Springtime is Ragtime at MSU Libraries
MSU Libraries’ annual Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival returns to campus March 22-23, 2013, and registration for these exciting two days is now open. This signature festival features some of the most talented pianists around in a setting that has come to be known for its warmth, hospitality and uniqueness.
Concerts, “living room” sessions and lectures 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.”
Festival attendees will enjoy evening concerts in MSU’s McComas Hall Auditorium, “living room” sessions in the library’s beautifully appointed Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, and small-group tours of the Templeton Museum. A feature found at no other ragtime festival in the nation, the one-of-a-kind insight offered by the museum into the culture, art, business and musical sensibilities of a generation that spanned the Gilded Age of the late 1880s and the dizzying changes of the Roaring 20s is not to be missed. The collection’s beautifully illustrated sheet music, self-playing musical machines, memorabilia and artifacts immerse festival-goers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, giving them a vivid sense of the times that gave rise to ragtime and jazz.
Those who love great musical performances, those interested in history and art, and those who just like to have a good time will find something to love at the Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival. There are plenty of musical items to browse in the gift shop, including a range of compact discs from each performer, and a full schedule of performances that make every moment a musical standout. Plan to be here!
For lots more festival information and to register, please visit http://library.msstate.edu/ragtime/festival or call Lynda Graham at 662-325-6634.