HomeRagtime pianist MacArthur

Contact: Megan Humphrey
Campaign Coordinator
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For Immediate Release
December 16, 2005                                 

Ragtime pianist, MacArthur "genius grant" winner to be featured at ALA Midwinter Curley Lecture

CHICAGO - The 7th Annual Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture will bring one of the foremost ragtime pianists in the world to the ALA San Antonio Midwinter Meeting.  Reginald R. Robinson, winner of a 2004 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," will perform on Saturday, January 21, 2006, at 4p.m.in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Room 007.  

A self-taught pianist and composer, Robinson has been praised for reviving classical ragtime music, the early 20th century American music form for which composer Scott Joplin was renowned. Robinson's love of ragtime music began as a child when he heard a Joplin piece performed at his Chicago elementary school.  In addition to composing and performing, Robinson has studied the history of ragtime music and discovered and recorded a previously unknown Joplin fragment found in the archives of Fisk University.

The Chicago Tribune's jazz critic, Howard Reich, has said of Robinson, "Though he wowed critics with his fresh interpretation of a century-old genre, Robinson toiled for years in musical obscurity.  Good thing somebody knew a genius when they heard one."

The Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture aims to examine many different aspects of the broad intellectual, cultural, artistic and political life in which librarians play a crucial role.  It honors ALA past president Arthur Curley, who served as president of ALA in 1994-1995. Curley was a champion of the arts and of the library's role in providing for them. 

The San Antonio lecture is presented under the auspices of the ALA Public Awareness Committee with generous support from the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, contributions from ALA members, the ALA Public Information Office and The Campaign for America's Libraries. 

For information on how to contribute to the Arthur Curley Memorial Fund, please contact the ALA Development Office at 800-545-2433, ext. 5050, or e-mail development@ala.org. 

Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture Subcommittee members include Lawrence J. Corbus, Chair, John W. Berry,  Michele V. Cloonan, Rhonda Herman, Norman L. Maas, Cheryl M. McCoy, Madeline F. Miele, Ann K. Symons, and Kenneth A. Yamashita.