ICA History

World Accordion Review magazine in the U.K. edited by Desmond Hart, introduces a new “CONCERTINA” section. The Concertina Section is edited by Kenneth Chidley of the Wheatstone concertina company, and raises interest in the concertina to the point where a Concertina Association is mooted.

May/June – ICA established.
August – first one-page “News-Sheet” issued.
September – inaugural meeting held in London with 50 members present.
October – Newsletter No.2 issued. By now there are 134 members.

Election of Officers to run the Association in a more formal manner.
Revd Kenneth Loveless MBE (1911-95) elected President.
During the 1950s and ’60s, meetings are held in London.

Regular London meetings continue.
Annual ICA Festivals are held in London and elsewhere from about 1954. Players compete in different classes and a concert is held of the winners.
Library of music available for members to borrow is assembled and augmented.
In the mid-1980s the annual membership subscription is GBP 4.00.

Newsletter issues its 300th edition. The newsletter is a 4-page document, manually typed and duplicated.

The newsletter becomes “CONCERTINA WORLD”, the name of our magazine today.
Annual membership subscription is GBP 6.00 for U.K. members, rising to
GBP 8.00 for members in other countries.

New logo adopted, which still forms the basis of our logo today.
Computers are being used to catalog the Library materials

Revd. Loveless retires as President and is replaced by Alistair Anderson, who played a major part in the concertina revival from the 1960s onwards.

“CONCERTINA WORLD” magazine issues its 400th edition. It is now a quarterly magazine of about 16 pages with a small music supplement included. During the 1990s onwards, the Annual General Meetings are held in various locations around the UK.

First ICA website established, with Chris Timson as Webmaster.

Peer-reviewed journal “PAPERS OF THE I.C.A.” (P.I.C.A.) is launched alongside the general-interest Concertina World magazine., PICA is editied by Allan Atlas. In total, ten editions will be issued between 2004 and 2015.
The ICA now has about 300 members in 12 countries.

Annual membership subscription raised to GBP 20 for U.K. members, where it remains today.

Concertina World adopts a new modern “masthead” design with issue #457. The magazine is now a modern computer-created magazine with up to 52 pages, an integral regular Music Supplement, and occasional Special Supplements.

Following the global coronavirus pandemic, and the cancellation of 2020’s AGM, the first “virtual” AGM is held using global video-conferencing. The event is very successful and builds member engagement with the ICA.

The ICA curates the first ever WORLD CONCERTINA DAY on February 6th. Featuring a major video concert and many live events around the world, the event is a great success and raises the profile of the ICA with players everywhere.
Introduction of Worldwide Digital Membership option.
ICA now has over 500 members in 21 countries.