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Rick
Benjamin’s
unique collection of 1890s – 1920s American repertoire and his historical &
witty introductions, have helped to make him a sought-after pops conductor,
leading orchestras from the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (Dublin) to
the New Jersey Symphony, the Aalborg Symphony and Aarhus Symphony Orchestras in
Denmark, the Olympia Symphony (Washington) and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Benjamin’s concerts feature
all orchestrations of the era, and can include silent films of Chaplin, Keaton
and Harold Lloyd. "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
CDs: Rialto Records, PRO,
Newport Classic, Vanguard
Biography
Rick Benjamin
Pops Conductor
Conductor Rick Benjamin has
built a career upon the discovery and performance of American music from the 19th
and early 20th Centuries. Mr. Benjamin first came to public
attention in 1985, when he found in an abandoned warehouse the orchestra library
of Victrola recording star Arthur Pryor. This collection of 3,600
fully-orchestrated pieces from the 1870s through the 1920s included lost scores
by luminaries such as Scott Joplin, Edward MacDowell, W.C. Handy, Victor
Herbert, and Jerome Kern. After recording many of the newfound treasures (in
collaboration with Grammy winning producer Thomas Frost), in 1988 Mr. Benjamin
made his formal debut at Alice Tully Hall, directing Lincoln Center’s first
professional all-ragtime performance.
Today, Mr. Benjamin is regarded
as the leading conductor of vintage American popular music, and he remains the
most active conductor in the field. Notable engagements include concerts for
the Ravinia Festival, with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), the
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Olympia Symphony in Washington State,
the New Jersey Symphony, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Washington
Performing Arts Society, the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria. Mr. Benjamin
frequently leads his Paragon Ragtime Orchestra 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. Mr. Benjamin has conducted on National
Public Radio for the BBC, as well.
Rick Benjamin’s programs served
as the inspiration for a new dance by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Mr.
Benjamin conducted for the premiere at the Kennedy Center Opera House followed
by performances at the American Dance Festival.
A pioneering researcher of music
for silent films, Mr. Benjamin has searched for the original orchestral
accompaniments to the great motion pictures of the 1910s and ‘20s. He has
acquired the music libraries of several noted theaters and silent film
conductors, building a personal collection of nearly a thousand period
cinema-orchestra scores. Mr. Benjamin uses the these scores in programs of the
comedies of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and in the Douglas
Fairbanks classic Zorro.
Rick Benjamin leads a
multifaceted career as a historian and scholar. His articles of American music
have appeared in several periodicals, and his lectures take him to college and
universities throughout North America.
Mr. Benjamin has a varied
professional life, acting as arranger, pianist, musical consultant and conductor
for motion pictures, radio and television. Mr. Benjamin has recently completed
the reconstruction of the lost orchestrations for Scott Joplin's opera "Treemonisha,"
and premiered the score to acclaim at San Francisco’s Stern Grove Festival. Mr.
Benjamin continues his work on two books: The American Theater Orchestra
and Encyclopedia of Arrangers & Orchestrators: 1875-1925.
Critical
Commentary
“Benjamin, an expert on music of
the period, unveiled his new arrangement of ‘Treemonisha’…gave the performance a
lively grace that helped fill the sunny meadow to perfection.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“As any good soundtrack should
be, the band (orchestra) was nearly subliminal in its soft, well-modulated
accompaniment to the screen performances…The audience chuckled along as much to
the music as the films.
Washington Post
Rick Benjamin was a genial tour
guide through the period, offering informative introductions to the films and
the music that set a toe-tapping mood.”
Washington Post
“Four stars….The music is
incomparably sweet and stirring, and Rick Benjamin…is a musician of wit and
sensibility.”
Philadelphia Inquirer
“Best of all, the concert came
off not as a dry musicological dig, but as an evening of…abidingly energetic
fun.”
The New York Times
“Benjamin and his orchestra
filled the second half of the evening with lilting, humorous, and even elegant
readings of ragtime numbers, a W.C. Handy blues song, and even a Sousa
march…Popular music, A.D. 2900, is sill going strong.”
Pasadena Star News
“FIVE STARS - Interesting and
virtuoso performances combined with authentic recreation make this CD a definite
must for all lovers of period popular music.”
Classic CD
Click
to enlarge...
Rick
Benjamin:
Some Typical
Programs
I. SCOTT JOPLIN & THE
ORIGINAL KINGS OF RAGTIME - a celebration of the American music that
dominated the pop charts from the 1890’s through the 1920’s featuring some of
the greatest hits of the era. Includes Soprano soloist and the Suite from
Joplin's opera Treemonisha.
II. ‘ROUND THE
CHRISTMAS TREE - delightful sounds from Yuletides past, from a syncopated "Nutcracker
Suite" to a "Babes in Toyland" to "The Tobaggan Rag." The audience is
respectfully invited to join the orchestra in Spencer's "Christmas Sing-Along.
III. THE CLOWN PRINCES -
short films of Chaplin, Keaton & Lloyd with the original scores -
Rick Benjamin’s spoken introductions set the tone Keaton’s Cops, Lloyd’s
Never Weaken, and Chaplin’s The Immigrant.
IV.
The MARK of ZORRO (1920) •
Together again at last - the swashbuckling silent classic with its original,
Mexican-flavored score!
•
Old Spanish California is the setting in which
Douglas Fairbanks creates the prototype of the modern action-adventure hero,
with surprising humor and athleticism, as “Señor Zorro.” Slashing his
trademark “Z”
on the consciousness and sometimes the posteriors of the corrupt administration
of Governor Alvarado, Zorro leads the way to “Justice for all!”
V. CHARLIE CHAPLIN FILM FESTIVAL
with the original scores
Rick Benjamin’s spoken
introductions set the tone & the time for 3 Chaplin shorts. Add period theater
orchestra selections and you have a night of multi-media perfection
Also available is Buster
Keaton’s feature-length masterpiece, The General.
Technical
Requirements
The orchestra will provide the
following -
(For programs with film)
FILM PROJECTOR & SCREEN - One 16mm film projector of the type found commonly in
schools. Graflex and Bell & Howell are typical machines. Projector should be
able to run at 24 frames per second (This is standard modern speed; your
projector almost certainly runs at this speed, but we mention it just to be
sure…).
· Two 16mm take up reels, one 1200’ and one 2000’.
· One large motion picture screen placed or hung behind orchestra. House tech
crew should experiment in advance to get image focused and fully on screen.
· Projectionist (experience preferred) if a film is included in program.
Here are
suitable performing forces for most of Mr. Benjamin’s programs:
flute/piccolo - 1
oboe - 1
1st clarinet - 1
2nd clarinet - 1
bassoon -1
1st Horn - 1
2nd Horn - 1
1st Cornet - 1
2nd Cornet - 1
trombone (tenor) - 1
percussion - 3/4
1st violin - 7
2nd violin - 5
viola - 5
'cello - 5
bass - 3
piano – 1
Here are the absolute maximum
performing forces for Mr. Benjamin’s programs – but the ideal is closer to the
numbers above:
flute/piccolo - 2
oboe - 2
1st clarinet – 2
2nd clarinet - 1
bassoon - 2
1st Horn - 2
2nd Horn - 2
1st Cornet - 2
2nd Cornet - 1
trombone (tenor) - 2
percussion - 3/4
piano - 1
1st violin - 14
2nd violin - 10
viola - 10
'cello - 8
bass - 6
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