April 30, 2007

“The Fayetteville Polka” (1856) is the first published piece of sheet music written by an Arkansan. Austrian immigrant and composer Ferdinand Zellner, who became a resident of Fayetteville (Washington County) and a professor at the local Fayetteville Female Seminary in 1852, is said to have written the music to honor his adopted home. The polka was well received at the time and is often played by musicians in northwest Arkansas at area functions.