George Shakhnevich is a Ukrainian-American accordionist, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 and former television personality.

Early life

George began playing the accordion at age six. As a teenager, he began playing professionally in regional areas around Kiev. At age eighteen, George was drafted into the Soviet military, in which he served for the next two years. Soon after, he graduated from the Pedagogical Institute of Kirivograd in Ukraine.

Gaining Recognition

While serving as a radio jockey

Radio jockey

A radio jockey is a person who hosts a radio talk show where the RJ selects the music to be played, or topic of discussion, by interacting with the audience; the interaction is often via telephone, but may also be online, or via email....

 in local radio stations around Kiev, George became the host and musical personality of a children’s television show, lead primarily by a group of teenage performers called Altana. His frequent television appearances made him a local celebrity around Kiev, and soon before his departure to the United States, George appeared with Altana on the popular Soviet television show “Morning Star,” performing the popular Beatles song Yesterday

Yesterday (song)

"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...

Yesterday (song)

Yesterday (song)

"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...

 live before a nationwide audience.

Move to the United States

George, like so many Jewish Eastern Europeans, immigrated to the United States with his family in 1992. He moved into the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, NY after his arrival. In 1993, George was hired to work as a musical therapist at the Menorah Home & Hospital in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn. His debut album, “Accordion Rendezvous” was released in 2005. George also participated in the 2005 Vivian Vivio Stolaruk Memorial International Entertainment Competition for Accordionistshttp://www.accordions.com/index/art/vivian_viviomemorial.shtml, held in Dearborn, Michigan

Dearborn, Michigan

-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...

.

Personal

George has been married to wife Jane since 1979. They have two children, Steven (b. 1980) and Dmitriy (b. 1988).

Albums

• Accordion Rendezous (2005)