Youth performer Grant Somerville has been playing the piano for eleven years. After the first five years, he changed instructors and was introduced to ragtime by teacher and artist, Bob Phillips. For six years he studied under Bob, learning ragtime and stride piano styles, which gave him a strong foundation and experience in early American pop culture music. Grant says, “Though I play ragtime, I am a multitasking machine.” Grant is currently pursuing a major in Mechanical Engineering at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on a half-scholarship and he is a systems engineering assistant at the Naval Postgraduate School of Monterey.

Grant participates annually at the Monterey Jazz Bash By the Bay Dixieland Festival and plays in a University of the Pacific Jazz combo. He loves to pursue challenging ragtime arrangements and early jazz transcriptions to increase his playing strength. This is Grant’s first appearance at the West Coast Ragtime Festival.