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“As musicians they are among the best, period. As entertainers they are fun, energetic and engaging. We should be very proud to claim them as Canadians!” 
— On Quartetto Gelato, Kelowna Community Concerts
Gnarly Buttons digs into the surprisingly uncharted world of composer-performer collaboration in contemporary accordion music. Because the classical accordion is unstandardized and under-documented, composers come in with fresh eyes — and that creative uncertainty opens the door to something rare: a collaboration where the performer genuinely shapes the music. Through interviews with composers and accordionists alike, this dissertation uncovers how those partnerships actually work, what roles each artist plays, and why the accordion might be one of the most interesting instruments for studying creativity itself.
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