Scott Joplin (1867-1917) 2/5. The Ragtime Craze Donald Macleod talks to Joplin biographer Susan Curtis about how the Chicago World Fair and economic crisis of 1893 helped the ragtime craze take hold, and the obstacles Joplin faced as an African-American composer aspiring to write an opera. The Entertainer Mimi Blais (piano) Swipesy Cake Walk; Peacherine Rag Scott Kirby (piano) Easy Winners (arr. Brubeck) Chris Brubeck (trombone/piano/bass guitar) Bill Crofut (banjo) Joel Brown (guitar) London Symphony Orchestra Joel Revzen (conductor) The Strenuous Life (arr. Perlman) Itzhak Perlman (violin) Andre Previn (piano) Elite Syncopations (arr. Perlman) Matthew Trusler (violin) Wayne Marshall (piano) The Sacred Tree; Surprised; Treemonisha's bringing up; Good Advice; Confusion (Treemonisha) Monisha ...... Betty Allen (mezzo-soprano) Treemonisha ...... Carmen Balthrop (soprano) Parson Alltalk ...... Edward Pierson (tenor) Lucy ...... Cora Johnson (soprano) Ned ...... Willard White (bass) Remus ...... Curtis Rayam (tenor) Chorus and Orchestra of Houston Grand Opera Gunther Schuller (conductor).