Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.13.2, Connecticut Historical S ...

Flyer: 34th “Kef” Time Big Annual Event

Date2004

MediumPaper

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

CopyrightIn Copyright

Object number2015.196.13.2

DescriptionFlyer for the 34th “Kef” Time Big Annual Event, 2004. The event relates to the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program team in Armenian kamanche playing. Teaching artist David Ayriyan with apprentice Jimmy Shahrigian. The event was organized by Gary Hovanessian.

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.

In 2003 and 2004, CCHAP supported an apprenticeship in Armenian kamancheh playing, with master kamancheh musician David Ayriyan teaching the instrument to Jimmy Shahrigian, a beloved musician and band leader who often performed at Kef Time. They presented their musical learning at Kef Time during those years.

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