Man's innovative talent plays in Peoria
Classically trained pianist wins ragtime world championship
The Charlotte Observer
Rob CopelandMany people discover their true self when they go to college.
Classically trained Eytan Uslan, 27, found out he was a 1920s-style ragtime pianist.
Uslan recently won the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Competition in Peoria, Ill, beating 24 competitors for the top prize.
"No one's going to teach it to you -- you have to do it yourself," he said by phone from Sedalia, Mo., where he played at the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival.
It's all about freedom, said Uslan, who moved to this area in 2004 from Indiana. This fall he will be an adjunct professor of music at UNC Charlotte, teaching a music appreciation class.
With ragtime music, he can display some "piano pyrotechnics" and deviate from the notes on the page.
"If I play a Beethoven sonata, I have to play the words he wrote, but if I play a song from the '20s, I'm expected to something original and to put my own stamp on it," he explained. "Really, the sky's the limit."
That attitude served him well in Peoria, where he twisted a Chopin nocturne into a foxtrot and played a ragtime version of the traditional Southern standby "My Old Kentucky Home."
Uslan's tendency to take risks and start from scratch sets him apart from his piano-playing competitors, said Bryan Wright, a fellow Peoria contestant.
"He'll play with his hands crossed one over another," Wright said. "He has his own unique touches."
In spite of the dated music, Uslan is not only playing to the retirement home crowd -- though that is certainly a large chunk of his income. He has sold several thousand copies of his debut album, "Carolina Moon" by playing at the airport, country clubs and various private events.
The album was funded by a $2,945 grant from the N.C. Arts Council's Regional Artist Project Grant Program, which supports emerging and established artists in a variety of disciplines. Uslan was one of 18 recipients selected by a panel to receive grants in 2006.
"The panel scores were extremely high in both artistic excellence and project merit," program director Cathy McCann said. "He's a pretty impressive piano player."
Uslan has been successful enough that in February, he quit his day job as a librarian at Johnson C. Smith University to focus full time on his music. Instead of circulation desks and book reshelving, he's playing for silent movies and giving private lessons.
There is no set career path, however, for a pianist born half a century too late.
The Internet helps, because there are online radio stations devoted exclusively to 1920s music and message boards where ragtime aficionados can gather from across the nation, Uslan said.
"I find that when I play you never know who is going to come up and say, `Hey, I like this music,' " he said.
Charlotte is fertile ground for ragtime piano playing, Uslan said, adding that he received a warm response when he played at the Tosco Music Party.
"Charlotte's a good place for this. It's a big city," he said. "I've figured out how to make a living here, but the challenge now is I'd like to do more."
