Ragtime is America’s first musical genre, Chip Templeton, co-chair of the Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival, said. It blends the sounds of European classical music with African rhythms.
“It became a totally different type of music, and that’s where American music started,” Templeton said. “From that came blues, jazz and all other types of American music.”
In celebration of this uniquely American genre, Mississippi State’s University Libraries and the Charles Templeton, Sr. Music Museum founded the Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival in 2007.
The fourth annual ragtime jazz festival kicks off at 11 a.m. today with a talk at the piano with featured artist Frederick Hodges in the museum on the fourth floor of the Mitchell Memorial Library.
Other festival highlights include two silent film showings with live piano accompaniment by Hodges and two evening concerts featuring artists Hodges, Adam Swanson, Terry Waldo and Carl Sonny Leyland.
Since much of the festival is held within the museum, the event is truly one of a kind, Templeton said.
“This is the only festival in the world where you can enjoy ragtime music and experience the museum,” Templeton said.
Listening to the festival’s musical selections and experiencing the musical instruments, recordings and sheet music on display in the music museum gives the festival a historical feel, he said.
Templeton said ragtime is an important part of American history and deserves to be celebrated.
“We call it a ragtime festival because we’re celebrating how music got started,” he said.
The festival will feature ragtime, along with early jazz and blues, music from the 1900s to the 1930s.
Lyle Tate, special events coordinator for MSU Libraries, said every part of the festival is worth attending, but the most interesting part of the festival is the piano talks.
“The artists will play and talk about what inspired them,” he said. “I really think the best part of the festival is these talks at the piano at the end of the day.”
These intimate talks at the piano give participants the chance to interact with and ask questions of the artists, Tate said.
This year’s featured artists are not only talented musicians, but historians too, Templeton said.
“They’re not memorizing these tunes,” he said. “They are interpreting their personal twist on these songs.”
The festival brings artists from across the U.S. to Mississippi for the unique event.
Tate said this unique experience is one students should not miss out on.
“I really think that it’s such an awesome opportunity to get personal experience with these artists and what they do and what they enjoy sharing with people,” he said. “It’s an experience unlike any other they would experience in the southeast. If students are even remotely interested, they should come.”
Many students are also excited about the opportunity to attend the festival, including senior biochemistry major Brooke Harris.
“I think the festival is an interesting concept, and I’m proud that MSU is sponsoring it,” she said. “It’s a good opportunity for students interested in American music.”
The festival is free of charge to students with a valid student ID; no advance notice or registration is needed.
For the evening concerts, students must pick up a complimentary ticket at the ticket booth before entering Lee Hall’s Bettersworth Auditorium.
To pick up a ticket, just present a valid student ID.
For more information on the festival, visit the official Web site at library.msstate.edu/ragtime/festival/schedule.html.