The Armenian Studies Program will hold a special event, “Armenian-American Musical Heritage of the San Joaquin Valley,” from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at the University Business Center.

The program was recently awarded a California Humanities grant of nearly $5,000 for “Amplifying Community: Recording the History of the San Joaquin Valley Armenian Music Production,” which is dedicated to recovering the history of Armenian-American music production in the San Joaquin Valley during the first half of the 20th century.

The Feb. 29 event will provide a free public forum for the community to contribute their own recollections, contextualizing and bringing to life the little-studied early musicians, recording labels and venues in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

The event will have two segments. From 1 to 3 p.m., participants can bring historic photographs, sheet music, promotional materials and ephemera relating to Armenian music production for scanning. The digitized files will be added to the Armenian Studies Program Music Archive which will eventually be available to the public.

From 3:30 to 5 p.m., oud master Richard Hagopian and Dr. Yektan Türkyilmaz will have a discussion about the Armenian Music of the San Joaquin Valley, which will include a performance of traditional Armenian music by Hagopian.

For more information, contact the Armenian Studies Program at 559.278.2669 or visit ArmenianStudiesFresnoState on Facebook.