Free Concert and Contest Finals to be held at the Bullock Museum on Saturday, April 22, 2017.

Grand Prize Winners will be selected in each category: Polka, Cajun, Zydeco, and Conjunto

Austin, Texas – March 29, 2017 – Texas Folklife is pleased to announce the 2017 Big Squeeze Statewide Accordion Contest Finals and Concert will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2017 from 1:00-5:PM at the Bullock Texas State History Museum, located at 1800 N. Congress Ave. The event is free and open to the public and will be held outside on the Lone Star Plaza or in case of rain inside the museum.

This is the 11th year for the statewide program that supports up-and-coming Texas musicians who are 21 years of age or younger. The contest is one of the ways in which Texas Folklife carries out its mission to preserve and present Texas’s diverse cultural heritage. The contest recruits players in all genres of the Lone Star State’s accordion-based music, including German, Czech, and Polish polka; Creole, Cajun, and zydeco; conjunto, norteño, and Tejano.

This spring Texas Folklife held 8 Big Squeeze talent showcases in communities throughout the state to search for young accordion talent. Showcases were held in the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, Houston, Southeast Texas, Dallas and San Antonio so that the squeezeboxers could display their accordion skills at public performances in their communities. Texas Folklife also accepts mail-in entries until Friday March 31, 2017. Up to nine finalists (three from each genre) will be selected on Friday April 7, 2017 by a panel of judges.

The finalists will perform at the Big Squeeze Finals and Concert on April 22 before a panel of judges and the public. At that time Three Grand Prize Winners will be selected. The winners will be chosen to represent the three main accordion genres—Polka, Cajun / Zydeco, and Conjunto. The Big Squeeze 2017 Grand Prize Winners will receive a prize package valued at more than $4,000, including a cash prize, a brand new Hohner accordion, performance opportunities with Texas Folklife, publicity, and other professional development opportunities. Additionally, the Grand Prize Winners will perform onstage with legendary Texas musicians at Texas Folklife’s Accordion Kings & Queens Concert, held at Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre on Saturday, June 3, 2017.

Following the finalists’ performances (and while the judges deliberate) a free concert will be held. The afternoon concert will feature conjunto masters Rio Jordan from the Rio Grande Valley, Houston zydeco powerhouse Ruben Paul Moreno, and the ever-popular Cajun sounds of the Gulf Coast Playboys.

“We are almost at the end of another successful Big Squeeze Contest,” said Executive Director Charlie Lockwood. “The 2017 contest brought us 29 young squeezeboxers from all parts of the state with accordion skills in every genre. After taking a year off from the contest in 2016 to celebrate our tenth anniversary with a blockbuster concert, we were glad to go back on the road again this year and reconnect with our community partners. But the best is yet to come. At the Big Squeeze Accordion Contest Finals and Concert we will not only crown our new Big Squeeze Champs, we will celebrate all things accordion with an afternoon of Texas music. Come to the Bullock on April 22 and bring your dancing shoes!”

The Big Squeeze is supported by Hohner Inc., the Texas Music Office, and Rancho Alegre Radio, by grants from H-E-B, Texas Commission on the Arts, the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department, the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, and the Houston Endowment.

Regional community and venue partners include Hacienda Records, Texas Polka News, Cajun Sounds Internet Radio, Conjunto Heritage Taller, McDonald Public Library in Corpus Christi, Café 4212, Multicultural Education & Counseling through the Arts, Larry’s French Market & Cajun Restaurant, 508 Amphitheater at Encore Park and the Museum of Street Culture, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Los Fresnos High School, La Joya Independent School District, and the Bullock Texas State History Museum.

About Texas Folklife: Texas Folklife is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to presenting and preserving the diverse cultures and living heritage of the Lone Star State, and is designated by the National Endowment for the Arts as the Folk & Traditional Arts organization for the state. For over 30 years, Texas Folklife has honored cultural traditions passed down within communities, explored their importance in contemporary society, and celebrated them by providing accessible and joyful arts experiences.
T 512-441-9255
F 844-386-2091

For further information:
Sheree Scarborough
Phone:512-922-5483
Email: sheree.scarborough@gmail.com

Program inquiries:
Alysha Hernández
Phone: 210-286-1999
Email: bigsqueeze@texasfolklife.org