By Aaron Brand
Texarkana Gazette
TEXARKANA, Ark. -The Regional Music Heritage Center and the Scott Joplin Support Group will partner for a seriously special soiree and celebration on Saturday, Nov. 30 - namely, a birthday bash for Scott Joplin.
The king of ragtime music and a native son to the Texarkana area, Joplin gets his birthday due starting at 6 p.m. downtown that night at the 1894 Gallery and City Market. The public is invited to join the festivities.
In addition to the artistic, stylish setting in a refurbished wholesale grocery building and snazzy, present-day art gallery, party-goers can enjoy live music with Three of a Kind and jazz vocalists Candace Taylor, John Edwards and Carol Collins-Miles.
Additional entertainment is provided by several hometown pianists and music teachers affiliated with the Allegro Music Teachers of Texarkana playing ragtime music; a performance of "A Real Slow Drag" (from Joplin's opera "Treemonisha") by Collins-Miles, Taylor and Billy Brown; a silent auction (with art by H.M. Fort Jr.); snacks, wine and beer and much more.
Expect to enjoy a grand entrance with a photographer on duty.
"We'll have a red carpet entrance that we love so much," said Collins-Miles, a board member of the RMHC and director of the Scott Joplin Support Group, which has promoted Joplin's importance here since the late 1990s.
The Fort painting will depict a young Joplin seated at the piano. Lithograph prints of the painting will be available at the Museum of Regional History. Also donated for the auction are two round-trip Amtrak tickets for travel to San Antonio and Austin from Texarkana.
Silent auction proceeds will be dedicated the SJSG and Main Street Texarkana's Skyscape "Music in the Air" project with welded and lighted sculptures situated on top of various rooftop locations in downtown Texarkana.
Get your tickets early for this Joplin shindig.
"We kind of encourage reservations. We had a good crowd last year," Collins-Miles said, noting plans call for this birthday celebration to be held annually. "It's always the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend," she said.
(Tickets: online at RMHcenter.org for $15 in advance or $20 at the door; tables of eight for $100; student tickets are $10. Reservations recommended. More info: Contact Carol Collins-Miles at 903-490-5471 or [email protected], or email Vicki Carr at [email protected].)