Shirley
Case, a classically trained pianist, began lessons at age five
in Kansas City, Missouri, near the heartland of ragtime. Her first
degree was in art at UCLA, followed by marriage to Storm Case
and a return to Laguna Beach, where she taught classical piano
for 32 years. It was during this time that Shirley earned a Master
of Music in piano performance at Cal State Fullerton.
During the teaching years, Shirley combined her backgrounds in
music and art, performing concerts featuring the music and art
of various countries such as France (Debussy), Ireland (John Field),
Spain (Granados) and Norway (Grieg). She illustrated these programs
with slides taken in her travels to these countries.
The last of these programs featured ragtime music, and Shirley
became hooked on this joyful music after a visit to the Scott
Joplin Festival in Sedalia, MO. This program was illustrated with
slides of ragtime piano covers, gleaned from a friend’s
extensive collection. Her appearance at various festivals was
launched by a performance of “Eubie’s Classical Rag”
at a master class taught by Scott Kirby and Jeff Barnhart at the
West Coast Ragtime Festival. Invitations to perform followed,
including the Scott Joplin Festival, Blind Boone Festival, West
Coast Ragtime Festival, Sutter Creek, Old Town Music Hall and,
since 2001, RagFest.
Her CD, “Ragtime Feast,” features some of her favorite
composers. These include the “Big Three” of Classic
ragtime – Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb and James Scott –
as well as Eubie Blake and some of the many fine women ragtime
composers. The CD was recorded live, by Sonny Leyland, on the
Steinway piano at the Case residence, with notes edited by Eric
Marchese.
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