Lithuanian Festival, Amor y Cultura, & Fiddle Contest
SubjectPortrait of
Daniel Boucher
(American, born 1980)
Date2001-2002
Mediumnegatives
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.345.1-.16
Description2015.196.345.1-.6: Images from the Lithuanian Picnic in Putnam, Connecticut on the grounds of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and a Lithuanian cultural center
2015.196.345.7-.13: Images showing a musical performance by renowned trovadores Miguel Santiago and Mariano Cotto with Amor y Cultura at Charter Oak Cultural Center.
(.7) Miguel Santiago performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.8) Miguel Santiago performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.9) Mariano Cotto performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.10-.12) Miguel Santiago performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.13) Mariano Cotto performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
2015.196.345.14-.16: Images showing Daniel Boucher competing in the 2002 New England Fiddle Contest, held that year at Mortensen Plaza in Hartford
NotesSubject Note: Lithuanians immigrated to Connecticut in the 1890s for jobs in factories and farms and to escape Russian domination, settling in urban centers such as Hartford and Waterbury where the state’s largest concentration of Lithuanians is located. Putnam in eastern Connecticut has a Lithuanian nunnery where an archive is kept and festivals take place. Many farms in western Connecticut are still operated by Lithuanian families. Lithuanian cultural practices abound in Connecticut. Beautiful tall carved crosses designed by artists Simas Augaitis and Joseph Ambrozaitis stand next to six Lithuanian churches in Connecticut cities; three of the parishes offer services in Lithuanian language. The long running radio program Tevynes Garsai /Sounds of the Homeland broadcasts every Sunday on WWUH/91.3 in Hartford. 2015.196.345.7-.13: Images showing a musical performance by renowned trovadores Miguel Santiago and Mariano Cotto with Amor y Cultura at Charter Oak Cultural Center.
(.7) Miguel Santiago performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.8) Miguel Santiago performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.9) Mariano Cotto performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.10-.12) Miguel Santiago performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
(.13) Mariano Cotto performing as trovador with Amor y Cultura
2015.196.345.14-.16: Images showing Daniel Boucher competing in the 2002 New England Fiddle Contest, held that year at Mortensen Plaza in Hartford
Subject Note: The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Church is a convent and church staffed by Lithuanian nuns in Putnam, Connecticut. Since 1936, they have served the Lithuanian community in southern New England, and maintain a library and museum of Lithuanian folk arts. The chapel is notable for its stained glass and a traditional Lithuanian wayside cross designed by Connecticut Lithuanian artists Simas Augaitis and built by Joseph Ambrozaitis, one of six in Connecticut. The order also maintains the Matulaitis Home, an assisted living facility for Lithuanian seniors. A school on the grounds once run by the church is now privately managed. The church holds an annual picnic in mid-July, organized by the Lithuanian heritage/cultural camp that takes place there, Camp Neringa, featuring folk dancing, food, and workshops, tours of the site. The site also houses ALKA, the Lithuanian American Cultural Archive, an important collection of books, art, archives, and other materials gathered by several scholars and donors over the years. It is managed by the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science.
Subject Note: Alfred Rivera of the musica jibara conjunto Amor y Cultura brought popular Puerto Rican trovadores to Hartford, including Mariano Cotto and Miguel Santiago from Comerio, a city from which many of Hartford’s residents originate, in 2001 to perform at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.
Biographical Note: Alfred Rivera of New Britain began to play the guitar from age five, absorbing the music from his father, a well known trovador, and family and friends. He has dedicated his life to learning, performing, and promoting música tipica and musica jibara, the folk music of Puerto Rico. Alfred took cuatro lessons from master musician Virgilio Cruz as part of the cuatro academy La Primera Orquesta de Hartford, later playing guitar with the group Canto Isleño under the direction of Virgilio Cruz. Alfred also played cuatro to accompany the folk poets who competed in the Concurso de Trovadores that were organized by Cruz and others in Connecticut during the 1990s. Alfred and other musicians kept this musical tradition alive in Greater Hartford after Virgilio returned to Puerto Rico. Alfred Rivera and CCHAP produced a Concurso in 2003 on Park Street in Hartford that was attended by over 300 people, with a dozen poets from all over the East Coast competing to compose extemporaneous verse in the décima style, with musical accompaniment. Alfred’s service to his community was honored with a special dinner concert at La Sociedad Puertorriqueña in 2012, with several musicians including his father Florentin Rivera performing. In 2016, Alfred played one of CCHAP’s outdoor concerts at CHS with Amor y Cultura and several trovadores from the community, and in 2019, he performed there with another group, Grupo Guajiba.
Alfred Rivera formed the group Amor y Cultura to perform Puerto Rican música tipica, traditional folk music of the countryside and mountains, featuring bongos, guitar, guiro (gourd scraper), vocals, and cuatro - the signature instrument of this style and Alfred’s specialty. Their repertoire of música jibara is rarely performed in Connecticut, making it an interesting addition to the salsa, merengue, and other popular forms which predominate. They play songs from several important Puerto Rican musical forms, including Trova (rhythms such as Seis and Aguinaldo which accompany improvised sung poetry such as the décima); Danza (a more classical instrumental style), and Plena (an African-influenced form characterized by percussion and verses of commentary on current events). Amor y Cultura has been performing for over twenty years. Early members of the conjunto included Joe Diaz - cuatro, guitar, tiple, bordonua; Milton Rosado - bongos, conga, tambora; Raul DeLeon – guiro; Alfred Rivera – cuatro; Florentino Rivera – vocals; and Ramon Arroyo - vocals (occasional performer). The recent line-up of musicians includes Pedro Alvarez (guitar), Robert Piñeiro (bongos), Edwin Velez (guiro/gourd scraper), Alfred Rivera (cuatro), and Antonio Rivera (trovador).
Amor y Cultura is one of the most popular groups working in this genre in Connecticut. Their mission is to preserve and sustain the folk music of Puerto Rico, which is important to the history and character of Puerto Rican culture. Amor y Cultura carries on the traditions of the island’s music that have been transplanted to neighborhoods in Connecticut while also reaching general audiences who learn about and appreciate Puerto Rican culture through it. Amor y Cultura is an active group, performing widely across the region at venues including the Hartford Public Library, the Bristol Arts in the Park Fest, numerous Latin festivals, the Hispanic Professionals Network awards ceremonies, and at fundraising events. They were part of the Evelyn Preston Fund Summer Concert Series for many years in the 1990s and early 2000s. As a community-based group, they have performed at Sacred Heart Church Fiesta Pastoral (Hartford), at Centro Civico’s Latino Festival in Amsterdam, New York, at fundraisers for St. Mary’s Church in New Britain, and regular open mike sessions at Los Hermanos and Peter’s Café on Park Street in Hartford. They played often at the Capitol Towers Senior Center in Hartford and collaborated with organizations such as Charter Oak Cultural Center, Park Street Library, City of Hartford Cultural Affairs, and Bulkeley High School to present top musicians from Puerto Rico to the community. Regular performances have taken place at Los Hermanos Café (Hartford) every Sunday evening, at La Fontera every Saturday (Meriden), and at La Sociedad Puertorriqueña on Sundays (New Britain). Amor y Cultura was featured in concert at the Institute for Community Research in July 2003 as part of the Que Bonita Bandera exhibit there, and Alfred organized a Puerto Rican music festival and traditional trovador competition in September 2003.
Subject Note: The New England Fiddle Contest began in 1974, organized by the Peace Train Foundation, a group of arts activists and informal performers including Paul LeMay, an accordion and harmonica player who continued to manage the event for many years. First staged in Bushnell Park, the event moved to different locations around Greater Hartford, including the Riverfront and Center Park, Manchester, and in 1984 at Thompson Speedway, Thompson, Connecticut. In addition to an age-ranked competition among traditional fiddlers, there were also music jams and training sessions. After 1984, the contest was not held until LeMay revived it in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, he partnered with Riverfront Recapture, and that year CCHAP artist Daniel Boucher competed.
Biographical Note: Daniel Boucher is a talented fiddle player and composer from Bristol, Connecticut who learned French Canadian songs from his father and other musicians in the local community. CCHAP first met Daniel in 1998 when he played with his father Jules at the opening of the Sur Bois: Franco-American Woodcarvers of New England, an exhibit presented by CCHAP at the Institute for Community Research gallery. A dynamic performer and cultural activist, Daniel organized regular French Canadian music jams and cultural events/celebrations around central Connecticut, drawing participants from all over New England. He participated in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program as an apprentice to Rosaire LeHoux and Donna Hebert, and as teacher to Nate Ouellette, Collette Fournier, and Jean Galipeau. CCHAP presented Daniel with a group of musicians at the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress Homegrown: Music of America series in 2011, and he played with Josee Vachon and Patrick Ross at an outdoor concert at CHS in 2015. Substantial CCHAP archive materials exist for Daniel and his events.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archuive for all these artists and events.
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
Glaisma Pérez Silva
July 1999
Ramón Arroyo
2002 August 7; ca. 1997
