Dr. Nora Hulse -- Piano -- The Shingle Shakers
NORA HULSE (PIANO) former professor of keyboard studies at Central Methodist College, Fayette, Missouri, is now devoting much of her time to collecting, researching, performing and lecturing on piano ragtime compositions composed by women. After moving to Columbia, Missouri in the late 1960s, Nora pursued musical studies at The University of Missouri, finishing with a Ph.D. in 1988. She performs ragtime regularly on a live TV talk show, "Pepper and Friends," performs and gives symposiums on the women ragtime composers at ragtime festivals, schools and colleges, and has made 5 recordings of rags by women. As well as appearing with the Roundhouse Rascals and Turpin Tyme Ragsters, Nora and husband Mark perform as a piano and banjo ragtime duo.
Nora was introduced to ragtime in Cripple Creek, Colorado early on. Later she performed ragtime music in Shakey's Pizza Parlors with her husband banjoist Mark. These days she performs ragtime at ragtime festivals around the USA; does ragtime lecture-recitals; keyboards with her Dixieland band, The Roundhouse Rascals; scours the universe ferreting out unrevealed ragtime gems by women composers; makes recordings, and plays ragtime regularly on a unique local "live" TV show, Pepper and Friends, on KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri. She is a regular performer at the Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, Missouri. Other performance credits include the West Coast Ragtime Festival; Ragtime in Randall (Iowa); Ragtime for Tulsa Foundation; Classic Ragtime Society of Indianapolis, Indiana; the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site and Friends of Scott Joplin Concert -- both in St. Louis, Missouri. Nora has co-authored an annotated lexicon, "Ragtime's Women Composers," which will appear in The Rag-Time Ephemeralist, Volume One, Number Three. In case you haven't guessed, ragtime music is at the core of Nora's musical soul.
Nora "retired" as professor of keyboard studies at Central Methodist College, Fayette, Missouri in 1996. After "retiring," Nora embraced yet another career in classical music as a freelance accompanist and recitalist at the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO until moving to Lake Ozark, Missouri in 2001. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in music education, Master"s in Piano Performance, Master"s in Organ Performance, and Bachelor of Science in Music Education. In addition to the University of Missouri, she has pursued formal music studies at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Kansas State University and Tulsa University. During summer break while on faculty at Central Methodist College, she engaged harpsichord studies at Michigan University and Southern Methodist University. She holds the AAGO Certificate from the American Guild of Organists and is listed in American Keyboard Artists (1992-1993 Edition).
... And this isn't the end of it! During her student days, Nora played violin in the University of Missouri Orchestra gave guitar lessons, played the accordion in musical groups and rhythm instruments too. Nora's mother quickly sensed she had a gifted child on her hands when Nora suddenly began plunking out tunes on the piano at age 3 – always in the same key she had heard the tune last.
-- -- Mark Hulse
If you Google "Nora Hulse" you get several links for her music, CDs, books, associations, etc. Here are a few:
www.nora.hulse.com
www.jazzbymail.com/artists/hulse.html
www.ragtime.nu/cds_hulse.htm
www.ragtime.nu/books1.htm
www.kcpt.org/uniquely_kc/making/musicpt2.html
www.perfessorbill.com/sources3.shtml
www.perfessorbill.com/ragtime4a.shtml
www.powersmuseum.com/schedule/ragtimefestival.html
www.ragtime4tulsa.org/rft_huls.htm
home.kc.rr.com/rmsweb/Ragsters/turpininclude.html
www.kcpt.org/uniquely_kc/education/ragtime.clips.html
www.jazzbymail.com/rosebud/friends.html
www.blindboonepark.org/festpics.htm
members.tripod.com/roseleafrag/00-06.html
www.westcoastragtime.com/performers.htm
www.scottjoplin.org/performers.htm
www.americanrag.com/links.htm
www.lakeozarkjazz.org/Live_Jazz/live_jazz.html