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Master accordionist Normand Gagnon, of
Rumford, has received a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant from the
Maine Arts Commission. Gagnon will use the grant to teach the button
accordion in the French Canadian style, preserving a musical legacy
immigrants brought to this area from Canada. Quebec-born Gagnon has
played traditional and originalgigues and reels at festivals and dances for the past 60 years in Canada and New England. Michel Giasson, of Auburn, and Leeroy LeBlanc, of Dixfield, will study with Gagnon for the next year. Both Giasson and LeBlanc seek to preserve their Franco heritage by learning to play accordions passed down through their families. Giasson, left, is pictured with Gagnon.
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