George Linus Cobb (1886–1942) was a major American composer of ragtime and popular music in the early 20th century. Born on August 31, 1886, in Mexico City, New York, and died on December 25, 1942, in Brookline, Massachusetts, he left his mark on his era with a prolific and varied output intended for both amateurs and professional musicians.

Cobb began his musical training at the School of Harmony and Composition at Syracuse University in 1905, where he studied harmony and composition. It was during this period that his first works were written, notably marches and rags, which quickly earned him recognition in the world of music publishing.

After completing his studies, he collaborated with songwriters such as Jack Yellen, with whom he wrote his first hits, including All Aboard for Dixieland (1913). He then became a regular contributor to The Tuneful Yankee and later Melody, magazines devoted to ragtime and popular music, where he published both compositions and music reviews between 1910 and 1920.

George L. Cobb composed over 200 pieces, including rags, marches, waltzes, and songs, which reflect the playful and rhythmically inventive spirit of ragtime and Tin Pan Alley-derived styles.

His most famous work is undoubtedly Russian Rag (1918), an original piece inspired by Rachmaninoff's famous Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2. This ragtime was a huge success and so popular that it spawned a sequel published in 1923 (The New Russian Rag).

Cobb's music combines clear, catchy writing with the syncopated spirit characteristic of ragtime, often tinged with humor and various influences from early jazz, blues, and salon music.

Although less famous than some of his contemporaries, George L. Cobb remains an important figure in American ragtime. His music is still performed today by enthusiasts of the style, and his influence can be seen in the evolution of early 20th-century American popular music.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).

He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).

Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, as well as his own arrangements for clarinet and harp of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes with the great French harpist Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and for clarinet, piano, and string orchestra of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.

Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements of all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation