The Mitchell Memorial Library will kick off this year’s 12th annual Charles H. Templeton: Ragtime and Jazz Festival with the 5th annual Gatsby Gala March 22.
Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, which can be found on the top floor of the library, and by the Mitchell Memorial Library, will sponsor the festival.
The festival is a major project with many moving and delicate parts. Templeton Music Museum Events Coordinator Lynda Graham said every year, program coordinators rethink and sculpt the project into an ornate masterpiece. 
“It’s a lot of work, making sure things get where they need to go,” Graham said. “It’s a year-long process.”
Though the Gatsby Gala is a recent addition to the festival, it is one of the most intricate events of the weekend. On March 22, the Mitchell Memorial Library Atrium will be transformed into a beautiful interpretation of the Gatsby Mansion from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous literary work. During the gala, there will be a fashion show inspired by clothing styles from the “roaring” 1920s, featuring models from MSU’s Fashion Board.
Graham said many attendees will dress up “to feel like they’re part of the gala.”
The throwback creates a reality bubble where the age of jazz is still swinging to the trumpet rhythm.
On March 23 and 24, the library will host a variety of activities, including interactive tours of the music museum and educational seminars.
Other activities in which festival-goers are invited to participate in include “talks at the piano,” where this year’s performing artists will have informal conversations to express their love of music and showcase their skills of the genres of blues, jazz and ragtime on the ivory. This year, the program will also show two classic silent films, one of which is “A Night in the Show” starring Charlie Chaplin Friday.
To close out Friday and Saturday, there will be concerts featuring this year’s artist: Steve Cheseborough, Ivory&Gold® with Eddie Erickson, and Kris Tokarski in McComas Hall Theater.
A selected student from MSU’s department of music will give a special performance at Friday evening’s concert. This program will also include the presentation of the Keyone Docher Student Achievement award to the student performer.
Keyone Docher was an MSU Music Education major who suffered from cancer from a very young age. This illness affected his vocal chords, but Docher still pursued his passion for music and became an accomplished pianist.
Docher’s story captured the hearts of the Ragtime and Jazz Festival’s coordinators, and they asked him to play at the festival. A mere two weeks after his touching performance, Docher passed away.
The student achievement award was created to honor Docher’s memory, and every year it is given to a student the music department believes exemplifies not only Docher’s talent for the musical arts, but his passion as well.
Stephen Cunetto, associate dean of the library, said he considers the festival a “celebration of America’s music.”
“We really hope students come out and take in the history and art as part of the education experience,” Cunetto said.
All the festival’s events are free for all MSU students with their ID.