South Georgia State College (SGSC) is delighted to announce Mr. Ethan Uslan, a ragtime/jazz/silent film pianist, will be performing at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 in Peterson Hall’s McGouirk Auditorium on the Douglas Campus.
Based in Charlotte, N.C., Uslan is a three-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and has performed all over the United States and Europe. His jazzed-up “Für Elise” has gone viral online. Aside from solo work, Uslan has appeared with symphony orchestras, jazz bands, improv comedy groups, and even a clown show.
Uslan began studying classical piano at the age of 9 in his hometown of South Orange, N.J. He took jazz piano lessons as a teenager. In college at Indiana University, Uslan studied classical piano and musicology. At some point in college, Uslan had a musical identity crisis. He still loved Bach and Beethoven, but he realized he didn’t want to devote his life to classical music. Something about ragtime and early jazz was luring him in. Something about the rhythms, the harmonies, the catchy melodies, and the improvisations brought him joy. As a result, Uslan embarked on a plan to figure out how to play ragtime and early jazz styles, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Uslan plays locally in North Carolina but also travels to help pianos in need of syncopation treatment. His performances are filled with passion, humor, virtuosity, and a deep love for America’s rich musical past. His vast repertoire includes original arrangements of Civil-War era songs, New Orleans Jazz, 1920’s Charlestons, blues, stomps, Harlem stride piano, swing, Cuban rumbas, jazzed-up versions of classical masterpieces, and one Hawaiian song called “Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula.”
Uslan’s performance is the second event this spring in the Eames Speaker Series at SGSC. Privately funded, the Eames Speaker Series was created to support the vision of producing life-long learners well equipped to succeed in a diverse global society. As such, the series focuses on a variety of art, business, educational, literary, and musical professionals to provide unique learning opportunities for students and the community at large.
The community is invited to attend and enjoy this free event.
– Submitted by Walda Kight, SGSC Vice President for External Affairs