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Home PageRAGTIME RALLY IS MAY 26 AT SCOTT JOPLIN HOUSE STATE HISTORIC SITE
JEFFERSON CITY, MO., MAY 19, 2008 -- Bring the entire family for a day filled with ragtime music at the Ragtime Rally on Monday, May 26, at Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis. The event, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Friends of Scott Joplin, is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
Sit and listen to performances by several professional musicians including the St. Louis Ragtimers, "Perfessor" Bill Edwards, John Remmers, Donald Ryan, Sue Keller, the Tichenor Family, Richard Egan, Morgan Siever and Dave Majchrzak. The St. Louis Ragtimers play a dynamic style of ragtime and Dixieland jazz and have recorded several albums. Edwards, from Ashburn, Va., has performed a variety of one-man shows that cover the ragtime music era using humor, education and entertaining rag tunes and songs. Remmers, from Ann Arbor, Mich., has been performing ragtime since the ragtime revival in the 1970s and has released a CD entitled "Hand-Played Rags." By the time Ryan, from Oklahoma, was 14, he had won trophies for performance in national competitions and continues an active career in music as a concert and recording artist, composer, arranger and teacher. Keller, from Illinois, has treated audiences to her piano and vocal performances throughout the world and has recorded numerous CDs. The Tichenor Family, from Missouri, Illinois and California, has been performing at festivals and recording ragtime music for many years. Egan, a local St. Louis artist, has recorded a CD of ragtime compositions, including his own. Siever will be the youngest performer at age 11. From Illinois, she has competed and placed high in many piano competitions. Majchrzak is a local St. Louis ragtime performer who is nationally known for his dynamic ragtime and Dixieland performances.
Along with the music performances, the event will feature programs inside the site's New Rosebud Café. Bob Ault, a ragtime performer and composer, will present a program entitled "The Banjo in Ragtime." Recognized as one of ragtime's most dedicated researchers, Nan Bostick will present "Women in Ragtime." Also in the New Rosebud Café will be a historic sheet music display, a performance by the Childgrove Country Dancers, a traveling exhibit entitled "From Morning 'til Night," a player piano seminar and a chance for visitors to play during the open piano time.
Also featured at the event will be a variety of community booths including the Friends of Scott Joplin and the Department of Natural Resources' St. Louis area state parks. The Missouri Valley Model A Restorers Club will have a display of cars. The St. Louis Boy Scout Troop #308 will be selling refreshments.
Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, located at 2658 Delmar Blvd., preserves the home of ragtime composer Scott Joplin and is open for tours. Complementing the Joplin house is the New Rosebud Cafe, a reconstructed structure that recreates the turn-of-the-century bar and gaming club that once operated in the area.
For more information, call the historic site at 314-340-5790 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.
