The syncopated, toe-tapping sound of ragtime returns to Conroe this month. The Conroe Symphony Orchestra presents “An Afternoon of Ragtime” on Saturday, August 22, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. at the Conroe Symphony Centre, 1500 North Frazier in Conroe. The event is free and open to the public, and guests are welcome to stay for the full afternoon or come and go as they please.
Part of the Conroe Symphony’s Salon Series — which features soloists and smaller ensembles — this marks the seventh installment in a “somewhat-annual” tradition of ragtime concerts, according to organizer Bill Thompson.
“This year’s event will see the return of favorite performers from across Texas, plus some local participants,” Thompson said. Members of the San Antonio Ragtime Society — including Monty Suffern, Brooks Christensen, Will Partridge, Steuart Dewar, and Belinda Huber — will travel to Conroe to perform ragtime favorites such as “Texas Fox Trot,” “The Thriller,” “Tiger Rag,” and “Red Peppers.”
The afternoon will also spotlight local talent. Stephanie Harris, principal flutist for the orchestra, will lead the group Flute Rhapsody in James Scott’s “Great Scott Rag” and Irving Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” Conroe piano teacher Alecia Russell will join Thompson for a piano-duet arrangement of May Aufderheide’s “Blue Ribbon Rag,” and Thompson and Partridge will duet on Ted Snyder’s “Wild Cherries Rag.” Abby Jo Jackson is scheduled to perform “Dill Pickles” and Scott Joplin’s iconic “The Entertainer.
”Ragtime — sometimes spelled “rag-time” or “rag time” — is an American musical style that reached peak popularity between 1895 and 1919. Its signature trait is a syncopated, or “ragged,” rhythm that gives the music its lively, forward-leaning swing…