Scott Kirby, a native Ohioan, began studying music when he was six years old. He continued piano instruction for seventeen more years. Robert Howat of Wittenberg University of Ohio and Sylvia Zaremba of Ohio State University were his teachers. Kirby, who received an English degree at Ohio State University, moved to New Orleans where he began his professional musical career as a street performer. He recorded Scott Joplin’s complete rags over the next four years and made his debut at major ragtime festivals across the United States as well as festivals in New Zealand, France, Norway and New Zealand. Kirby was the Musical Director of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO and the Rocky Mountain Ragtime and American Music Festival, Boulder, CO. He also served as the director of San Juan Islands Ragtime Institute. He has appeared on CBS News Sunday Morning in 1998 with Charles Osgood, as well as at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. Kirby also co-founded Viridiana Productions L.L.C. He has recorded 25 albums and composed more than 150 original pieces for piano and other instruments. Charles Osgood, CBS News’ CBS News’ Charles Osgood, described Scott Kirby as “an ace pianist” and said that he was admired by George Winston and other pianists. He also believes that Scott Kirby is one of the most important ragtime interpreters on the scene today. Kirby currently lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he divides his time between teaching, painting, and performing. from http://scottkirby.net
