The Coupe Mondiale International Piano Accordion Competition winner will receive a $5000 cash prize as a result of additional financing from the Carmen Carrozza (picture left) Scholarship Fund of the American Accordionists' Association.

Additionally, a concert tour to New Zealand and Australia sponsored by CIA Member, the New Zealand Accordion Association (NZAA), has been arranged for the winner of the Coupe Mondiale International Piano Accordion Competition. He or she will perform as a guest artist at the 2008 South Pacific Accordion Championships and Festival in Auckland and at the 14th Australian International Accordion Championships and Festival in Sydney.

The International Piano Accordion Competition winner and the five other Coupe Mondiale first-place winners have been invited to perform in a concert at Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage in Washington DC, on Saturday, August 18th 2007. This performance will be simultaneously broadcast.

The 2007 Coupe Mondiale will take place at the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Virginia from August 13th to 18th. Rooms at this hotel are completely sold out. Accommodations at the same $99 Coupe Mondiale rate are now available at the Radisson Hotel, only 2-1/2 blocks away with shuttle service between hotels.

Rules, prizes and general information for all the Coupe Mondiale categories is online at www.coupemondiale.org For further information, contact 2007 Coupe Mondiale Coordinator Faithe Deffner: FDeffner@aol.com