If you’re a fan of Ragtime music from the last century, you’ll want to head to Starkville for the 5th Annual Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival.
This event – which opens Friday and continues through Saturday – offers visitors a unique opportunity to revisit our musical past.
This signature festival will feature some of the most dazzling keyboard virtuosity around – in a setting that has come to be known for its warmth, hospitality and uniqueness with performances from five internationally renowned ragtime artists.
Concerts, “living room” sessions and lectures will center around the unique Charles H. Templeton Sr. Collection in the Mississippi State University Libraries, home of more than 20,000 pieces of sheet music, 200 musical instruments and extensive memorabilia from the 1880s – 1930s. All document the distinctly American approach to the “business of music.”
Artists featured this year include Jim Hession, a MS Gulf Coast pianist making his first appearance at the Templeton Festival; Frederick Hodges, an oustanding artist returning for his third Templeton Festival and bringing more silent movie scoring along with him; Brian Holland, a dynamic, Grammy Award-nominated musician with a keen ear for improv returning to the Festival for his third appearance; Sue Keller, a lively entertainer, who has entertained all over the world, coming back for her second Templeton Festival; and David Jasen, our extraordinary master of ceremonies, back for his fifth year to lead us through the weekend.
Festival participants will join a host of loyal fans in Starkville for an event that is fast becoming known as one of the best of its type across the country. Evening concerts will be held in Lee Hall’s historic Bettersworth Auditorium, while the daytime living room sessions and tours of the Templeton Collection will take place in Mitchell Memorial Library.
The 5th Annual Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival is sponsored by the Mississippi State University Libraries, Charles Templeton Sr. Music Museum, Starkville Area Arts Council, Rotary Club of Starkville, Greater Starkville Development Partnership, and in part by grants from the Mississippi Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, please visit the festival’s website at http://library.msstate.edu/ragtime/festival.