Mike Westbury and Pietro Frosini

The great Vaudeville accordionist Pietro Frosini (1885-1951) (undated photo)

August 21, 2026: The Frosini Society of Sweden published an article by Henry on their website:

The first performance of the City of God Accordion Ensemble, at the Wheeling City of Lights Parade (November 17, 1989). The accordionists and bass drum player led, followed by a Jeep pulling a float with the Swan Boat. The temperature was cold and it began drizzling. Our fingers grew cold and stiff and we could barely move our fingers on the keys, but we plodded on to the end of the parade route.

In 1990, after Bhaktipada began promoting accordions at New Vrindaban, I purchased a beautiful, second-hand concert accordion from Antonio Nelli Peruch, a professional classical accordionist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The instrument cost $3,000. My wife paid for it by collecting on the road. I didn’t mind in the least that I was no longer able to do The Pick. My service as Director of Music at New Vrindaban was satisfying and enjoyable.

Publicity photo with my Victoria Italian-built accordion (1990)

On August 28, 1990, I performed a solo accordion recital at the fifth Music at the Palace recital. I was assisted by pianist Thomas Soplinski, an undergraduate organ major at West Liberty State College, and the City of God Accordion Ensemble. My program consisted of:

To listen to some of the pieces I played during my recital at Prabhupada’s Palace, go to YouTube.

The City of God Accordion Quintet in Prabhupada’s Palace: Bhavisya, Dutiful Rama, Thakur, Hrishikesh and Dhruva (c. 1990).

I sent press releases announcing my August 28th recital to the Wheeling News Register and the Moundsville Daily Echo, as I had done for all the previous Music At The Palace recitals. A handful, actually less than a handful of local Wheeling and Moundsville music lovers attended our recitals.

Mike Westbury hires me to play accordion.

One person who attended my accordion recital at the Palace was 69-year-old Mike A. Westbury of Wheeling. Mike was born May 13, 1921. If I remember correctly, he grew up in Long Island, New York, and as a youngster showed remarkable talent in music. His main instruments were saxophone, clarinet and flute, but he told me he had played all the instruments of the orchestra professionally at one time or other. He was in demand as a musician in New York City and played with many big bands. He also played in the pit orchestra for the Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson and others. This was broadcast live from the NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center.

Mike explained to me that the musicians sat in the orchestra pit patiently waiting for their music to arrive. About a minute before the scheduled downbeat, the music copyist would arrive in the pit and start throwing music on to the music stands. The ink was still wet on the pages. The musicians had only a few seconds to examine the pages, look for key changes and repeat signs, before the conductor gave the preparatory beat before the downbeat. If a musician played a wrong note, they were fired. Only the best musicians could stand that level of stress, and Mike was one of them.

Mike performs on stage with Pietro Frosini.

Mike told me he once performed with the great vaudeville accordionist Pietro Frosini late in the 1930s or early in the 1940s. Mike was a young man, perhaps still a teenager, and had accepted a gig playing clarinet with an accordionist. When Mike arrived at the venue, the accordionist was sitting on a stool on stage and warming up. His accordion was not even strapped to his body; it merely sat on his knee, a good distance from his body. Frosini was warming up by playing the Allegro molto appassionato movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with such accuracy, brilliance and passion that Mike was taken aback by his virtuosity.

Pietro Frosini (1885-1951), born Pietro Giuffrida, was an Italian vaudevillian accordionist, composer, and arranger who became one of the first accordion stars in the United States. A pioneer of the chromatic button accordion, he toured internationally, recorded for Edison and Victor, and composed over 200 works for the instrument. After vaudeville’s decline, he served as a staff accordionist at WOR radio in New York City until his death in 1951.

Mike told me he made a lot of money in the music business, so much that he purchased a restaurant for about $1,000,000 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, right across the Hudson River near the George Washington Bridge. Unfortunately, when a Mafia representative reminded him that he must contribute a portion of his restaurant’s earnings to the underworld organization in return for their “protection,” Mike refused. His restaurant burned to the ground a few weeks later, and Mike lost his entire investment.

Mike retires to Wheeling, West Virginia.

When Mike retired from show biz in the 1980s, he and his wife Jerri moved to Wheeling, West Virginia. Although Mike had officially retired, he still worked from time to time as a musician, music teacher and band director. He directed the string orchestra which played Strauss waltzes at the annual December Festival of Lights concert at the Glessner Auditorium at Oglebay Park. At this event, he hired me to play piano with the strings.

Mike also directed a quartet of musicians which performed swing and big band music at wedding receptions in Ohio and West Virginia. From 1990 to 1994 he hired me to play accordion, with double bassist Edward Parshall and drummer Ronald Rose. Mike played saxophone, clarinet and flute. Ron served as band director at Marshall County High School for decades until he retired around 1993.

I hired Mike and his quartet to provide music for my wedding reception at South Fayette Township Fire Hall on June 23, 2001. Mary Kay Welter and I were married a couple hours earlier at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Oakdale, Pennsylvania. During dinner, Mike strolled from table to table playing violin, and later led his quartet in dance music. I joined them with my accordion for a polka. Unfortunately, Mary Kay and I were divorced nine years later.

80-year-old Mike Westbury entertains my parents during dinner (June 23, 2001).

At my wedding reception I joined Mike and his quartet to play a polka (June 23, 2001).

When Mike’s 83-year-old wife Jerri passed away on March 23, 2005, he was devastated. He sold his house at 70 Hubbard Lane and moved into an apartment at 1208 Warwood Avenue in Wheeling. He began going blind. This was extremely difficult for him. By this time, I had lived in Pittsburgh for a decade, but I visited him sometimes when I came to West Virginia to see my friends during the New Vrindaban festivals. Mike used to tell me, “Old age ain’t for sissies.” He passed away on December 29, 2014 at the age of 93. Both Mike and his wife Jerri (1921-2005) were buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling.

Reprinted from The Frosini Society Blog.

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