Scott Joplin, a pioneering figure in American music, is best known for his significant contributions to the development of ragtime. Born sometime between 1867 and 1868 in Texarkana, Texas, Joplin’s life journey took him from a humble beginning to becoming a celebrated composer and pianist. | By Tamara Shiloh Scott Joplin, a pioneering figure in American music, is best known for his significant contributions to the development of ragtime. Born sometime between 1867 and 1868 in Texarkana, Texas, Joplin’s life journey took him from a humble beginning to becoming a celebrated composer and pianist. Joplin’s early exposure to music came from
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Scott Joplin, (born 1867/68, Texas, U.S. died April 1, 1917, New York, New York), American composer and pianist known as the “king of ragtime” at the turn of the 20th century.
Joplin spent his childhood in northeastern Texas, though the exact date and place of his birth are unknown. By 1880 his family had moved to Texarkana, where he studied piano with local teachers. Joplin traveled through the Midwest from the mid-1880s, performing at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Settling in Sedalia, Missouri, in 1895, he studied music at the George R. Smith College for Negroes and hoped for a career as a concert pianist and classical composer. His first published songs brought him fame, and in 1900 he moved to St. Louis to work more closely with the music publisher John Stark.