Turner Hall of Monroe

Squeezebox Night

The third Tuesday night of each month,
starting at 6 pm in the Ratskeller Restaurant (lower level).

Dates in 2011: January 18, February 15, March 15, April 19, May 17, June 21,
July 19, August 15, September 20, October 18, November 15, December 20.

This video about Turner Hall's Squeezebox Night was the entry that earned Andy Choi, an anchor at CBS affiliate WISC-TV Channel 3 in Madison, WI, a 2011 National Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in electronic journalism. The piece, which was filmed December 15, 2009 in Turner Hall's Ratskeller, was viewed by residents throughout south-central Wisconsin on WISC-TV on January 7, 2010. Our congratulations to Andy!

Dust off that old accordion or button box that's been sitting in the attic for years and bring it to the Turner Hall's Ratskeller every third Tuesday evening of the month! Squeeze Box Night, an informal monthly jam session, was introduced in May 2007 by Turner Hall's Swiss Heritage Series as part of an on-going schedule of programs and events that feature Swiss traditions and folk culture. Intended for all ability levels and all types of accordion-like instruments, local accordionist Del Heins is on hand to lead the playing and even offer helpful tips and advice for those who perhaps haven't touched an instrument in years.

Squeezebox Players jammin' it up.>
Many sessions of <I>Squeezebox Night</I> draw in a whole ensemble of
toe-tapping instrumentalists, including accordionists, guitarists, a bass
player, banjo player and an autoharpist, not to mention a room full of diners
enjoying the music of the informal jam session. One of the accordionists,
Steve Palm of Machesney Park, IL, has noted that There was a time in Monroe's past when taking accordion lessons was as common as taking piano lessons. Rudy Burkhalter (1911 - 1994), an immigrant from Basel, Switzerland and the upper Midwest's foremost Swiss-American traditional musician, opened an accordion school in 1938 with his wife, Frances, teaching throughout south-central Wisconsin. Once a week, the two would travel to Monroe, New Glarus, Darlington, Dodgeville, Watertown, Beaver Dam, Richland Center, Reedsburg and Baraboo, advertising two months of free lessons as well as furnishing the accordion. Eventually teaching up to 500 students per week, with classes of 20 to 40 students, countless people in Green County learned to play the instrument. Two local Burkhalter students, Roger Bright and Betty Kneubuehl Vetterli, came to be well-known Swiss musicians in their own right. John Waelti, a Monroe accordionist, also studied accordion with Burkhalter.

With that kind of history in Monroe and a renewed interest in accordion playing across the country, the Heritage Programming Committee of the Turner Hall of Monroe felt the time was right to offer people a chance to re-acquaint themselves with the instrument in a fun and non-threatening way, as well as offering veteran players a chance to come together and play. The Ratskeller Restaurant's menu offers a wide variety of fare for those enjoying listening while dining.

More information on Turner Hall's Swiss Heritage Series is available here.