Winners of the 30th Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival Composition Contest Announced

The winning rag was composed by Martin Spitznagel and runner up composed by Brett Youens.
Winning cover art designed by Laura Luciano.

Brett Youens was born in Weimar, Texas in 1974.  He fell in love with Ragtime and the music of early 20th century America at an early age, performing "Basin Street Blues" on the trombone accompanied by his school band at age 12.  After completing his studies in Music and German at the University of Texas at Austin, Brett moved to Germany to concentrate on composition and piano performance, where he earned a degree in Piano Pedagogy in 2005.  He has written numerous concert and pedagogical works, including the piano method, "Snowman's Dream" which makes use of the latest in brain research to accelerate the piano learning process.  His latest CD, "Elite Syncopations: The music and influence of the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin", includes works by Joplin and those he inspired: from Joseph Lamb to Claude Debussy to Brett himself, who is represented by two of his own published rags.  His current projects include, “The Well-Tempered Ragtimer”, a cycle of ragtime works in all of the major keys, and "Fun on the Black Keys", a method book that teaches how easy it can be to play pieces with many sharps and flats.  His work, “The Gift of the Magi”, a ragtime musical based on the O’Henry short story, premiered in Texas in August of 2007.  Brett currently resides in Tuebingen, Germany where he is active as a teacher, conductor, and ragtime pianist.

Martin Spitznagel has been hailed as a “remarkable, exhausting, and utterly astonishing” talent. A native of Pittsburgh, Martin discovered his love of the piano and a curious music called “ragtime” early, winning a Yamaha Disklavier piano at the age of 14 in Calliope Media’s nationwide “Crazy for Ragtime” competition.
    In the years since he has been an active composer and performer, studying with noted jazz pianist and pedagogue Tony Caramia and Grammy-nominated pianist Brian Holland. He has been a featured performer at music festivals across the country including the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO, and the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, CA.
    In October 2007, in association with Rivermont Records, he released his debut album, “Tricky Fingers,” which music legend Max Morath declared “a stunning piece of work.”
     When he is not at the piano, Martin works as an instructional designer, writer, and filmmaker. He lives in Alexandria, VA, with his wife, Jessica.