Hal Isbitz
was born in 1931. He grew up in Los Angeles and is a resident of Santa Barbara, California. Hal
is a retired computer programmer and classically trained musician. He started writing ragtime
in the mid-70's, being mainly influenced by the ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin and Joseph
Lamb, American popular music, and the works of the Romantics, such as Chopin and Rachmaninov.
Inspired by such pieces as Joplin's "Solace" and Artie Matthews' "Pastime Rag No.
5", he began writing Latin American pieces in the early 80's. In 1987 he became acquainted
with the Brazilian tangos of Ernesto Nazareth, whose works exerted a strong influence in the
creation of works employing the idioms of Latin America. To date he has written some 65 pieces.
Hal was awarded second prize for his rag "Lazy Susan" in the 1997 Scott Joplin
Foundation Ragtime Composition Contest.
DISCOGRAPHY
MUSIC BOOKS
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