Louis Philip Stanisha is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania master of the accordion. He has been playing since he was seven years old.  That's more than 75 years ago.  He learned from his uncle Louis Skerlong, the young Lou Stanisha playing with his right hand while Lou Skerlong played the base. Over the years, Lou trained with Tony Rozaze, who later went on to create an Accordion Major at a college in Texas.

When Louis Stanisha was still in high school, he was chosen to perform with the Duquesne Tamburitzans, which is now America's longest-running multicultural song and dance company.  The Tamburitzans are dedicated to the performance and preservation of music, songs, and dances from Eastern European folk cultures. 

Louis Stanisha played with them for an entire year while in high school, then another one too as he attended college.  He graduated from Carnegie Tech with a degree in engineering.

Later on he performed all around the Pittsburgh area in a band called the Balkan Dukes.  This band performed Slovenian style polkas, which was very special for Lou, who is a pure Slovenian. 

Over the decades, Lou has still continued to play and take performance jobs. During Lou Stanisha’s long life he married Mary Joan Nara and they have been married over 50 years.  They raised seven healthy children and they have a combination of nine grandchildren. This year, some members of his family got Lou a fantastic new accordion strap for Christmas to ensure that he can play on for a long time.  Many of the family are also musicians, though no one could master the accordion, especially not like Lou does.

Throughout the years Louiis Stanisha has given many people lots of pleasure with the tunes that he can play.  Everything from polkas to country to modern day music, Louis can play it on the accordion. He has been booked for various celebrations and private parties, and is always in demand. 

Accordion music is special to many people. Whether they love the melody, the beat, the fun, or the energy, it still entertains many people tremedously.  It will always be loved.  Not everyone can do it well, and it is a difficult instrument to maneuver. Louis Stanisha, not only plays the accordion extremely well, but is a master at his craft.