Pianist Diego Bustamante returns to Redding to offer a program of mostly ragtime. He will explore the history of America's first homegrown genre of popular music through a variety of works by Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, and more. While Joplin represents the epitome of "classic" ragtime, Blake shows ragtime's evolution toward early jazz. Despite the contrast in their styles, these two figures were both actively composing during the 1900's and 1910's (and for Blake, all the way into the 70's)! And what ragtime recital would be complete without some late Beethoven, right? Diego will have the honor of giving us all musical/historical/emotional whiplash by taking us back to 1820 with Ludwig van Beethoven's sublime Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109. This sonata, written when Beethoven was fully deaf and in the last decade of his life, contains some of his most heartfelt and introspective piano music.