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Cotuit Center for the Arts presents The XYLOPHONIA Ragtime Marimba Band on Wednesday, March 28, at 7:30 PM, on the main stage. XYLOPHONIA celebrates the golden age of the xylophone ragtime music from the 1900s to the 1930s with spirited, light-hearted, and just-plain-fun music that exudes happiness and good cheer. But XYLOPHONIA does not restrict themselves to the golden age of ragtime—there will be some musical surprises too. “Ragtime was an important precursor to jazz and a significant, uniquely America musical style in its own right,” said Amy Lynn Barber, founder and artistic director of XYLOPHONIA. “Although Scott Joplin is perhaps the most well-known ragtime composer, not all ragtime music is for piano. Ragtime also became very influential in early 20th century classical music in Europe and the US as well. Composers like Debussy and Stravinsky adopted the style in some of their works.” Barber also founded and directs The Percussion Plus Project and collaborates with percussionist Sam Holmstock in the Out of Africa project, which they recently performed at CCftA. An award-winning percussionist and marimbist, she has performed and taught on five continents and is known for her innovative programming and presentation of new music to broad audiences. She is professor emeritus at the DePauw University School of Music, where she was also dean. She lived in Europe for over 12 years, where she was a professor at the Prague Conservatory, played in the Prague Symphony and the Slovenian Philharmonic, and was a guest artist in events throughout Europe. Barber and the other four members of XYLOPHONIA—Victoria Chang, Paul Gross, Ian Hale, and Mark Prall--are all virtuosic performers and will take turns playing xylophone solos while the others accompany on two marimbas. Victoria Chang, who is from Taiwan, began studying violin—with Yo-Yo Ma’s father—at the age of 3, began piano lessons at 5, and has been performing since she was 8. She studied percussion and marimba in college and graduate school and has been teaching both since she was 18. Paul Gross is the principal percussionist of both the Cape Symphony and the Plymouth Philharmonic orchestra. He taught percussion in local school systems and now maintains a private percussion studio. Ian Hale is the percussion director for Spirit of America in Orleans. He has worked with numerous school and festival bands across the country and has performed with many orchestras and won awards at several international competitions. Mark Prall plays timpani with the Cape Symphony, the Plymouth Philharmonic, the Chatham Chorale, and the Falmouth Chorale, and performs in chamber and theater productions throughout the Cape. He teaches privately and directs the student-based Nauset Percussion Ensemble. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information, visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.