Scott Joplin is history’s most famous ragtime composer. Using a combination of Afro-American folk music and European romanticism, he elevated the genre above its “cheap bordello” origins, and created a new art form, the classic rag. These presentations will examine Joplin’s achievements, in ragtime and other genres, such as ballet and opera. Listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation for a great composer who revolutionized American music, and whose influence on subsequent composers and future genres was immense.