2025 Contest Judges & Guest Artists
Hailed by The New York Times as an especially impressive fine pianist, Richard Dowling appears regularly across the United States in solo recitals, at chamber music and jazz/ragtime festivals, and as a guest soloist in concerto performances with orchestras. He has been acclaimed by audiences for his elegant and exciting style of playing which earns him frequent return engagements. Career highlights include a sold-out New York orchestral debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, solo recitals at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York, and a special award from the National Federation of Music Clubs recognizing his outstanding performances of American music. Mr. Dowling has presented solo recitals in the Far East, South America, Australia, Africa, and Europe. Works of Chopin, Ravel, Gershwin, Gottschalk and ragtime figure prominently in his repertoire.
Mr. Dowling has received performance reviews that praise him as “a master of creating beautiful sounds with impeccable control of colors and textures” and as “a musician with something to say, the skill to say it and the magnetic power to make you want to listen” and for giving “a superb recital that left the audience craving for more at the end.”
He is also a versatile recording artist with over a dozen CDs of classical, chamber, ragtime, jazz, and popular music. His most recent recordings include Music of Old New York, a CD containing songs and piano rags inspired by The Big Apple at the turn of the century, and Gershwin for Two Pianos, a collection featuring Rhapsody in Blue and other beloved Gershwin works with virtuoso pianist Frederick Hodges.
On April 1, 2017 Mr. Dowling performed the complete piano works of the renowned American ragtime composer Scott Joplin in two historic sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, exactly 100 years to the day Joplin died in New York. He is the first pianist to perform the complete cycle of Joplin’s 53 rags, marches, waltzes and cakewalks in public. Throughout 2017 & 2018 Mr. Dowling performed nearly 100 all-Joplin recitals nationwide in commemoration of the centennial of Joplin’s death and the sesquicentennial of his birth. Rivermont Records released his Grammy-nominated 3-CD set, The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin. Veteran celebrity ragtime pianist Max Morath says “Richard Dowling’s mastery of the Joplin rags invokes a tenderness that charms us and a technical command
that inspires our admiration.”
In addition to his career as a concert pianist, Dowling works as an editor for Ludwig/Masters Music Publications and Alfred Music Publishing for whom he has produced critical performing editions of piano and chamber works by Zez Confrey, Debussy, Fauré, Gershwin, Hummel, Mendelssohn, and Ravel (including Ravel’s Piano Trio). In addition to his regular concert performances, Mr. Dowling enjoys performing as a member of the artist roster of The Piatigorsky Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing live classical music to audiences across America. Since 1994 he has performed nearly 1,300 recitals under its auspices both as a soloist and in collaboration with cellist Evan Drachman and other Piatigorsky Artists. Mr. Dowling resides in New York and is a Steinway Artist. He is represented by Parker Artists.
Sue Keller began her ragtime obsession in 1974. Since then, she has treated audiences to her piano and vocal performances throughout the world. Her appearances have ranged from the grand opening of Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston Harbor, to the fabled Mikado nightclub in Tokyo, across the continent of Australia, and even to the Great Wall of China.
Back in the USA, Sue has been recognized as one of the world’s top ragtime pianists. She was the music director of the prestigious Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, Missouri for 7 years and a director and officer of the World Old-Time Piano Championship in Peoria, Illinois for 14 years. She still judges contests from time to time and appears as a major supporting cast member in the award-winning independent movie, The Entertainers.
Sue has been untiringly active in promoting the ragtime form. Her recording projects have employed a unique and exciting digital process. Her first project produced in this manner, KeLLeRIZED, released in 1992, included both contemporary and traditional ragtime, old-time, novelty, and stride piano pieces. Over the course of 14 CDs (and counting), Sue often mixes exciting vocals together with both traditional and unique repertoires. In recent history, a growing number of her live performances have been videotaped and she has become the most filmed performer of ragtime in You-Tube history promising to influence the genre for generations to come. Sue is currently working with Jeff and Anne Barnhart on a Max Morath compilation.
In addition to Ragtime & Stride Piano, Sue also specializes in early Blues, the Christmas genre, the music of Johnny Mercer and Laura Nyro. But there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. Sue is currently working with the Peregrine Theatre Ensemble in Provincetown, MA, as rehearsal pianist and band member for RENT and CARRIE. This year’s offering is THE FULL MONTY, and she has been cast as an irascible piano player.
Paul Orsi, a ragtime pianist and composer, brings a unique high-energy style to America’s first popular music. From a young age, Paul has performed professionally in many venues, including Shakey’s Pizza Parlors, Clearman’s Northwood’s Inn, and most notably, a 10-year engagement as the Disneyland Coke Corner pianist. A three-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, Paul has appeared in several California Ragtime Festivals: West Coast Ragtime Festival, The San Diego Jazz Festival, The Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival and Ragfest in Orange County. He now resides with his wife, Sharon, in Surprise, Arizona.
Paul earned his Master’s Degree in music composition from UC Riverside. His “street” education comes from personal interaction for over 40 years with many notable ragtime performers: Dick Zimmerman, Max Morath, “Eubie” Blake, Sally Stanford, Rod Miller, Judy Carmichael, Johnny Hodges, Jim Omohundro, Jim Hession, Frederick Hodges, Tom Brier, Stephanie Trick, Paulo Alderighi, and Adam Swanson to name a few. Paul attributes much of his stylistic flair to these exceptionable musicians and honors their legacy through his playing.
Adam Swanson is one of the world’s foremost pianists and historians of vintage American popular music, including ragtime, early jazz, the Great American Songbook, and more. Adam has been a featured performer and lecturer at ragtime and jazz festivals across the United States and abroad, and he is the only four-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. He made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall at the age of nineteen, where he performed with Michael Feinstein. Adam appeared alongside pianist John Arpin at the Bohem Ragtime and Jazz Festival in the Republic of Hungary, and he has also toured Switzerland and Australia. Adam has accompanied silent films at the prestigious Cinecon Classic Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and performed privately for Oscar-winning Disney/Hollywood composer Richard M. Sherman (Mary Poppins, etc.). At the age of twenty-one, Adam performed a solo concert at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington, D.C.
Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in classical piano and a master’s in musicology from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. He has been mentored by other ragtime artists including the famed Max Morath and legendary 1950s recording artist Johnny Maddox, who was one of Adam’s greatest influences. Adam has recorded albums with noted musicians such as former rock star Ian Whitcomb, the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra, and the Bar D Wranglers, a classic western band. Adam’s recordings have been used on the CBC TV show Murdoch Mysteries. He lives in Durango, Colorado, where he frequently performs in the Diamond Belle Saloon at the Historic Strater Hotel. Listen to Adam’s livestream virtual concerts on his Facebook page and YouTube channel.