Martin Spitznagel
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Martin Spitznagel
Martin Spitznagel is an American old-time pianist known for his clean and fast stride piano arrangements. Spitznagel's career began at the age 14, when he won Calliope Media's "Crazy For Ragtime" competition in 1996 and 1997. He took home the grand prize, which was a Yamaha Disklavier Upright Piano, and he has continued to play ragtime and old-time piano music professionally every since. Career Since the beginning of Martin Spitznagel's career in 1997, he has been very successful in the world of professional old-time piano. In 2007, he won the New Rag Contest of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest for his composition entitled: "The Red Elephant Rag." In 2010, he won the Scott Joplin Composition Contest for his original composition, "The Train Town Rag," in honor of the town of Sedalia, Missouri. In 2011, he won the Regular Division and again New Rag Contest of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest in Peoria, Illinois. He won the New Rag Contes ...
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Disklavier
Disklavier is a brand of reproducing pianos manufactured by Yamaha Corporation. The first Disklavier was introduced in the United States in 1987. The typical Disklavier is a real acoustic piano outfitted with electronic sensors for recording and electromechanical solenoids for player piano-style playback. Sensors record the movements of the keys, hammers, and pedals during a performance, and the system saves the performance data as a Standard MIDI File (SMF). On playback, the solenoids move the keys and pedals and thus reproduce the original performance. Modern Disklaviers typically include an array of electronic features, such as a built-in tone generator for playing back MIDI accompaniment tracks, speakers, MIDI connectivity that supports communication with computing devices and external MIDI instruments, additional ports for audio and SMPTE I/O, and Internet connectivity. Historically, a variety of devices have been used to control or operate the instrument, including buttons ...
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Piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temperament. A musician who specializes in piano is called a pianist. There are two main types of piano: the #Grand, grand piano and the #Upupright piano. The grand piano offers better sound and more precise key control, making it the preferred choice when space and budget allow. The grand piano is also considered a necessity in venues hosting skilled pianists. The upright piano is more commonly used because of its smaller size and lower cost. When a key is depressed, the strings inside are struck by felt-coated wooden hammers. The vibrations are transmitted through a Bridge (instrument), bridge to a Soundboard (music), soundboard that amplifies the sound by Coupling (physics), coupling the Sound, acoustic energy t ...
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World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest And Festival
The World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival is an annual event that takes place over Memorial Day Weekend in Oxford, MS every year. The name "Old-Time Piano Playing" refers to the genre of Ragtime, Traditional Jazz, Novelty, Stride Piano, and Boogie-Woogie. History The contest started in 1975 as a fundraiser for the Monticello Railway Museum, and remained in Monticello, IL for the first twelve competitions. The first eleven contests brought in many viewers after the first champion, Joybelle Squibb, appeared on the Mike Douglas Show, and audiences to the contest brought lawn chairs to the event, and arranged them around the location of the contest. The first eleven contests took place at the Monticello Railway Museum utilizing a piano on the back of a caboose, and the twelfth contest took place on the football field of the Monticello High School. This particular contest happened to take place on the same day as the 1986 Hands Across America event. The th ...
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Sedalia, Missouri
Sedalia is a city located approximately south of the Missouri River and, as the county seat of Pettis County, Missouri, Pettis County, Missouri, United States, it is the principal city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 21,725. Sedalia is also the location of the Missouri State Fair and the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival. U.S. Route 50 in Missouri, U.S. Routes 50 and U.S. Route 65 (Missouri), 65 intersect in the city. History Indigenous peoples lived along the Missouri River and its tributaries for thousands of years before European contact. Historians believe the entire area around Sedalia was long occupied by the Osage Nation, Osage (among historical Native Americans in the United States, American Indian tribes). When the land was first settled by European Americans, bands of Shawnee, who had migrated from east of the Mississippi River, lived in the vicinity of Sedalia. ...
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Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, eighth-most populous city in Illinois. It is the principal city of the Peoria, Illinois, metropolitan area, Peoria metropolitan area in Central Illinois, consisting of Fulton County, Illinois, Fulton, Marshall County, Illinois, Marshall, Peoria, Stark County, Illinois, Stark, Tazewell County, Illinois, Tazewell, and Woodford County, Illinois, Woodford counties and home to 402,391 people in 2020. Established in 1691 by the French explorer Henri de Tonti, Peoria is the oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois, according to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Originally known as Fort Clark, it received its current name when the Peoria County, County of Peoria was organized in 1825. The city was named after the Peoria peop ...
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Max Morath
Max Edward Morath (October 1, 1926 – June 19, 2023) was an American ragtime pianist, composer, actor, and author. He was best known for his piano playing and is referred to as "Mr. Ragtime". He was a touring performer as well as being variously a composer, recording artist, actor, playwright, and radio and television presenter. Rudi Blesh billed Morath as a "one-man ragtime army". Early life and education Max Edward Morath was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He studied piano and harmony as a child and was exposed to the rudiments of ragtime piano by his mother, a schooled pianist who had spent several years playing for silent films. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Colorado College in 1948, before embarking on a career that included jobs in radio and television, jazz, and theater. In the midst of this, Morath earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1996 in American studies. Career Early years His appearances as pianist and musical director ...
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Adam Swanson
Adam G. Swanson is an American Ragtime and Old-Time Music Pianist. He is known for his fast, energetic, and enthusiastic approach to playing ragtime. Swanson's career in ragtime piano began in 2003, when he won the junior division of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival as a ten-year-old. He has since become one of the most popular ragtime artists of this time. Swanson has performed at Carnegie Hall, and has received many prestigious awards, such as first place in the Regular Division of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival in 2008, 2009, 2010, and returning in 2015 (which made him the only four-time winner of the contest throughout its entire history), first place in the Junior Division of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival in 2003, 2004, and 2006 (he became the youngest ever winner of the Junior Division at 10), first place in New Rag Contest of the World Championship Old-Time Piano P ...
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Ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott Joplin, James Scott (composer), James Scott, and Joseph Lamb (composer), Joseph Lamb. Ragtime pieces (often called "rags") are typically composed for and performed on piano, though the genre has been adapted for a variety of instruments and styles. Ragtime music originated within African Americans, African American communities in the late 19th century and became a distinctly American form of popular music. It is closely related to American march music, marches. Ragtime pieces usually contain several distinct themes, often arranged in patterns of repeats and reprises. Scott Joplin, known as the "King of Ragtime", gained fame through compositions like "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer (rag), The Entertainer". Ragtime influ ...
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Friend Like Me
"Friend Like Me" is the song from Disney's 1992 animated feature film '' Aladdin'', performed by Robin Williams in his role as the Genie. The song is also performed by Will Smith in 2019 live-action remake. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 65th Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 50th Golden Globe Awards in 1993. Production The song was originally designed as a Cab Calloway-style big band number. Some elements of this concept remain (for instance, when the Genie scats, in typical Calloway moves), but after Robin Williams was cast it was expanded as a more comedic, pop-culture-filled song. ScreenCrush stated that remnants of the previous version of the film can be seen in this sequence: Synopsis After being released from his lamp by Aladdin, the Genie announces that he can grant three wishes to give the thief nearly anything he desires. When Aladdin expresses skepticism over the extent of the Genie's po ...
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The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film ''Steamboat Willie.'' The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, ...
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Aladdin (1992 Disney Film)
''Aladdin'' is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under Walt Disney Pictures. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Based on the Arabic folktale " Aladdin" from '' One Thousand and One Nights'', the screenplay was co-written by Musker and Clements alongside Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The voice cast includes Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, and Douglas Seale, with Lea Salonga performing Jasmine's singing voice. The story follows the titular character, Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin who discovers a magic lamp containing a genie, with whose help he disguises himself as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan of Agrabah to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, as the Sultan's evil vizier, Jafar, plots to steal the magic lamp. Lyrici ...
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Maple Leaf Rag
The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered on September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime musical piece composed for piano by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, becoming the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers. It is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces. Its success led to Joplin being dubbed the "King of Ragtime" by his contemporaries. The piece gave Joplin a steady if unspectacular income for the rest of his life. Despite ragtime's decline after Joplin's death in 1917, the "Maple Leaf Rag" continued to be recorded by many well-known artists. The ragtime revival of the 1970s brought it back to mainstream public notice once again. Background The "Maple Leaf Rag" is associated with the city of Sedalia, Missouri, although there is no record of Joplin having a permanent residence there before 1904. Joplin arrived in Sedalia in 1894 as a touring musician and stayed with the family of Arthur Marshall, who later became one of Joplin's stude ...
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