30 years ago today Rick Benjamin conducted the first rehearsal of a new student group he was organizing at The Juilliard School: “The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.” We’re delighted to say that the journey has been amazing! And now we look forward to our Anniversary Season and the many more adventures to come.
"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. 1900, is still going strong."
– Pasadena Star News
“This group is like a ragtime early music ensemble, striving to protect the integrity of this uniquely American musical genre.”
– Kansas City Star
“…delightfully infectious. The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and its dynamic director have found a winning formula for educating the public in the most enjoyable way…”
– Fanfare magazine
“The magical, musical time machine.”
– La Crosse Tribune
“Summoning both the subtle interplay and brassy vitality these pieces demand, the PRO does itself proud.”
– The Washington Post
“The results were irresistible. Halfway through the opening Knock-Out Drops Rag, someone enthused audibly, ‘Gee, they’re terrific!’ She was right.”
– Buffalo News
“…the twelve-member Paragon Ragtime Orchestra has been touring the country in the ghostly footsteps of the thousands of ‘theater orchestras’ that once played in every hotel, vaudeville hall, and fair-sized restaurant. Few of them can have played with more bite and sparkle than the Paragon.”
– American Heritage magazine
“…genteel melodic lines swim like fish through pure water.”
– Gramophone magazine
“superbly presented….prize-worthy.”
– BBC Music magazine
“… a deft, crisp, and energetic group…. one of the premiere forces in the reassertion of this repertoire in our musical consciousness.”
– American Music magazine
“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
“…protecting an important American treasure…not just be a pleasure to hear but for many a true revelation.”
– The Wall Street Journal
“Vibrantly revived music.”
– The Washington Post
“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.”
– Classics Today
“If PRO is not already labeled a national treasure it should be.”
– Fanfare 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 Inquirer
“To hear the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra play the compositions of Scott Joplin or Irving Berlin… is to hear the promise many Americans felt about the prospects for the U.S. a century ago.”
– Denver Post
"Ragtime and opera joined hands and danced together in the most joyous fashion at Stern Grove on Sunday afternoon, with a vigorous and utterly charming performance of Scott Joplin’s 'Treemonisha'…the score, superbly led by conductor Rick Benjamin, is a resourceful marvel….For this performance Benjamin…unveiled his new arrangement of 'Treemonisha' for the 11-piece Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. That lithe, pungent blend of strings, woodwinds and brass…gave the performance a lively grace that helped fill the sunny meadow to perfection.”
– The San Francisco Chronicle
