Grundy County Friends of the Arts final program for the 2010-2011 season will be held on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Wesley United Methodist Church.
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Performing for that evening will be the “TurpinTyme Ragsters,” a seven-piece ragtime music ensemble based in Kansas City. Earlier in the day, the “Ragsters” will present an educational assembly to the students at Rissler Elementary School.
The “Ragsters” were formed in 1993 with a desire to play a unique style of music. They recreate, from the original arrangements, the ragtime sounds of composers Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, “Jelly Roll” Morton, Tom Turpin (their namesake), along with many others. The “Ragsters” repertoire reflects the diversity of music from “turn of the century” America, including songs like “The Entertainer”, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, “Tiger Rag”, “12th Street Rag” and many more.
The artists who make up the “Ragsters” are all professional musicians with various degrees in music performance and music education. Gary Richmond, cornet, is the leader of the group and has performed and toured with the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey and Ray Anthony. He also leads and has organized many other groups including the Blue and Gray Brass Brigade, a Civil War-era music group, and a 14-piece German band, Festus-Mussitate. He maintains a full performance calendar playing shows, weddings, dances, etc.
Greg Briggs, clarinet, and Mark Colicky, tenor sax, are both freelance woodwind performers in the Kansas City area, have performed regularly at venues like Starlight Theater and/or with many national artists including international tours, and also are clinicians/private instructors in local schools and colleges.
Steve Hooge, tuba, has played almost every kind of music possible, from orchestral to jazz to rock, polka, blues, klemperers and bluegrass. He is an aficionado of early jazz and ragtime history.
Mike Thompson, drums, returned to the Kansas City area after several successful years performing in the Los Angeles area. He has the ability to play styles from big band to jazz to polkas. He also is a clinician/private instructor in local schools and colleges.
Dan Strom, trombone, also performs with the New Red Onion Jazz Babies in the Kansas City area. He has performed with many national artists at local venues. He is a clinician/private instructor in local schools and colleges.
Last, but not least, is Nora Hustle, piano. She is a top rated solo pianist who performs and lectures at ragtime festivals around the USA while seeking out unrevealed ragtime gems by women composers. She also plays ragtime regularly on a unique local “live” TV show, “Pepper & Friends,” on KOU-TV in Columbia.
Performance tickets will be $8 at the door. Friends of the Arts season ticketholders and NCMC students will be admitted free with proper ID. Students ages 13-18 will be admitted for half-price and those 12-and-under will be admitted free, when accompanied by an adult.
Corporate co-sponsors for assistance with all events are: City of Trenton, Hy-Vee Food Store, Jim Bush, Maggie’s Mess of Books/Maggie Bush, North Central Missouri College, PAR Broadcast Group, Trenton Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Trenton Rotary Club, Trenton Republican-Times and US Bancorp Foundation. Additional co-sponsors are: Lockridge, Constant and Conrad, Mark and Karen Cole, Hoffman and Reed/Phil and Connie Hoffman, and Premium Standard Farms and by donations from other businesses and individuals in the community. Financial assistance is also provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.