Walter Keuhr was attending the *** 2001 festival when his dream was born.
It was a dream of 18 accordions played with a precision that would demonstrate the versatility of the instrument. Slight changes in reed selection would determine whether the accordions sounded like oboes, French horns or guitars, adn the arrangements would be rich and complex, exploring the work of Schuberts, Strauss, Prince, and The Beatles.
For months, Walter was plagued with visions of the 18 glossy accordions, the wall of sound, the pigtails. He began recruiting through his students and word-of-mouth until The Main Squeeze Orchestra, the only all-female accordion ensemble in the western world, was born in the fall of 2002.
Since their first performance in November 2002, The Main Squeeze Orchestra has achived wild popularity as well as critical acclaim within the accordion community. Transcending all dorky stereotypes, The Orchestra has devveloped a rowdy yet sophisticated following, proving hte power of the instrument and the power of one man's dream to conduct 18 women in pigtails.