Meet the Team
Ted Lemen – Founder & Festival Emcee
hi_jeanx@yahoo.com
Now in his 53rd year as contest emcee, Ted Lemen came from a family where music was paramount, including a father who sang in a barbershop quartet and chorus, a mom who played violin and aunts and uncles who comprised a family octet. Years of clarinet lessons aside, it was an unused piano at home that got his attention, and he taught himself to play starting with just two fingers, singing along to hundreds of tunes from the 1890s through the Roaring 20s that he’d heard. While attending Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington IL, he founded the Monticello Railway Museum in 1966, revealing his second passion, trains. While still in school in 1967, he was hired by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor after playing piano for 57 hours and 31 minutes in a piano marathon sponsored by the local Wurlitzer dealer.
As publicity director for the railway museum in 1975, he started the piano contest as a fundraiser, and after just a couple of years, hundreds of spectators brought their own lawn chairs to sit outdoors and listen to piano players compete from the platform of an old railroad car while steam trains chugged past. After welcoming more than 500 piano players from across the United States and other countries to the stage at several locations in Central Illinois, the contest wound up in Oxford MS in 2016, and Ted continues to be part of a dedicated group that promotes piano performance of Ragtime, honky-tonk and standard tunes for fame, trophies and cash prizes.
Ian Hominick – Artistic Director & Local Coordinator
oldtimepianocontest@olemiss.edu
A native of Nova Scotia, Ian Hominick attended graduate school in the U.S., receiving his doctorate in Piano Performance from Ohio State University. He served as assistant to the legendary American pianist Earl Wild who played for five presidents, gave the very first televised piano concert and served as the music arranger for Sid Caesar’s “Show of Shows” in Hollywood. Mr. Hominick also served as assistant to Tchaikovsky Competition silver-medalist André Laplante. The Toronto Star has described his playing as exhibiting “flawless technique and high style.” An active soloist, adjudicator and teacher, he has maintained a busy schedule of concerts and master classes across the United States, Canada and in Europe.
He has three critically-acclaimed CD’s to date. All Music Guide praises Hominick’s “… glowing pianism and a genuine desire to entertain.” Hominick is the Piano Area Chair at the University of Mississippi; is past president of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association; former Director of the Piano Discoveries Summer Camp; and Artistic Director the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest & Festival. Hominick’s first book, “Earl Wild: The Brilliant Career of an American Pianist” was released by Bloomsbury Press in October, 2026 and details the diverse career of Earl Wild as a pianist, composer and arranger through his days in radio and television and touring with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
Brian Holland – Advisory Board; Junior Division & New Rag Contest Coordinator
brianhollandmusic@gmail.com
Brian Holland is an internationally renowned pianist, composer, recording artist, and entertainer who has enjoyed a music career spanning more than four decades. From all over the U.S. to as far away as Rwanda, Africa, he has toured the world sharing his love of all forms of early American music.
Brian has performed with some of the hottest jazz bands in the US – Sierra Stompers, Holland-Coots Jazz Quintet, Big B.A.D. Rhythm, Groovus, Swingin’ West, and others – promoting his unique and creative styles of jazz, ragtime, stride, swing, boogie, and blues. His newest quartet, Brian Holland & The Ragabonds, just released their first album (CD & LP) on Rivermont Records.
Brian earned a Grammy nomination for his work with Bud Dresser on their 2006 album, “Ragtime-Goodtime-Jazz”. This album, plus other releases, sheet music, and digital recordings, are available at shanesmohawk.com
Behind the scenes, Brian has helped organize several ragtime & jazz festivals. He served as the Artistic Director for the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival from 2015-2020. And since 2018, he has been Co-Creative Consultant for the Monterey Jazz Bash by the Bay (Monterey, CA).
“Brian Holland has to be one of the fastest, cleanest players anywhere today. Every note, no matter how swift, is as sparkling clear as Waterford crystal. His touch is assured and he makes even the most complex passages sound easy.“
– Jack Rummel, prominent reviewer & performer
“Brian Holland’s lightning-fast left hand bangs out a clean, steady rhythm while his right hand skitters up and down the keyboard rendering the melody in thick chords. Watching his energy and dexterity is narcotic.“
– The New York Sun
Jeff Barnhart, Advisory Board
mysticrag@aol.com
Jeff Barnhart is an internationally renowned pianist, vocalist, arranger, bandleader, recording artist, ASCAP composer, educator and entertainer. Jeff shares his mastery of the classic swing, jazz, and ragtime repertoire of the early to mid-20th century with a versatility and vibrant energy that finds him constantly appearing as a soloist, band pianist, and with smaller groups—most notably Ivory&Gold® with his talented wife, flutist/vocalist Anne Barnhart—at parties, festivals, clubs, and cruises throughout the world. His unsurpassed knowledge of the history of America’s early pop styles and its best current practitioners, combined with his superior “people skills,” has awarded him the position of Musical Director for several acclaimed annual events, including the Eagles & Ivories, the Monterey Jazz Bash by the Bay (as Co-Creative Consultant), and the Essex (CT) Winter Series Jazz Concert.
Jeff has played dual piano with such jazz luminaries as Ralph Sutton, Neville Dickie, Louis Mazetier, John Sheridan, Brian Holland, and Carl Sonny Leyland. He has recorded over 120 full-length albums on, in addition to his own label, Jazz Alive Records, several celebrated labels including Arbors, GHB, Lake Records (UK) and Music Minus One. Reviewer Jack Rummel summed up the reason for Jeff’s popularity, averring, “When it comes to talent, speed, versatility, creativity, mastery of multiple genres and just plain entertaining zaniness, Jeff Barnhart stands alone”.
In addition to his active performance and recording schedule, Jeff is a dedicated and enthusiastic educator. His double BA’s in Music and English, combined with his MA in Education, make Jeff a formidable and entertaining force in clinic, masterclass and inspirational speaking forums and as a lecturer (with his wife) for Road Scholar with programs called, “Ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, Jazz and the Blues.” and “Silent Film Comedy: History, Music and Laughter” both taking place on the beautiful, historic Georgia State Park, Jekyll Island.
Paul Orsi, Regular & Senior Divisions Coordinator
orsiragtime@gmail.com
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.
Additional Contest Personnel
