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David Ayriyan playing Armenian Kamancha

PerformerPerformed by David Ayriyan Armenian, 1933 - 2019

Datec. 2002

Mediumreformatted digital file from audio cassette

DimensionsDuration: 10 Minutes, 27 Seconds

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

DescriptionAudio cassette tape recording of David Ayriyan playing Armenian kamancha. The tape was submitted as part of the Year 5 (2003-2004) Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program application for the apprenticeship team in Armenian kamancha playing. David Ayriyan taught apprentice Sarkis “Jimmy King” Shahrigian.

Object number2015.196.830a-c

CopyrightIn Copyright

NotesSubject Note: In Years 5 (2003) and 6 (2004) of the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program, CCHAP supported an apprenticeship in Armenian kamancha playing, with master kamancha musician David Ayriyan teaching the instrument to Jimmy Shahrigian, a 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 Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or Connecticut 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.

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