Who is Scott Joplin?
Scott Joplin is a name that is well-recognized by ragtime music lovers. He is often called “The King of Ragtime” and his contribution to American music is prolific and powerful. Scott Joplin received a posthumous Pulitzer Committee award in 1976 for his outstanding achievement in American music. Today, Sedalia, Missouri is known for its annual Scott Joplin Festival. Joplin’s father was a slave who became a laborer. His mother worked in white-owned homes, and this is where Scott Joplin first had access to a piano. Later, Julius Weiss, a German-born Texarkana music teacher, taught Joplin how to play European opera and classical music. He started his music career by working in the minstrel shows in Texarkana in 1891 and also as a bandleader and cornet player in Chicago during the World’s Fair in 1893. Scott Joplin settled in Sedalia, Missouri and played in black bands. His own band, The Texas Medley Quartet sang in Syracuse, New York in 1895. During this period, Joplin had his songs “A Pi
