For many years, Marcus Schwarz has devoted himself to American ragtime, and inspires German audiences with his concerts dedicated to this almost forgotten style of music.
He is currently the only pianist in Germany who – originally classical trained – performs complete concerts with his ragtime interpretations. He wants to invite the audience to hear the style in a new way, to perceive subliminal nuances in order to discover an emotionally diverse world of expression.
With these ragtime programs Marcus Schwarz has been invited to Russia (Saint Petersburg) and to Switzerland (Basel). In 2008, he brought to the stage Scott Joplin’s legendary opera “Treemonisha” with the ensemble of kammeroper kassel. Ten years later, in 2018, they repeated this by the German debut of the entire song oeuvre of the “King of Ragtime”.
His 2014 CD “Ragtime Beauties” (Antes Edition) with music by Scott Joplin, Joseph F. Lamb, James Scott and other ragtime composers also attracted attention in America: “… extremely satisfying from the first note to the very last. Marcus Schwarz represents Germany very well as an interpreter of ragtime.” (Jack Rummel, Ragtime Reviews, April 2015).
In addition to his concert activities, Marcus Schwarz also offers workshops as well as lectures/seminars on the ragtime style.