Video: Gatsby Gala Attracts Crowd to MSU

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – (WCBI) Flappers and foot tappers took over Mississippi State Thursday evening. The 9th Annual Charles H. Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival began with the Gatsby Gala fashion show.

The MSU Fashion board modeled the 1920’s fashions, designed and sewn by design students. The next two days will be filled with concerts, activities and seminars.

The MSU Library and McComas Hall are the two main sites of this weekend’s festival.

The press release below:

STARKVILLE, Miss.– (PRESS RELEASE) On the two succeeding days, evening concerts will be performed by three solo artists and one duo. The Friday [March 27] and Saturday [March 28] musical programs take place in the nearby McComas Hall main auditorium.

General admission fees range from $50 each for all festival events to $10 each for the major concerts, with lesser amounts for senior citizens and retired MSU faculty and staff members. University students with current identification cards attend free. Admission to the Gatsby Gala is free.

Program and admission details are found at http://library.msstate.edu/ragtime/. A detailed listing of events also is available at http://library.msstate.edu/ragtimefestival/schedule.

The 2015 festival performers include:

–Richard Dowling, a Steinway artist known for an elegant and exciting style and rising international stature. He regularly appears in solo recitals and orchestral concerts around the world. For more, see www.richard-dowling.com.

–Ivory&Gold, the team of Jeff Barnhart and wife Anne who have been praised by L.A. Jazz Scene for the ability to “draw out the beauty in the rich melodies and play the musicwith taste, sensitivity, and a real affection for the idiom.” The duo’s performances are a celebration of American jazz, blues, ragtime, Broadway and hits from the Great American Songbook. For more, see www.ivoryandgold.net.

–Scott Kirby, a specialist in American and Pan-American musical traditions spanning 150 years. An Ohio-based pianist, composer and visual artist, he is considered “today’s best player of Scott Joplin’s music,” with appearances at every major U.S. ragtime festival and events throughout Europe. Learn more at www.scottkirby.net.

–Dave Majchrzak, who has performed on the piano since age 6. As a rhythm section member of the Missouri-based Don Scherrer Banjo Bands, he now is featured with the St. Louis Stompers Classic Jazz Band, among other local venues, and at national festivals from California to Florida. For more, see www.ragtimedrdave.com.

Previously an event exclusively featuring piano and concentrating mainly on ragtime, the Templeton Festival is “spreading its wings to include more instruments and styles,” said Dean of Libraries Frances Coleman.

Coleman said audiences should “look forward to the sounds of stride, boogie, blues, novelty, swing, New Orleans jazz, some Gershwin and, of course, a healthy serving of ragtime.

“From the wild, hot piano of Dave Majchrzak to the pastel-tinged Art Deco pianisms of Richard Dowling to the torrid New Orleans rag, jazz and blues heritage of Scott Kirby and impressive eclecticism of Ivory&Gold, this year’s festival truly has something for everyone,” added Barnhart.

As an added festival feature, free public viewings of “African American Treasures,” a section of The Kinsey Collection–among the largest private collections of its kind in the world–will be available March 21-June 20 in Mitchell’s third-floor John Grisham Room.

Owned by Bernard and Shirley Kinsey of Los Angeles, the display of art, artifacts, books and manuscripts celebrates African-Americans’ achievements and accomplishments throughout U.S. history, especially in culture and art.

The Templeton Festival is made possible with support from the Starkville Convention and Visitors Council and Starkville Area Arts Council, as well the Mississippi Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information about the Gala, contact Leilani Salter at 662-325-2559 or lsalter@library.msstate.edu. Additional details about the Templeton Collection and Museum can be found at http://library.msstate.edu/ragtime/. Follow the MSU Libraries at facebook.com/msulibrary, pinterest.com/MsStateLibrary and twitter.com/msu_libraries.

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