FULLERTON, Calif., Oct. 10, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RagFest, Southern California's own annual festival of ragtime music, is here!
The event, sponsored by Friends of Jazz, unfolds in downtown Fullerton on October 25 and 26, offering a full weekend of live ragtime music, with a variety of piano music, instrumentals and vocals.
Steamers Jazz Club, 138 W. Commonwealth Ave., is festival headquarters and the check-in point for all fans, whether will-call or walk-up. Mo's Fullerton Music, the Imperial Ballroom and Osborne Auditorium (public library) are participating venues, each within a few minutes' walk of one another.
Ragtime is the pop music that grew up in America in the late 19th century and flourished until the late teens. With its tangy, swingy, loose melodic rhythms - called "syncopations" - and its steady march beat, it's the foundation of most of today's popular musical forms.
Each year, Friends of Jazz, a California non-profit educational corporation, offers endowments to these youth pianists, ages eight through 19. This year's festival will feature several such young musicians.
RagFest's daytime programs run till 5 p.m. both days. Things get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 25) and noon Sunday (Oct. 26). Solos, duets, singers and more are on the bill all day long at five venues.
This year's roster of talent includes Ian Whitcomb, Bill Edwards, Mark Allen Jones, Janet Klein, Bill Mitchell and Brad Kay. To see digital images of RagFest 2007, go to http://ragfest.com/RagFest2007Photos/RagFest2007Photopage1.htm
Steamers offers performances by all of the festival's headliners as well as featured performers and guest artists. A variety of musicians will entertain at Mo's Music, including many two-man, four-handed versions of great ragtime pieces.
For those who love to dance, The Heliotrope Ragtime Orchestra provides authentic period arrangements at the Imperial Ballroom on Sunday. This year's ballroom program includes free dance instruction and dance and costume contests.
The library venue will host solo pianists plus two special programs devoted to re-creating the aura of a silent movie house via screening of silent films accompanied by piano.
An all-star Ragtime Revue show is offered on Saturday night, October 25, at the library, with festival headliners and special guests alike in a delightful two-hour variety show format. Curtain time is 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person advance, $25 at the door.
Rounding out the weekend is the Youth Forum concert on Sunday afternoon at the library venue featuring youngsters performing ragtime music.
Tickets for afternoon segments only are $25 per person advance, $30 at the door.
All-events passes are available at $60 per person covering the entire weekend. (All tickets $5 higher at the door.) Children 15 and under are admitted free of charge if accompanied by paid adult or guardian. Senior discount (65 or older) is 10%. Groups of 10 or more enjoy a 20% discount.
For more information, contact Friends of Jazz at 714-680-6684. Tickets can be ordered online by credit card, via PayPal, by going to ragfest.com.