Ira Cohen
I took my first accordion lesson in March, 1953 and have been hooked ever since. I moved to Tucson in July of 1998 and was lucky enough to happen upon ACT in 2005. I’ve played with several amateur and semi-professional accordion groups over the years in California but nothing as satisfying as the Accordion Club of Tucson.
I retired from Mazda Motors of America in 1993. For 15 years I was the Manager of Administrative Services for U.S. operations which included such corporate responsibilities as travel, communications, security, facilities, purchasing, human resources and risk management. Before that I was a Social Worker and an Administrative Analyst in the L.A. County Welfare Department and subsequently the Building Department, for a total of 15 years.
Since moving to Tucson, I have been active with the Arizona Elks Association (AEA) and am a member of Casas Adobes Elks Lodge here in Tucson. I am honored to be the AEA state musician and play my accordion at all state meetings, conventions, memorial services, etc. I am also the website administrator for the state web site (www.azelks.org.) and coordinate computer operations between all 47 Elks lodges in Arizona.
I try to split my time between the accordion, my woodshop and the Elks. Woodwork is another passion of mine and I always seem to have a project or two on my workbench. While stain or urethane is drying is a good time to get in a couple hours’ practice!
We have a son and two grandsons in Henderson, NV and a daughter, son-in-law and grandson in Graham, WA. We also have two married daughters here in Tucson, one with two little girls.
