What's New!
There are lots of New things at this festival.
A New Venue. The primary venue this year is First United Methodist Church of Boulder
The Finale Concert is now on Sunday!! (at First United Methodist Church of Boulder)
The Cabaret and AfterBurner are at a new location. They are still both at the Millennium Harvest House Hotel, but in a new larger location with MUCH better viewing.
LOOK WHAT'S COMING YOUR WAY!
Reaffirming our commitment to quality and diverse programming, the 2005 Rocky Mountain Ragtime Festival will be held at Boulder's First United Methodist Church, an excellent concert venue, with performances in the great hall and symposia and workshops in the adjacent lecture halls. You'll find everything, including the Ragtime Store, under one roof.
Our elegant concert pianos will again be featured by agreement with Chris Finger Pianos of Niwot, Colorado, who have furnished the Festival with fine pianos for the past twelve years. In securing top performers to play these magnificent instruments, the Festival offers programming to please the wide-ranging tastes of today's audiences.
The Festival will present concerts and symposia featuring five areas of music: Classic Ragtime, Stride Piano, Latin Rhythms, New Ragtime and Terra Verde music. In the spirit of Innovation within Tradition, the Festival has carefully chosen performers who excel in both the old and the new music.
For Classic Ragtime, we are thrilled that Joshua Rifkin is paying us a return visit. It was Rifkin’s recordings of Joplin in the early ‘70s that led us away from honky-tonk and towards a serious appreciation of ragtime. Scott Kirby, our Musical Director and one of today’s best interpreters of Joplin, will join Joshua to play the works of Joplin, Scott and Lamb, as will Brian Keenan and David Thomas Roberts. Expect some dynamic duo piano artistry between these four, and from others as well! There will be an “Americana Concert,” too, with patriotic and nostalgic music.
New to the festival this year are Anne and Jeff Barnhart, whose flute and piano magic on ragtime, old and new, has brought critical acclaim. Also a new face is Paul Asaro, a masterful interpreter of the Harlem piano styles of the early ‘20s and ‘30s. Look for Jeff to bring us zany antics and hot piano, especially when he and Paul team up to play Stride.
For fans of Latin Rhythms, the works of Nazareth, Gottschalk, composers of the Caribbean and South America and some original compositions will be featured by Frank French and his many varied rhythm instruments.
There will be no shortage of New Ragtime, as virtually all of our performers program it and most compose it, too. Terra Verde, reflecting the progressive transformation of New World music, will be played by Frank French, Brian Keenan, Scott Kirby and David Thomas Roberts. And fitting in everywhere in all kinds of music will be Sophie Rivard, ragtime’s favorite violinist, making her third appearance in Boulder. Dancing comes again to the Festival on Sunday afternoon with live music by the Mont Alto Ragtime and Tango Orchestra. Finally, we will spotlight Adam Yarian and Sarah Roth Vanegas, young artists of today, and when you see them you’ll agree the future is in good hands.
In response to many requests, the closing concert has been moved to Sunday evening. The demand for tickets has outgrown the seating capacity of Chris Finger’s piano store, so we have moved the concert to our new venue, the First United Methodist Church. The twin grand pianos there will afford performers many chances to “let their hair down” at this ever-popular wrap-up event. You won’t want to miss it!