Flyers: "Kef" Time
Date2002-2010
MediumPaper
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.42.1-.5
DescriptionFlyers for "Kef" Time, an annual Armenian music event held in Greater Hartford. The event was organized by Gary Hovanessian. In some years Kef Time was a venue for the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program presentations.
2015.196.42.1: flyer, 32nd “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2002
2015.196.42.2: flyer, 34th “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2004
2015.196.42.3: flyer, 35th “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2005
2015.196.42.4: flyer, Kef Time Hartford, 2009
2015.196.42.5: flyer, “Kef” Time Hartford, 2010
NotesSubject Note: Kef Time was an annual gathering, held for decades in November in the Greater Hartford area, of renowned Armenian musicians from all over the United States. Kef means party in Armenian, and the weekend-long event attracted hundreds of Armenians and others who loved middle eastern music played on traditional instruments and accompanied by dancing taking place day and night. Started by Armenian music enthusiasts Harry Egazarian, Bagdassar (Baggie) and Queenie Hovhanessian, and Al and Tina Boyajian and their sons Gary, John, and Mark, Kef Time continued to be managed by Gary Hovhanessian until around 2010. Armenian music events are still held in Connecticut, a state with a large Armenian community.2015.196.42.1: flyer, 32nd “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2002
2015.196.42.2: flyer, 34th “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2004
2015.196.42.3: flyer, 35th “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2005
2015.196.42.4: flyer, Kef Time Hartford, 2009
2015.196.42.5: flyer, “Kef” Time Hartford, 2010
Subject Note: In Years 5 and 6, 2003 and 2004, CCHAP supported an apprenticeship in Armenian kamancha playing, with master kamancha musician David Ayriyan teaching the instrument to Jimmy Shahrigian, a beloved Connecticut-based Armenian musician and band leader who often performed at Kef Time, the long-running Armenian music festival held in Connecticut. The Armenian three-stringed upright fiddle known as the kamancheh is extremely difficult to play but has featured in both folk and classical Armenian music repertoires. David Ayriyan mastered the kamancha as a boy in Baku, Azerbaijan, and continued to play it (and other instruments) in traditional Armenian settings as well as philharmonic concerts internationally. He immigrated to Rhode Island in 1991, escaping political turmoil and a devastating earthquake in Baku, and performed in New England often with his sons accompanying him. David searched for a long time to find a student willing to learn the kamancha and be taught in Armenian. Sarkis “Jimmy” Shahrigian’s long career as a musician playing upright bass and oud in both popular and traditional Armenian bands gave him experience with stringed instruments. He performed regularly in the lively Armenian music scene in New England, and after learning with David Ayriyan, worked to introduce the kamancha to his other audiences. On April 24, 2003 Jimmy played an Armenian folk song on the kamancha at Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day at Hartford’s State Capitol, in the presence of the Armenian Ambassador and several survivors of the 1905 genocide.
In their second year of the apprenticeship, the pair enjoyed their work together so much that they met regularly beyond the project dates. During the training, Jimmy progressed enough with the kamancha to be able to perform six Armenian folk songs well. Jimmy was a regular performer in the lively Armenian music scene in New England, and involved David in more Connecticut music events. In addition to playing at Kef Time in 2004, Jimmy and David played together in July 2004 at Jimmy’s regular Thursday session at the Vernon Diner outside of Hartford, introducing the kamancha to an entirely new audience. They also performed at the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program showcase Festival in 2005.
Subject Note: The Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program is a CCHAP initiative since 1997 that fosters the sharing of community-based traditional (folk) artistic skills through the apprenticeship learning model of regular, intensive, one-on-one teaching by a skilled mentor artist to a student/apprentice. The program pairs master artists from RI, MA, or CT with apprentices from one of the other states, as a way to knit together members of the same community or group across state lines. Teaching and learning traditional arts help to sustain cultural expressions that are central to a community, while also strengthening festivals, arts activities and events when master/apprentice artists perform or demonstrate results of their cooperative learning to public audiences. The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Connecticut Historical Society manages the program in collaboration with the Folk Arts Program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council and independent folklorist Winifred Lambrecht who has a deep knowledge of the folk arts landscape of Rhode Island. Primary funding for the program comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, with support also from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Institute for Community Research, and the Connecticut Historical Society.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this event and these artists.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
2022 July 8
