Protecting your private information is our priority. This Statement of Privacy applies to paragonragtime.com and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and governs data collection and usage. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise noted, all references to the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (PRO) include paragonragtime.com. The PRO website is a profile and informational site. By using the PRO website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.

Collection of your Personal Information

In order to better provide you with products and services offered on our Site, PRO may collect personally identifiable information, such as your:

-First and Last Name

-E-mail Address

We do not collect any personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us. However, you may be required to provide certain personal information to us when you elect to use certain products or services available on the Site. These may include: (a) registering for an account on our Site; (b) entering a sweepstakes or contest sponsored by us or one of our partners; (c) signing up for special offers from selected third parties; (d) sending us an email message; (e) submitting your credit card or other payment information when ordering and purchasing products and services on our Site. To wit, we will use your information for, but not limited to, communicating with you in relation to services and/or products you have requested from us. We also may gather additional personal or non-personal information in the future.

Use of your Personal Information

PRO collects and uses your personal information to operate its website(s) and deliver the services you have requested.

PRO may also use your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from PRO and its affiliates.

Sharing Information with Third Parties

PRO does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties.

PRO may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. PRO may share data with trusted partners to help perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to PRO, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

PRO may disclose your personal information, without notice, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served to PRO or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of PRO; and/or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of PRO, or the public.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tracking User Behavior

PRO may keep track of the websites and pages our users visit within PRO, in order to determine what PRO services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within PRO to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

Automatically Collected Information

Information about your computer hardware and software may be automatically collected by PRO. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the PRO website.

Use of Cookies

The PRO website may use “cookies” to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize PRO pages, or register with PRO site or services, a cookie helps PRO to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same PRO website, the information your previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the PRO features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the PRO services or websites you visit.

Links

This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.

Security of your Personal Information

PRO secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. PRO uses the following method for this purpose:

-SSL Protocol

When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.

We strive to take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or alteration of your personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations inherent to the Internet which are beyond our control; and (b) security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this Site cannot be guaranteed.

Right to Deletion

Subject to certain exceptions set out below, on receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will:

Please note that we may not be able to comply with requests to delete your personal information if it is necessary to:

Children Under Thirteen

PRO does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen. If you are under the age of thirteen, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use this website.

E-mail Communications

From time to time, PRO may contact you via email for the purpose of providing announcements, promotional offers, alerts, confirmations, surveys, and/or other general communication.

Changes to this Statement

PRO reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, by placing a prominent notice to our site, and/or by updating any privacy information on this page. Your continued use of the Site and/or Services available through this Site after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgement of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by that Policy.

Contact Information

PRO welcomes your questions or comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that PRO has not adhered to this Statement, please contact PRO at:

Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
PO Box 247
Lewisburg, PA 17837
(570) 524-9511

Effective as of July 01, 2024

Pasadena Star News

"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

Kansas City Star

“This group is like a ragtime early music ensemble, striving to protect the integrity of this uniquely American musical genre.”
– Kansas City Star

Fanfare 2

“…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

LaCrosse Tribune

“The magical, musical time machine.”
– La Crosse Tribune

Washington Post 2

“Summoning both the subtle interplay and brassy vitality these pieces demand, the PRO does itself proud.”
– The Washington Post

Buffalo News

“The results were irresistible. Halfway through the opening Knock-Out Drops Rag, someone enthused audibly, ‘Gee, they’re terrific!’ She was right.”
– Buffalo News

American Heritage

“…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

Gramophone

“…genteel melodic lines swim like fish through pure water.”
– Gramophone magazine

BBC Music magazine

“superbly presented….prize-worthy.”
– BBC Music magazine

American 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

New York Times

“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

Wall Street Journal

“…protecting an important American treasure…not just be a pleasure to hear but for many a true revelation.”
– The Wall Street Journal

Washington Post

“Vibrantly revived music.”
– The Washington Post

Classics Today

“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

Fanfare magazine

“If PRO is not already labeled a national treasure it should be.”
– Fanfare magazine

Philadelphia Inquirer

“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

Denver Post

“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

The San Francisco Chronicle

"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

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