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Classic rags, symphonic
parodies, novelty numbers, Tin Pan Alley tunes, Rick Benjamin’s historical &
witty introductions, and accompanied silent film make for a unique, varied
event! With hundreds of concerts at venues such as Lincoln Center and the
Ravinia Festival, and with a collection of thousands of 1900’s pieces in full
orchestrations of the era, the PRO is the acknowledged leader in its field.
Programs include "Scott Joplin and the Original Kings of Ragtime," and "’Round
the Christmas Tree" and programs with silent films.
"The music is incomparably sweet
and stirring. And Rick Benjamin, who founded and conducts the PRO, is a
musician of wit and sensibility."
Philadelphia
Inquirer
Biography
In the summer of 1985, Rick
Benjamin discovered in an abandoned warehouse the long lost collection of
orchestra scores of Victrola recording star Arthur Pryor, and with it the
inspiration for the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. Mr. Benjamin gathered
Juilliard colleagues to perform his turn-of-the-century treasures, and the PRO
was born. Recordings soon followed, along with the orchestra's 1988 debut at
Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the first at Lincoln Center by a professional
ragtime ensemble.
Today, the PRO is regarded as
the leading exponent of vintage American popular music, and it remains the
world's most active ensemble of its kind. Notable engagements include concerts
for the inaugural season of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Ravinia
Festival, the Washington Performing Arts Society at Lisner Auditorium, the
Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria, and around New York at the Tilles Center, Lincoln
Center’s Walter Reade Theater, the South Street Seaport and the 92nd Street
"Y." The PRO is frequently heard in historic theater and movie palaces such as
Cleveland's Ohio Theater, Chattanooga's Tivoli and the Rialto in Joliet. The
Orchestra was selected to be America's "Ambassador of Goodwill" at the World's
Fair in Seville, Spain. The PRO has performed on National Public Radio for the
BBC, as well.
Using the orchestra’s collection
of 10,000 fully-orchestrated scores as a guide, Rick Benjamin worked for four
years to orchestrate Scott Joplin’s opera, “Treemonisha.” The first
performance of the new orchestration, in a semi-staged production, was given at
San Francisco’s Stern Grove Festival in June 2003, to an audience of 3,500. The
San Francisco’s Chronicle headline read, “Scott Joplin opera leaps back to
life - Re-creation of ragtime 'Treemonisha' at Stern Grove shows off score's
marvels.”
The PRO was honored to serve as
the inspiration for a dance by the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Entitled “Oh, You
Kid!,” the dance was given its premiere with the PRO accompanying the Taylor
Company at the Kennedy Center Opera House for four performances followed by
performances at the American Dance Festival.
The PRO's repertoire is a varied
one, skipping from Blues to waltzes, from operatic parodies and novelty numbers
to marches and popular songs of the era. And of course there is the syncopated
centerpiece of the PRO's collection, the rag, in its magnificent variety, from
the symphonic to the slapstick. The orchestra accompanies silent films of the
era using the original scores to films by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and
Harold Lloyd. All are brought to life with chamber music polish in authentic
period orchestrations.
The orchestra’s discography
includes several discs on Rialto Records. They have recorded “Black Manhattan”
for New World Records this year featuring music of African-American popular
composers from the 1900s. “The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra Finally Plays ‘The
Entertainer’” is the PRO’s latest recording, featuring the best-known rags of
Scott Joplin and other classics ragtime composers.
RICK BENJAMIN
Founder and Director, the
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
Rick Benjamin, founder and
director of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, leads a multifaceted career as a
performer and scholar. Mr. Benjamin is an authority on late 19th and early 20th
Century American music, and has been recognized as a leading force of the
Ragtime Revival. He is curator of the Arthur Prior, Simone Mantia, B.F. Alart,
and Frank H. Wells theatre orchestra collections, which total some 10,000
fully-orchestrated selections from the 1890s – 1920s..
In addition to his various
duties with the PRO, Mr. Benjamin a career and guest conductor, arranger, and
pianist; he has also served as a musical consultant and conductor for motion
pictures, radio and television. Mr. Benjamin’s conducting engagements include
the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, New Jersey Symphony, the Olympia
Symphony in Washington State, the Aalborg Symphony (Denmark) and the Iceland
Symphony Orchestra. His articles on popular music have appeared in several
periodicals, and his lecture tours take him to colleges and universities
throughout the United States. Mr. Benjamin has completed the reconstruction of
the lost orchestrations for Scott Joplin's opera "Treemonisha," and is
continuing work on his book about the music of the Ragtime Era.
Rick Benjamin is a member of the
music faculty at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Benjamin
attended the Juilliard School as a scholarship student.
Review
Quotes
“Scott Joplin opera leaps
back to life - Re-creation of ragtime 'Treemonisha' at Stern Grove shows off
score's marvels.” San Francisco Chronicle
“Summoning both the subtle
interplay and brassy vitality these pieces demand, the PRO does itself proud.”
The Washington Post
“As you listen…you’ll begin to
understand why ragtime captured America for a whole generation.”
CD Review Magazine
“Four stars…The music is
incomparably sweet and stirring. And Rick Benjamin, who founded and conducts
the PRO, is a musician of wit and sensibility.”
The Philadelphia Inquire
“have such an infectious beat
that you’ll hardly be able to resist tapping you toes.”
Classics Today
“all played with polish,
authenticity, and all-out enthusiasm…under Rick Benjamin’s inspired direction.”
Classics
Today
Reviews
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A 1920s Buster Keaton film still
delights
"The General" is shown at the Lucas as an orchestra
performs the score.
Bill Dawers
SPECIAL TO THE MORNING NEWS
The Savannah Music Festival pulled off something
extra special on Sunday afternoon at the Lucas Theatre. Built in 1921, the
Lucas was originally a movie palace, a place to relax and enjoy the escape
offered by a Hollywood film accompanied by live musicians.
And that's exactly what the audience got at a
matinee showing of Buster Keaton's "The General" with the 12-piece Paragon
Ragtime Orchestra performing the film's light, uplifting, comical score.
The 1927 slapstick comedy stars Keaton as Johnny
Gray, a hapless railroad engineer who does everything wrong - and in the process
gets everything right.
At first rejected by the Confederate Army, he
manages to rescue The General, the stolen locomotive he's the engineer for, then
defeats the Union Army in battle, earns his officer's stripes, and gets the
girl.
Keaton was at the height of his fame when he made
the movie, which is brimming with examples of his comic timing, physical daring,
and frantic energy.
Keaton manages to express as much feeling with his
face as his body. With his long nose, high cheekbones and big eyes, he conveys
joy, surprise, fear, irritation, whatever emotion a scene demands.
Dressed in vintage garb like the rest of his
musicians, conductor and pianist Rick Benjamin led the Paragon in a spirited
performance. There were a few easily recognizable songs, like "Dixie" and
"I've Been Working on the Railroad." But much of the music was simply a direct
expression of the action on the screen.
In addition to an extended chase scene with one
slow-moving locomotive trying to catch up with another, Keaton is faced with a
variety of obstacles - lightning, a bear, a rainstorm and a broken sword. And
the Paragon was right there, setting the mood. Sometimes the vintage drum set
stood out, sometimes the beat was set by the violins, while at other times, the
cornet seemed to mock Johnny Gray's earnestness.
The combination of film and music elicited
a lot of laughter from the audience, even when a train
fell into a river as it traversed a burning bridge, even as Keaton unwittingly
killed a Union sniper with his broken sword.
Here's hoping the Savannah Music Festival
will treat the city to a similar show next year.
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Knoxville News
Sentinel
Music, silent movies
mix well for entertaining night
By HAROLD DUCKETT
February 11, 2005
Tennessee Theatre buffs
nostalgic for the historic movie palace's golden era would have enjoyed the
concert by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, which brought the silent movie period
to life Tuesday night at Carson-Newman College.
The 12-player, New York-based orchestra brought along its own early 1900s
projector for showing short, silent-era movies, for which the group performed
the music that originally accompanied the films.
The program featured the 1922 "Cops," staring Buster Keaton; "Never
Weaken," made in 1921 and starring the silent movie superstar, Harold Lloyd; and
Charles Chaplin's 1917 "The Adventurer."
According to the ensemble's conductor, Rick Benjamin, who has built a career out
of accompanying silent movies, by 1916 there were 21,000 movie theaters in
America, about half of which had orchestras that accompanied the silent films.
Much of the music for these early films were not original scores at all but
compilations of fragments of the popular music of the day. Sent out, along with
the movie reels, was a list of pieces, which the local conductor would put
together for the performance. The accompanying instructions indicated exactly
where in the movie each section of music was to be played.
Of
course, aside from the conductor, the most important musician in the band was
the percussionist, whose responsibility included providing all the bangs and
crashes for what was happening on the screen, no matter what music was being
played. The Paragon's percussionist, Kerry Meads, was an expert at getting just
the right sound when Keaton, Lloyd or Chaplin slipped and landed on their
behinds, kicked someone else in the rear or crashed through something. Such
moments were funny especially because of Meads' efforts.
Along with the Paragon's playing of Scott Joplin's 1907 "The
Gladiolus Rag," and W. C. Handy's 1913 "Jogo Blues," performed as musical
interludes as the projectionist got ready for another movie,
the whole show was terrific.
It
was a great window into the past.
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(click to enlarge)
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Sarasota Herald
Tribune
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San Francisco
Chronicle
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Washington Post
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Green Bay
Press-Gazette
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The Sarasota
Herald-Tribune
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CLASSICS
TODAY
January 7, 2004
Artistic Quality 10 / Sound Quality
10
BLACK
MANHATTAN
Theater and Dance Music by Members of the Legendary Clef Club
Paragon
Ragtime Orchestra
Rick Benjamin
Awet Andemicael (soprano); Edward Pleasant (baritone)
New
World Records- 80611-2(CD)
This
album collects ragtime and jazz classics of composer/ conductor James Reese
Europe and his contemporaries. The performances recreate the style of the
legendary Clef Club, a ragtime orchestra composed of African American musicians
that operated from 1910 to 1930. Europe was a prominent figure on the black
music scene during this time, as was Will Marion Cook, whose In Dahomey was the
first all-black musical, and its full-scale overture is this collection's most
substantial offering.
The
disc begins with Europe's exuberant "Castle Perfect Trot", a light,
bright, dancing romp that sets the high-spirited tone for the majority of the
disc. This, and numbers such as J. Turner Layton's "Strut Miss Lizze"
and Cook's "Swing Along!" have such an infectious beat that you'll
hardly be able to resist tapping your toes. This is as much true today as in
1902 when Bob Cole and the Johnson Brothers penned the song "When the Band
Plays Ragtime", which (as sung beautifully here by baritone Edward
Pleasant) offers a wry commentary on the social friction engendered by
"jazz" music. Cole and Johnson provide the disc's other vocal
offering, the exotic "Under the Bamboo Tree", in a stylized period
performance by soprano Awet Andemicael.
There's
plenty of variety here to give a representative sampling of some of the era's
finest pop music, and it's all played with polish, authenticity, and all-out
enthusiasm by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra under Rick Benjamin's inspired
direction. The recording provides natural perspectives, warm presence, and
dynamic punch. Those who think ragtime begins and ends with Scott Joplin are in
for a pleasant surprise, while aficionados no doubt will treasure this uniquely
enjoyable disc.
--Victor
Carr Jr
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Programs
The
programs described below give an excellent idea of typical PRO programs. The PRO tailors their programs to fit the venue and locale,
and so you will hear a different program on almost any given night.
These are not for publication.
SCOTT
JOPLIN & THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF RAGTIME
HI
THERE! (one step,
1915).............……………… James Reese Europe
WASHINGTON
POST TWO STEP (1889)… ……..John Philip Sousa
WHISTLING
RUFUS (cakewalk, 1899) …..………
Kerry Mills
ELITE
SYNCOPATIONS (two step, 1902)……..... Scott Joplin
Victorian
Parlor Song
IN
THE BAGGAGE COACH AHEAD (1896) ….. .Gussie L. Davis
Jody Dall' Armi, soprano
BALLIN’
THE JACK (medley fox-trot, 1913)……...
Chris Smith
HILARITY
RAG (1907)…….................................
James Scott
THE
GLADIOLUS RAG (1907)……..................……
Scott Joplin
Rick Benjamin, piano
THE
TOREADOR HUMORESQUE:
A
RAGTIME TRAVESTY ON ‘CARMEN’ (1918)......M.L.
Lake
*****
Iintermission *****
SCOTT
JOPLIN’S NEW RAG (1912)……….....……
Scott Joplin
Vaudeville
Speciality:
ROCKAWAY
(1917) .....................................”Luckey”
Roberts
Jody
Dall'Armi, comedienne
POPULARITY
RAG
(from
the Broadway show popularity , 1906)………
George M. Cohan
THE
MEMPHIS BLUES (1912)……...…………………
W.C. Handy
POPULAR
WALTZ MEDLEY No.2 (c.1900)……………arr.
Lake
The
Audience is Invited and Encouraged to Sing Along
Orchestral
Highlights from
“TREEMONISHA”
(1911)………………………………Scott
Joplin
’Round
the Christmas Tree
Vintage
Yuletide Favorites
A
syncopated romp around the tree, which goes from Rick Benjamin’s own
"Nutcracker Rag: A Sweet
Travesty on Tchaikovsky" to a straight-forward suite from "Babes in
Toyland" to ragtime great Joseph Lamb’s “Reindeer Rag” to
Fillmore’s “Hallelujah (Chorus) Trombone.”
A nice mix of the sweet and the comical.
The program can be easily adapted to a more general holiday season
program, which you might call “’Round the Holidays.”
Black Manhattan
Theater
and Dance Music of James Reese Europe, Will Marion Cook, and Member of the
Legendary Clef Club
The Clef Club of New York City, Inc. was a fraternal and professional
organization for the advancement of African-American musicians and entertainers
in the 1900s. Rick Benjamin has
selected some of the finest of the work written for the Broadway stage and
brings it life with two vocal soloists.
Programs with Silent Films
All
of the following programs use the
original scores to the films
which were issued by the studios along with the prints of the films.
The PRO is the only orchestra touring with the original scores.
THE
CLOWN PRINCES - films of Chaplin, Keaton & Lloyd with the original scores performed by Rick Benjamin’s PARAGON RAGTIME
ORCHESTRA
Rick
Benjamin’s spoken introductions set the tone for Keaton’s Cops,
Lloyd’s Never Weaken, and
Chaplin’s The Pawn Shop (films
subject to change). Add period
theater orchestra selections and you have a night of multi-media perfection, the
old-fashioned way!
Buster
Keaton’s masterpiece THE GENERAL (1926) with the original score performed by Rick Benjamin’s PARAGON RAGTIME
ORCHESTRA
An
epic Civil War tale of love, locomotives & laughs - just add popcorn for a
night of multi-media perfection, the old-fashioned way!
Keaton’s 75-minute feature is bookended by period theater orchestra
selections. Rick Benjamin’s
spoken introductions provide historical perspective and a little more humor.
CHARLIE
CHAPLIN FILM FESTIVAL with the original
scores performed by Rick Benjamin’s PARAGON RAGTIME ORCHESTRA
Rick
Benjamin’s spoken introductions set the tone & the time for 3 Chaplin
shorts. Add period theater
orchestra selections and you have, once again, a night of multi-media
perfection, the old-fashioned way! Some
Chaplin films which may be a part of the program:
The
Adventurer (1917).
The Immigrant (1917).
The Pawnshop (1916).
The Rink (1916).
One A.M. (1916).
THE
GREAT STONE FACE: BUSTER KEATON CLASSICS with the
original scores performed by Rick Benjamin’s PARAGON RAGTIME ORCHESTRA
Rick
Benjamin’s spoken introductions set the tone & the time for 3 Keaton
shorts. Add period theater
orchestra selections and you have, once again, a night of multi-media
perfection, the old-fashioned way! Some
Keaton films which may be a part of the program:
The
Blacksmith (1922).
Cops (1922).
The High Sign (1921).
The Playhouse (1921).
Discography
Note: if you would like to buy a disc directly
from the Artist, click on “Add to Cart,” and you will be taken to the
artist’s shopping utility).
Personal
& Biased Comments about the Artist
“Paragon”
means “model,” “ideal,” “shining example,” “quintessence,” and
the PRO lives up to the name. Rick
Benjamin and his colleagues have very substantially raised the bar of excellence
for performance in the field. The
scholarship is broad and deep; the musicality is bold, subtle and is alive to
the humor in the scores. To
top it all off, Rick Benjamin and his partner, Leslie Cullen, bring an
entrepreneurial flair to the enterprise.
The
PRO is unique – most of the scores which they perform do not exist in any
other collection, and the orchestrations are all of the period (with a few very
notable exceptions). Their silent-
movie-with-original-score programs are only available through the PRO.
Rick
Benjamin lives the ragtime life – he drives a Model “T” (rarely to
concerts), lives in a stately Victorian home, collects guns (don’t ask) and
everything else of the era. He has
yet to be caught in a speakeasy.
Technical
Requirements
PARAGON
RAGTIME ORCHESTRA
Technical Requirements
Click Here for PDF of
Technical Requirements
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE –
for a typical 8PM showtime,
the orchestra uses the following schedule. Adapt this according to your
starting time. Please have the appropriate crew available.
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2:00 – 4:30PM – Load-in
and Setup
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4:30 – 6:30PM –
Rehearsal
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6:30 – 8:00PM – Break
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8:00 – 10:15PM – Show
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10:15 – 11:30PM –
Breakdown
DVD
PROJECTOR & SCREEN - if a film is to be included in program
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One high quality DVD
projector suitable for your venue & screen
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One large,
high-quality, properly coated, DVD screen placed or hung behind
orchestra. House tech crew should experiment in advance to get image
focused and fully on screen.
PROPS &
FURNITURE
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One Piano, tuned on the
day of the performance to A=440.
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One rug, approximately
4’ x 6’ to place under drum set.
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Eleven straight back
chairs. Wood preferred.
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One stool approximately
3’ high (for string bass player).
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Sixteen music stands
with stand lights. Old style stands preferred if available.
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Two or more large
potted palms or greenery. (optional)
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One table in lobby for
sale of recordings.
SOUND
SYSTEM
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Two microphones to be
used through house system for conductor (wireless system with lavaliere
mic preferred if available).
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Cassette tape player to
be used through house system during audience seating / intermission
(optional).
LIGHTING
SYSTEM
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Best general stage wash
available.
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Two electrical
extension chords (25’) for orchestra stand light hook up to house power.
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One follow spot
(optional).
TECH
CREW
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Projectionist
(experience preferred) if a film is included in program (unless Artist
provides projectionist).
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One person familiar
with sound system.
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One person familiar
with lighting system and able to run follow spot during performance.
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One or
more persons to assist with orchestra load-in and stage set up, break
down, etc.
OTHER
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Light
refreshments consisting of a deli platter and soft drinks backstage for
company of 14 during rehearsal and concert.
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The
Artist may request assistance in locating babysitter. However the
presenter is in no way liable for the actions of any babysitter
recommended.
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