When George Butrumlis was handed a baby accordion at six years of age, he had no way of knowing that the instrument would become his meal ticket.
The Werribee resident, who was a founding member of the Black Sorrows and is perhaps best known for his band Zydeco Jump, has spent his life playing the accordion, including performances with Jeannie Lewis, Kristina Olsen, Ross Hannaford, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Three Tenors and Luciano Pavarotti’s last tour of Australia.
“It’s funny, because I went to a very good private school and university, and I ended up doing the thing I started learning when I was six years old,” he said.
“It’s been a fabulous little instrument for me, taken me everywhere. I didn’t want to do anything else, music has just been the thing I’ve loved more than anything else.”
Now, the Melbourne Accordion Orchestra director is gearing up for his latest production, Que Reste T’il, where he will play alongside Robyn Archer and Michael Morley at Arts Centre Melbourne on November 10-11.
Butrumlis, who was born and bred in the eastern suburbs, moved to Werribee in 2001 and said it quickly became home.
“The further I moved west, the more real the people became and I liked it more.”
