to the City of Vendôme or even to that of Montoire, she says. I would love to launch an accordion festival in Vendôme. Bringing great musicians onto the stages of the Minotaur, and showing that no, it’s not old-fashioned. The public always responds to this type of event. »
Estelle Laroche is offering several events, including a dancing evening, in Bessé-sur-Braye, on December 31, 2024 and will host the Carrousel Night Fever, a Eurodanse evening, which will take place on Saturday January 11 at the Palais des Fêtes in Vendôme.
