Cajun accordion maker Marc Savoy & his family of musicians

Marc Savoy is a musician, master accordion maker, and champion of Cajun culture. He founded Savoy Music Center in Eunice, Louisiana in 1966, where he builds and repairs Cajun accordions. He and his wife Ann play together in the Savoy-Doucet Band, and they frequently collaborate with three of their four children as The Savoy Family Band.

The Savoy family are part of a long tradition of artisans and musicians who keep alive a cultural legacy that dates back to the 1700s. As France and England battled for regional supremacy, the British military forcibly removed French settlers from much of Canada. These exiles made their way to Louisiana where their unique French dialect and distinct cultural identity became known as Acadian (from their dialect les Acadiens) – today the terms Cajun and Acadian are often used interchangeably. Marc Savoy is adamant that what is unique about Cajun culture must be preserved. “I want my children and their children to appreciate the ballads that have been sung since a strong people came to what was a foreign land and established a powerful ethnic culture that has stood the test of time.”

HARMONY bridges the art forms of music and craft, celebrating the joy of music and the creation of handcrafted instruments. Featuring accordion maker Marc Savoy and the Savoy family, bow maker Susan Lipkins, luthier Doug Naselroad and the Appalachian Artisan Center Culture of Recovery Program, and artist Richard Jolley, whose monumental glass and steel sculpture inspired a violin concerto.

Preview from the HARMONY episode. PBS broadcast premiere December 10, 2021.

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