I would have liked the sets to be 35 minutes each with a 10-minute break so people could go to another venue, get something to eat, use the restroom or just stretch their legs. If I did not remain for an entire set, it was because I had to leave for another one of a high priority. As to be expected, I enjoyed some sets more than others. Sets started at 9 or 10 AM and ran continuously until 5 PM. I attended as many as I could without missing the paid events.
#Ragtime scott joplin free#
While the symposia and afternoon concerts were going on there were the free 30-minute sets in the three venues. Many faces here will be familiar to our readers-and some are readers (and writers)! (photo by Yuko Eguchi Wright, via Facebook) The gang’s all here: the assembled performers in the Starck Tent at the 2022 Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival in Sedalia. This theater also housed the festival store where artists’ CDs and other merchandise were offered. The audience for these paid events was much larger than for the morning sessions, but there were still plenty of empty seats in the Liberty Center, conveniently located half a block from the Stark tent. Each had an emcee and a large number of musicians performed two or three numbers each. The themed concerts dealt, naturally enough, with women in ragtime the early revival and Scott Joplin’s legacy. These were curated by “Perfesser” Bill Edwards, one of the country’s foremost authorities on ragtime. The morning symposia, each lasting about an hour, did not seem well attended, which is unfortunate. Hence, there were more female performers than usual. Originally scheduled for 2020 to mark the centennial of women gaining the vote, it was twice postponed until now. The overall festival theme was women in ragtime. Other than the new pavilion, none of the above is a departure from past practice.Īn important feature of this festival are the symposia and themed concerts. Food vendors operated at both downtown sites for those who did not want to walk or drive to restaurants. I noticed that some people seemed to set up shop at one venue and stay there for the day. The two downtown venues are a five-minute walk apart (or one minute by bicycle), while the Depot is five blocks away, necessitating driving for most people.
It was set up for about 75 people but could easily accommodate more. The new pavilion is a welcome addition to the scene it’s covered with the west side enclosed to keep out the afternoon sun. There were fewer sets there, and I did not attend any.
This year’s free sets were held in the Stark tent, which is set up as usual on Fifth Street alongside the courthouse the new “pavilion on Ohio” at the southwest corner of Second and the Katy Depot at 600 East Third. But they were pressed into service, to the delight of the audience, as subs. Louis but had not planned to be on the roster. Valerie Kirchhoff, a/k/a Miss Jubilee, and her musical partner, barrelhouse pianist Ethan Leinwand, came from St. The Festival did a good job of finding subs and adjusting the schedule, but apparently not soon enough to make public announcements of the changes. Three more musicians had to cancel at the last minute due to COVID exposure: Brian Holland, Bill McNally, and a new name to me, Marilyn Nonken.
#Ragtime scott joplin plus#
There were four non-pianists on the agenda: violinist David Reffkin, a well-known figure in the ragtime genre who has been there many times vocalist Joyce Richardson, a retired music teacher from New Jersey, plus a regular, drummer Danny Coots, and a newcomer (but not to me), multi-instrumentalist T.J. The others were making their Joplin premieres. She has performed at several past Joplin festivals. Virginia, I learned, has an extensive pedigree not only in ragtime but also in the classical field. These included pianists Peter Bergin, Dick Moulding, Jonathan Levin, and Virginia Eskin. An exemplary roster of performers were on the card, several of whom were new to me. But for the distance, I would attend more often. I attended that event, as well as the 20 editions. This was the first in-person festival since 2019, and the feeling of joy was as evident among the musicians as among the audience. And by then the humidity was creeping up, perhaps to remind us that the weather we had enjoyed the past few days was not the norm in Missouri in June. Well, almost there was a brief light shower during the last set in the Stark tent on Saturday afternoon.
After a cold front dumped 2.9 inches of rain on Sedalia, enough to be the most anywhere in the US that day, just before the event opened, the skies cleared and ushered in three days of delightful temperatures and low humidity. The weather gods smiled on this year’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival on June 1-4 in Sedalia, Missouri.
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