Seva Venet featuring Dr. Michael White
The Banjo and the Road to Ragtime — A Belle Époque Evening
presented by The New Orleans Ragtime Festival
Fri, Oct 2 at 7pm
Join New Orleans pianist Victor Campbell, featured in the 2026 film Sinners, for a special program exploring the dances, rhythms, and early syncopated music that paved the way for ragtime.
Created especially for the 10th Anniversary New Orleans Ragtime Festival.
Tickets: $35 at the door
The Banjo and the Road to Ragtime — Belle Époque Night
Step back into the musical world that came before ragtime.
For this special 10th Anniversary New Orleans Ragtime Festival performance, banjoist Seva Venet leads an ensemble featuring New Orleans jazz legend Dr. Michael White in a program exploring the musical traditions, rhythms, and social dances that helped shape the sound of ragtime.
Drawing from the lively musical world of the Belle Époque and early New Orleans, the ensemble will explore waltzes, mazurkas, schottisches, quadrilles, polkas, marches, cakewalks, and other early syncopated dance music. Bringing together banjo, clarinet, and the sounds of a New Orleans ensemble, the performance will trace the connections between the music and dances of an earlier era and the syncopated music that followed.
The result is a special performance created for the festival, offering a glimpse into the musical world on the threshold of ragtime and the rich New Orleans traditions that helped carry these sounds forward.
Join us for an evening of music, history, and discovery as we explore Before Ragtime.
Tickets will be $40 at the door.
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