John Arpin

John Arpin passed away November 8, 2007.
His wife, Mary Jane, has posted a blogspot about John's life at http://johnandmaryjane.blogspot.com.

John Arpin has long been regarded as one of the most versatile performers on the Canadian music scene. He is as comfortable playing solo piano as he is performing in concert with full symphony orchestra. John Arpin tours extensively throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and the Orient. He has been nominated for Juno Awards in Canada on three separate occasions. In October of 2000, John celebrated a milestone with the release of his 60th career album. Though he plays everything from turn-of-the-century classics to jazz to Broadway show tunes, John Arpin's name has become synonymous with piano rags and he is respected as one of the top Ragtime musicians in the world today.

In June of 1998 Mr. Arpin received the Scott Joplin Award (The Scott Joplin Foundation, Sedalia, Missouri) in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the field of Ragtime. The late Ragtime great Eubie Blake pronounced John Arpin "the Chopin of Ragtime", while The New York Times labeled him "the Richter of Ragtime".

Born in Port McNicoll, Ontario, Mr. Arpin graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music at the age of sixteen. After studying at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, John became active in the Toronto music scene playing night clubs with his trio and as a soloist. He could also be found on the concert stage accompanying an opera singer, or performing turn-of-the-century music by Canadian composers on radio. His attention soon turned to playing, composing and arranging for television, the recording studio and the concert stage.

Examples of John's playing may be heard on Warren Trachtman's web site (click here). John recorded The Saint Louis Blues (W. C. Handy - 1914) and Bohemia Rag (Joseph Lamb - 1919) on Warren's digital piano in MIDI format.

Click here to visit John Arpin's own website for more information and to purchase his CDs.