Rags, Those Beautiful Rags: Ragtime Music from the Guinness Collection
WHEN: opened on June 20 and will run until November 10, 2013, then in 2014 it will be offered as a traveling exhibit to other institutional venues.
WHERE: Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Rd., Morristown
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This exhibit celebrates the ragtime origins and its difficulty overcoming the established societal “norms” of the day, through to the successful popularization of Ragtime music. The exhibition includes two dozen examples of rare 19th & 20th century sheet music featuring eye-catching “Tin Pan Alley” cover artwork by the likes of William & Frederick Starmer, André DeTakas, Joseph Hirt, John Frew, Walter Dittmar, et al.
In addition, numerous ragtime-playing mechanical musical instruments from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection can be seen & heard by the public via sound stations, which highlight the instruments displayed, whilst performing period syncopated melodies, the earliest being an 1852 cyl. musical box performing Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s “Bamboula, Danse des Negres.” The latest being a Seeburg ‘L’ (Lilliputian), Coin-Piano from the late 1920’s, made by J.P. Seeburg Piano Company, Chicago, IL..
We invite all to visit & enjoy this exhibit during its run here at the Morris Museum.
Special programs: Attendance is limited—please be sure to call & reserve your seat.
The Castles: Making Ragtime Respectable
WHEN: Thursday, September 19, 6:00 – 7:00 PM
ADMISSION: Program: $20. members, $25. non-members. Call 973.971.3706 to register.
Music historian Michael Lasser shares the story of dance team, Irene and Vernon Castle, and their role in moving ragtime from risqué to respectable in mainstream American music.
Joseph F. Lamb: A Passion for Ragtime
WHEN: Sunday, October 20, 2:30 – 3:30 PM
ADMISSION: This event is free with Museum admission. Call 973.971.3706 to register.
Author and musician Carol Binkowski presents Joseph Lamb, considered to be one of ragtime’s “big three” composers, and will also perform a few delightful ragtime tunes for our enjoyment!
