About Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Spaces of Deschutes County: 1900-1918
When Bend became a city in 1905, ragtime
music by Midwesterner Scott Joplin and other African American composers
dominated entertainment venues across the US. Even in Deschutes County, Oregon,
ragtime enlivened town life for at least 20 years, proving unexpected ties to
Tin Pan Alley and the Eastern commercial music industry at the turn of the 20th
century.
Joplin's joyful compositions reflected the
vibrancy of the first generation of African Americans born after the
Emancipation Proclamation. Today, Joplin's piano rags rank among the world's
artistic masterworks.
Join local music educator, pianist, and
scholar Kendra Kay Friar for an interactive discussion of Scott Joplin's
enduring influence on American culture and on the popular entertainment scene
of Deschutes County's early years.
Kendra Kay Friar, EdD, is an adjunct
professor of music at Pacific University and the academic editor of the Journal
of General Music Education. She has worked as an elementary music teacher,
a children's choir director, and Portland-based collaborative pianist for over
20 years. Her work has been published in Music Educators Journal, Journal
of General Music Education, and Oregon Music Educator. In 2021, she
received the Outstanding Elementary Music Educator Award from Oregon Music
Educators Association. She researches music education history to restore
multicultural voices to modern teaching resources.
