News Release No. 371

SCOTT JOPLIN HOUSE STATE HISTORIC SITE
CELEBRATES THE "KING OF RAGTIME'S" BIRTHDAY NOV. 20

Volume 32-371

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 9, 2004 - The pulsating beat of ragtime music will fill the air Saturday, Nov. 20, as Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis celebrates the 136th birthday of the "King of Ragtime." Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Scott Joplin Birthday Party will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the site's New Rosebud Cafe and is free and open to the public.

Enjoy an evening of ragtime music as professional ragtime pianists compete against each other in piano duels. Bob Ault, Rich Egan, Dave Majchrzak and Reginald Robinson will perform. Ault, hailing from mid-Missouri, has entertained audiences with his ragtime music everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Japan. Egan, a local St. Louis artist, has recorded a CD of ragtime compositions, including his own. Majchrzak, also from St. Louis, has more than 30 years of experience giving high-energy performances both solo and with the Saint Louis Stompers. Robinson, based out of Chicago, has a passion for ragtime and recently received a grant from the MacArthur Foundation to carry out that passion. Free tours of the historic site will be conducted during the event.

The New Rosebud Cafe is part of the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, which is located at 2658 Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis. The site preserves the small flat in which Joplin lived while a resident of St. Louis at the turn of the century. It features exhibits that interpret Joplin's life and work, and St. Louis during the ragtime era.

Joplin was born in 1868 and composed his famous "Maple Leaf Rag" while living in Sedalia, Mo., in 1899. Buoyed by the success of the piece, Joplin moved to the small flat in St. Louis. While living at the site from 1900-1903, he produced some of his better known compositions, including "The Entertainer," "Elite Syncopations" and "Ragtime Dance."

For more information about the Scott Joplin Birthday Party, call the site directly at 314-340-5790, or call the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information about state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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