Special Events
odd: label: Introduction
content: Ralph Rinzler (1934-94), founding director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, worked with a host of musicians, craftspeople, and folklorists, doing fieldwork, developing exhibitions, issuing recordings, and presenting concerts. The Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert series honors Rinzler by highlighting his work and the work of his colleagues in conserving and extending traditional expressive culture. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the 2016 Rinzler Concert featured extraordinary musicians from across the country who have received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship, the nation's highest award for excellence in the folk and traditional arts.

Every year since 1982, the NEA has awarded National Heritage Fellowships to a broad range of traditional artists in recognition of their artistic excellence and their contributions to our nation's diverse heritage. To date, more than 400 individuals and groups from every region of the United States have been honored by this prestigious award. These artists are not only great masters of their tradition; as teachers, innovators, and advocates, they have made significant contributions to the living cultural heritage of their communities. Together they represent a remarkable portrait of the great diversity of cultures and artistic traditions that enrich our nation.

This concert offered a preview of the 2017 Festival that will feature a full program on the NEA National Heritage Fellows. It was presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Marjorie Hunt, Cliff Murphy, Arlene Reiniger, Cheryl Schiele, and Daniel Sheehy constituted the Rinzler Concert Curatorial Team, and Ari Pineda was Evening Concert Coordinator.

Other special events included evening concerts featuring musicians from the Basque or California programs (for which, see the corresponding series). A special concert on July 7 illustrated how young generations of musicians are harmonizing vintage Armenian melodies with contemporary sensibilities. The members of Armenian Public Radio grew up in the musically vibrant diaspora communities in Southern California and took part in the California program. For this concert, they were joined by members of TmbaTa, a youth orchestra from Yerevan, Armenia, based at the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, an innovative after-school program serving twelve- to seventeen-year-olds. This concert was sponsored by the My Armenia program, a joint partnership between USAID, the Smithsonian, and the people of Armenia, and presented in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Washington, D.C.

A closing concert brought together the eight-piece Korrontzi folk band, led by Agus Bandadiaran, who plays the trikitixa (Basque accordion). Through its performances, the band seeks to elevate Basque traditional music and dance, adding modern instruments and rhythms to make it accessible to a larger public. Representing California was Banda Brillo de San Miguel Cuevas, a ten-piece drum and brass band that plays chilenas from the Mixteco community of Oaxaca via Fresno, California. Rounding out the evening was the Armenian youth orchestra TmbaTa (see above).
label: Participants
content: Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert

Rahim AlHaj with Issa Malluf  -- Rahim AlHaj with Issa MallufRahim AlHaj, 1966-, Albuquerque, New MexicoIssa Malluf, 1985-, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Liz Carroll  -- Liz CarrollElizabeth Carroll-Lacey, 1956-, fiddle, Mundelein, IllinoisJake Charron, 1987-, Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Jerry Douglas, 1956-, Nashville, Tennessee

Kevin Locke, 1954-, hoop dancer, Mobridge, South Dakota

Max Defender, Jr., 1970-, Dunseith, North Dakota

Andy Statman Trio  -- Andy Statman TrioAndy Statman, 1950-, Brooklyn, New YorkLarry Eagle, 1956-, Brooklyn, New YorkJim Whitney, 1964-, Brooklyn, New York

Texmaniacs  -- TexmaniacsJosh Baca, 1991-, Converse, TexasMax Baca, San Antonio, TexasNoel Hernandez, 1971-, Mercedes, TexasLorenzo Martinez, Whittier, CaliforniaJoshua Maturino, Converse, Texas

The Chuck Brown Band  -- The Chuck Brown Band"Sweet" Cherie AgursElijah BalbedWiley BrownKym ClarkeDouglas CrowleyTakesa "KK" DonelsonKenneth "Kwick" GrossMaurice "Mighty Moe" HagansFrank MarshallLeon RawlingsMarcus Young

Armenian Public Radio with TmbaTa

Armenian Public Radio  -- Armenian Public RadioMher Ajamian, 1980-, guitarist, percussionist, North Hollywood, CaliforniaRyan Demirjian, 1985-, lead guitarist, Glendale, CaliforniaSaro Koujakian, 1980-, lead singer, guitarist, Los Angeles, California

TmbaTa  -- TmbaTaLili Aleksanyan, vocals, Yerevan, ArmeniaElen Atanesyan, vocals, Yerevan, ArmeniaTamara Atanesyan, vocals, Yerevan, ArmeniaTatevik Avetisyan, 1993-, chaperone, Yerevan, ArmeniaLida Gevorgyan, vocals, Yerevan, ArmeniaArtak Ghazaryan, flute, Yerevan, ArmeniaArik Grigoryan, 1983-, artistic director, Yerevan, ArmeniaAmalya Hakobyan, vocals, Yerevan, ArmeniaAstghik Makhsudyan, percussion, vocals Yerevan, ArmeniaAlisa Sukiasyan, bass, Yerevan, ArmeniaJirayr Ter-Osipyan, guitar, Yerevan, ArmeniaKristine Yeghiazaryan, vocals, Yerevan, Armenia
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2016, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials