This photo of Morgan Siever was taken in November 2007 in Alton, Ill., as Morgan competed for the Guild Award with the Alton Symphony Orchestra. There is only one prize, and she did not receive it in 2007 but won it when she was only 8. She's now 11 and is one of several amazing young ragtimers who are appearing on the ragtime festival circuit. (Photo: Natale Siever)

An Interview with Morgan Siever

by David Reffkin

One of the youngest guests ever to be interviewed on "The Ragtime Machine," Morgan Siever thoughtfully and articulately answered questions and offered opinions. She described with confidence her interest in ragtime piano, music in general, and how she plans her time for musical activities along with sports and other interests. I first learned of her from the CD of a recital sponsored by the Friends of Scott Joplin organization in St. Louis, in which at age nine she played a little number called "Dizzy Fingers." This interview was recorded when she reached the ripe old age of 11. I also spoke with her mother, Natale, and I include that conversation for the benefit of parents who may now or eventually have a young musician in the house. The following interview was broadcast on my weekly program, "The Ragtime Machine," which airs Monday evenings on KUSF-FM/kusf.org,, San Francisco, Calif.

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David Reffkin: Are you known in your town as the kid who plays ragtime?

Morgan Siever: We have a small town, and not many people play piano there, so I am one of the best known piano players who is of a young age.

DR: What is this town, and what is it near?

MS: It is Carlyle, Illinois. It's an hour east of St. Louis.

DR: Have you heard anyone else in Illinois who plays ragtime?

MS: I have heard some people, a lot in St. Louis and Missouri. I've got exposure in Sedalia now. I did hear a lot of ragtimers in the World Championship Old-time Piano Playing Contest in Peoria, Illinois. This past year was the fourth year that I went, so I heard a lot of different players.

DR: You've entered this contest four times already, and how did you do in them?

MS: I've gotten really close to winning.

DR: How old was the oldest person in your age bracket?

MS: The age group is 17 and under.

DR: What were your composition pieces this year?

MS: I played "Doc Brown's Cakewalk" by Charles Johnson, and "I've Found a New Baby" by Spencer Williams.

DR: Do you keep pieces in your repertoire after the contests?

MS: Yes.

DR: How many rags do you know now?

MS: I have eight.

DR: And you play the real rags, not the simplified versions?

MS: Yes.

DR: How long have you been playing piano, and ragtime in particular?

MS: I've been playing four and a half years, and ragtime almost as long.

DR: How did you get your piano teacher to help you with ragtime?

MS: I don't really remember, but I just remember that I heard ragtime and I really liked the sound of it and how it is performed, and everything. So I thought I would just try to play it and see how it went, and it was successful.

DR: What were the first few rags that you learned?

MS: I think one of the earliest ones was "Elite Syncopations" [Scott Joplin] and "Sunburst Rag" [James Scott].

DR: "Sunburst Rag" is a rag hardly any ragtimers play, but you played it. Did these seem more difficult than the other piano music that you were learning?

MS: I think I was just getting out of my beginner books, and I found the easier versions of the rags, and they weren't as long, so I thought it would be a good start.

DR: Do you have other interests?

MS: I go to school, and I play basketball, softball, and soccer. I do summer basketball, and homework and everything for school. Sometimes it's tough to get practicing in, but I get it done.

DR: Are you aware of the possibility of injury to your fingers from sports?

MS: Yes. I jammed my thumb, and actually it hurt for quite a while. This happened recently, in the last month or two.

DR: Could you still play piano okay?

MS: I could still play, but for the first couple of days it hurt to play in the right hand, but after a while I got used to it, and it got better and better each day.

DR: Did you give second thoughts to continuing your basketball career?

MS: Yes I did, but I kept going.

DR: Do you have a circle of musical friends that you fit in with?

MS: Not particularly. I just started band this year, where I play flute. I have friends in that, and we have a good time. But there are not many people, or maybe nobody, in our community that play piano as I do. They are good, yes, but sometimes it's hard.

DR: Would you want to accompany other people on their instruments in some rags?

MS: We haven't really gotten into rags, because this is our first year as a group playing instruments. We're just learning notes and stuff, and it was a little hard, but we got through it. I was in the jazz band in the junior high. They weren't playing ragtime, necessarily, but we played a couple of jazz pieces. I played piano in that band.

DR: Do you change anything in the rags when you play them?

MS: Not particularly. We maybe take it up an octave, but we don't usually change the notes. If I'm doing really well in one part, and I want to do something special with it, I just add an octave higher or lower.

DR: So, it's an artistic decision?

MS: Yes.

DR: Who is your piano teacher?

MS: Dr. Stephanie Owen.

DR: Does she play rags, too?

MS: Yes, she plays many rags, but she has also taught me a lot of classical music. She helps me with rags, with the notes or rhythms. Sometimes I need help with syncopation, depending on the notes and how they're set up, or what the left hand is doing.

DR: Do you play Joplin's rags more than other composers' pieces? And can you tell the Joplin ones apart from the others?

MS: I actually don't play a lot of Joplin songs, just about three pieces. And you can tell in the trio sections that they have almost the same pattern going on, though they are a little different. And you can tell in Johnson and Confrey how they are different, in the trios, in the notes and the rhythm and everything.

DR: Are you going to be continuing what you are doing now for the next few years?

MS: Yes, I'll be continuing to play piano, add new rags to my repertoire, learn more classical songs in the next couple of years, and I like to learn concertos. They are the main pieces that I play, and I have a contest for them coming up this year.

DR: Did you know there are ragtime concertos?

MS: No.

DR: What grade are you in, and how does the grade system work where you live?

MS: I just finished the fifth grade, and the junior high is fifth to eighth grade.

DR: Getting far ahead here but I'd like to ask, do you think you'll be playing piano in college and getting a music degree?

MS: Yes, hopefully.

October 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

P.O. Box 19068, Minneapolis, MN 55419.