It's Musical Freedom with Patriotic Ragtime In Fountain Park

by Tafi Stober

"Hello, my baby. Hello, my honey. Hello, my ragtime gal." If you sang those lyrics, you've probably drawn out the words and added a bit of swing to the in-betweens. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, America was caught up in a musical revolution - to love the swang or forget that ole' thang. The battle of musical styles has continued through the ages and will not end as new barriers will forever be pushed to fully explore something that may not be ours to control. The opinion of the merits of Ragtime can be yours in Fountain Park this Friday night with the Peacherine Ragtime Symphony Orchestra. I do declare that I would wager on you not being disappointed.

Americans were first exposed to ragtime, at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. It is reported that some twenty-seven million people passed through the Fair gates between May and October of that year. Ragtime, this new style of music, evoked both an overwhelming response of thrilling excitement from progressive enthusiasts of the time but was viewed as a threat from staid, polite society. The excitement, and disdain, was in the heart of the music itself. Ragtime comes from syncopation - the displacing of the beat from its regular and assumed course of meter. Syncopation caused an individual to feel a propulsion, swing, and if played correctly, a musical looseness generally unknown to the public at large.

The Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra is the leading professional ragtime orchestra in the United States. Under the direction of virtuoso Andrew Greene, PRSO recreates the syncopated stylings of a bygone era - Ragtime, Theater, and Dance music, with an impressive repertoire of 15,000 original orchestral scores.

They are a crowd favorite while performing at venues from The Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, The American Film Institute, historic theaters, major performing arts centers, universities, and more across the United States and on radio stations everywhere.

Their program highlights the music of the late 1800s and early 1900s, with selections by composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, W.C. Handy, Eubie Blake, George M. Cohan, and of course, the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin. This Friday in Fountain Park, it will be the patriotic selections that will make our Feel Good Friday complete.

And if you are still wondering what Ragtime style is all about, google search "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin. That should be enough to compel you to pick up that lawn chair and shimmy on over to Fountain Park.