WEST COAST RAGTIME FESTIVAL

Heidi Evelyn Arnott

Heidi Arnott is a versatile music educator and a leading expert on vintage vocal jazz in the Bay Area, having taught Voice, piano and choir, as well as worked as a musical theatre instructor and choir director.

A passionate bandleader, she leads several different bands, and she sings in various styles ranging from ragtime and early blues to New Orleans traditional jazz and vintage swing dance music.

Heidi has lead top tier ensembles at premier venues both in the Bay Area and New Orleans, featuring some of the finest musicians in the industry. Her powerful voice and stage presence provides an unforgettable experience that transports her audiences back in time.

https://www.heidievelynjazz.com/

Nick Arteaga

Nick's interest in ragtime began as a teenager in Sacramento, teaching himself on his grandmother's player piano. Following lessons with Dr. Robert Bowman, he performed professionally in local venues, accompanied university singers, and served as a church musician. After attending a Sacramento Ragtime Society meeting in the early 2010s, he became a regular performer there, specializing in rare rags, original compositions, and Latin American syncopated music.

Alongside performing, Nick focuses on composition and has written dozens of intricate piano rags, Latin American dance pieces, and neo-romantic works. Outside of music, he works for his family's real estate investment company in Chico, California, where he lives.

Ramona Baker

Multi-talented Ramona S. Baker is the daughter of Clint Baker and sister of Riley Baker. She is a pianist, historian, collector, artist, and a contributing writer to The Syncopated Times. Ramona has been a regular youthful pianist at the West Coast Ragtime Festival since 2012. Her most focused interest lies in the studio pianists and musicians, such as Fred Hylands, Frank P. Banta, and Justin Ringleben. Ramona Baker is well-known to our festival goers for her seminars on these unjustly forgotten figures from the early years of the recording industry.

http://theoldrecordgal.blogspot.com/

Riley Baker

Riley Baker picked up the drums when he was about 6 years old and by 12 was playing professionally with his father’s jazz band. While Riley was in middle school, he picked up the Tuba and by High school was already a proficient classical soloist. Also in high school, Riley picked up the Trombone and Upright Bass. Riley then moved to Los Angeles, California to study Jazz Trombone at California State Northridge.

While at University, Riley developed an interest in arranging and composition and was commissioned to do transcriptions for Nick Rossi’s Jazzopaters band as well as music directing for other bands. Riley spends most of his time preforming with acts that include Jonathan Stout and his Orchestra, The Four Freshmen, The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, Dave Stuckey and his Hot House Gang, Natalie Mendoza and her Tiger Five, Michael Gamble and his Rythmn Serenaders and many more. Riley currently resides in Los Angeles where he freelances on Upright Bass, Tuba, Drums and Trombone.

Mimi Blais

Mimi Blais of Montreal, Québec, Canada received several nicknames during her career: The female Victor Borge, The Céline Dion of the keyboard, The French Canadian Liberacette…but the one she’s proud to wear since 1990 is: The New Queen Of Ragtime. After completing her classical training at the Quebec Conservatory of Music and McGill University in Montreal, Mimi left the beaten path to discover Music with a capital “M”. Her career has been guided by passion and whim where classical, folk, jazz, modern, blues, tango, and ragtime all blend together. Mimi’s passion for ragtime music has led her to travel across the United States and Canada, and it has even taken her to Belgium and Hungary. As a musical performer, composer, arranger, writer, comedian and singer whose imagination knows no bounds,

Jack Bradshaw

Jack Bradshaw is a classically trained pianist with degrees from Oklahoma City University and Northwestern University. He was so immersed in the world of classical music that it wasn't until 1974 that he, along with millions of others, discovered ragtime. Jack composed his first rag in 1974 and began his four-hand arrangements of ragtime the next year for concerts at Northwestern. A career change and a move to California in 1979 put ragtime on the back burner. His ragtime rediscovery began in 1999 at the West Coast Ragtime Festival.

Although he has performed at major ragtime festivals for the past twenty-two years as a soloist, Jack is best known to the ragtime community as part of a piano four-hand duo with his wife Chris Bradshaw, for whom he wrote over one-hundred arrangements. He will be performing his original compositions and his arrangements of both familiar and obscure classic rags.

Isaiah Burton

Isaiah Burton began to teach himself piano when he was 12 years old and fell in love with it once he took formal classical piano lessons under Dr. Jana Olvera during his first year of high school. Under Dr. Olvera, Isaiah competed in the 2022 Young Artist’s Competition. As first place winner, he had the honor of performing a concerto movement with the Solano Symphony Orchestra.

Isaiah is now a graduate of Biola university where he studied piano performance under Dr. Li-Shan Hung, as well as musical composition. He also worked as an accompanist for choirs and soloists, performed on piano in the Biola Jazz Ensemble, and served as a chapel pianist. Isaiah is currently interning with the Solano Transportation Authority in Suisun City, California.

Diego Bustamante

Diego Bustamante from Paradise, CA, has been an active performer throughout Northern California, appearing as a solo artist, chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and concerto soloist. Starting from the age of 12, Diego was a regular performer at the West Coast and Sutter Creek Ragtime Festivals. He is honored and excited to return to the ragtime scene for the first time since the Covid era!

In 2021, Diego received his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from University of the Pacific in Stockton. Then in 2024, he received his Master’s degree in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Westminster Choir College in New Jersey.

Currently a Modesto resident, he works as a collaborative pianist for Opera Modesto, CSU Stanislaus, and multiple high schools; and also teaches piano. Since fall 2025, Diego has had the privilege of being both the chorus pianist and a chorus member in Opera Modesto’s mainstage productions. Aside from his passion for music, he is also an avid birder, relishing every opportunity to explore the natural world and observe its inhabitants.

Ryan Calloway

Ryan Calloway is a multifaceted artist residing in Berkeley, CA, with a notable reputation in the fields of design, music, and dance. As a world-renowned Lindy Hop dancer and instructor, he has taught and performed across the United States, as well as in Vienna, Budapest, Cape Town, Singapore, and Vancouver. Ryan is also an accomplished musician, playing the clarinet, saxophone, and banjo with a focus on Ragtime, early jazz, and blues. He has graced stages around the world and leads two acclaimed bands in the Bay Area.

Michael Chisholm

Michael Chisholm is originally from Sugar Land, Texas, now residing in Plantersville, Texas. The ragtime bug bit him as a child hearing the soundtrack to the Wallace and Gromit films. Seeing Jo Ann Castle and Big Tiny Little on reruns of The Lawrence Welk Show hardened his interest in ragtime. For the past 15 years, Michael has studied and performed classic ragtime and amassed a collection of over 7,000 original copies of instrumental rags, cake walks, ragtime songs, and blues, all of which is available to other musicians and historians.

Michael has performed at the Old Town Music Hall Ragtime Festival, the Santa Cruz Ragtime Festival, the Orange County Ragtime Festival, the Scott Joplin House, and is a frequent judge for the San AntonioRagtime Society's annual youth festival / competition.  Michael is currently a festival organizer and Board of Directors member for both the Historic Sutter Creek and West Coast Ragtime Festivals.  Aside from ragtime, Michael is a landscaper and avid collector, grower, and dealer of exotic houseplants.

Jared DiBartolomeo

Jared is an engineering graduate of University of California at Irvine. A lifelong enthusiast of ragtime and vintage piano music, Jared was first exposed to ragtime at the age of two when his father played the Maple Leaf Rag on the home piano. The syncopated rhythms left an impression on Jared, and at age eight he started taking formal piano lessons. After receiving a folio of Scott Joplin’s rags and some recordings, Jared dived deeper into ragtime enthusiasm.

For nearly as long as he has had an interest in ragtime, Jared has been a fan of mechanical musical instruments. He currently owns an Ampico reproducing piano and a collection of piano rolls mastered by such artists as Adam Caroll, Edgar Fairchild, J. Milton Delcamp, and Henry Lange, from which he draws inspiration.

Jared first participated in the West Coast Ragtime Festival in 2005 and has had numerous opportunities to perform at San Francisco’s Pier 23, the SRS Ragtime Corner at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, the Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, and the Santa Cruz Ragtime Festival.

Neville Dickie

A native of England's County Durham, Neville Dickie is among the most accomplished stride and boogie-woogie pianists on either side of the Atlantic. As jazz authority Tex Wyndham suggests in his liner notes to Dickie's "Eye Opener," he's "a world-class keyboard shark." A regular performer on BBC Radio, Dickie's made hundreds of appearances as a soloist or with his trio and is one of the few British jazz players to score with a hit single - "The Robins Return" - in 1969. He continues to be embraced by British jazz enthusiasts, and his 1975 album, "Back to Boogie," has sold more than 100,000 copies. He's produced scores of records and can be heard on hundreds of jazz recordings including several recordings with French pianist Louis Mazetier. As John Featherstone writes in Storeyville, "Neville Dickie's devastatingly accurate left hand shows why, at any stride convention, he'll have a place reserved at the top table."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Dickie

Richard Dowling

Hailed by The New York Times as “an especially impressive fine pianist,” Steinway Artist Richard Dowling appears throughout America in recitals, at music festivals, and as guest soloist with orchestras. Works of Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Gottschalk, Ravel, and ragtime figure prominently in his repertoire. Reviews praise him as “a master of creating beautiful sounds with impeccable control of colors and textures,” as “a musician with something to say, the skill to say it and the magnetic power to make you want to listen,” and for giving “a superb recital that left the audience craving for more at the end.”

Dowling is a versatile recording artist with over a dozen CDs of classical, chamber, ragtime, jazz, and popular music. On April 1, 2017, Mr. Dowling performed the complete piano works of Scott Joplin in historic twin sold-out recitals at Carnegie Hall, exactly 100 years to the day Joplin died in New York. He is the first pianist in the world to perform the Joplin cycle – 53 rags, waltzes, marches and cakewalks – nearly four hours of music, all from memory. His 3-CD set of the Complete Joplin was nominated for a Grammy Award. The late ragtime pianist Max Morath said, “Richard Dowling’s mastery of the Joplin rags invokes a tenderness that charms us and a technical command that inspires our admiration.” Mr. Dowling resides in New York and holds advanced degrees in music from Yale and University of Texas, including a doctorate.

Learn more about Richard's Special Seminar at this year's Festival.

https://www.richard-dowling.com/

Steve and Robyn Drivon

The Drivons became part of the West Coast ragtime movement in 2003 and have since become known to many ragtime fans and musicians as familiar and welcomed performers in festivals and concerts in California. Since 2009, the Drivons have played as a duo. Robyn on tuba while Steve croons some of their favorite ragtime era songs adding rhythm and chords on his tenor guitar.

Over the years, Steve and Robyn have enjoyed performing with JARS featuring Anne and Jeff Barnhart, The Porcupine Ragtime Ensemble, and with Chris and Jack Bradshaw as The Ragnolia Ragtette. This year they will be performing Michael Chisolm and Kevin Gunia.

Nick Robinson – Mandolin, Guitar, Vocal
Zac Salem – Mandolin, Guitar, Vocal
Special Guest – Irene Herrmann

The Easy Winners

Nick Robinson, Zac Salem and Special Guest Irene Herrmann

The Easy Winners play ragtime-era music of the Americas (north and south) on vintage mandolins and guitars. Songs, waltzes, polkas, tangos, classic rags. Our goal is to teach and celebrate our past through joyfully musical and unaffected interpretations of early twentieth century music and song.

Michael Steinman writes in Jazz Lives: “There are so many names for the music The Easy Winners create (is it string-band music, ragtime, roots music, Americana, or venerable popular song?) that I have given up the quest to name it. But it’s light-hearted, sweet, sometimes hilarious, sentimental in the best ways, old-fashioned without being stuffy."

Nick Robinson played mandolin with the Ragtime Skedaddlers string band at ragtime and roots music festivals throughout northern California. Nick has also played Balinese gamelan, old time mandolin, and klezmer music.

Zac Salem has been performing ragtime in the USA and Mexico since the age of 16. He is a vocalist, pianist, and performer on various stringed instruments. As an avid collector of antique phonograph recordings, he specializes in researching and conserving traditions of Mexican and Latin American popular music of the early Twentieth Century.

https://www.easywinners.band/

Marty Eggers

Marty is described by Terry Waldo as having "an encyclopedic knowledge of the ragtime and early jazz repertoire". He has played with numerous Bay Area jazz and ragtime groups, including the Yerba Buena Stompers, John Gill's San Francisco Jazz Band and the Black Diamond Jazz Band. In addition to solo piano, Marty appeared at the festival for years as bassist with the Bo Grumpus Trio.

He has also appeared with the Tichenor Family Trio (Trebor Tichenor, Virginia Tichenor, and Marty).

Marty helped found the Sacramento Ragtime Society in 1982. He is a past president of the West Coast Ragtime Society.

Eve Elliot

Eve has been playing piano for more than 20 years and has received over 10 years of classical training. She has accompanied a variety of instruments including voice, flute, trombone, clarinet, violin, guitar, and more. She's comfortable in a variety of styles, from classical, to pop, to blues/funk/jazz and ragtime, as you will hear at this festival.
Eve

In 2022, Eve was awarded first place at the 44th Old Time Piano Playing Contest, making her the first female winner in 22 years.

Banjo, vocals: Greg Sabin
Washboard, vocals: Patrick Skiffington
Trombone: Brandon Au
Trumpet: Justin Au

Freebadge Serenaders

Greg Sabin, Patrick Skiffington, Brandon Au, Justin Au

When asked what kind of music their band plays, they often respond that "band" is a strong word for what they do. Having grown up in the jazz-infused confines of Sacramento, the Serenaders bring a unique, and often ridiculous, approach to music. Mixing faithful old standards, unlikely covers of popular songs, and a gaggle of clever originals, the Serenaders appeal to every age group. Especially yours.

Greg Sabin - Greg is a nationally published food writer, actor, improvisational comedian, banjo player and financial planner. He does not wear hats.

Patrick Skiffington - Patrick keeps the wolves from the door working in state government, but his true vocation is music. A multi-instrumentalist musician, raconteur, and bonafide expert in traditional jazz generally—and the west coast trad revival scene in particular—his washboard jazz antics are featured in local favorites The Crescent Katz and The FreeBadge Serenaders.

Brandon Au - Trombonist, Brandon Au, along with his brothers (Gordon, Brandon and Justin) has been playing the traditional jazz of New Orleans ever since their uncle, High Sierra trombonist Howard Miyata, turned them on to the music at an early age. Among them, they have amassed three music degrees and performed with various ensembles at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Preservation Hall, and the Sydney Opera House, as well as at the Monterey, Redwood Coast, Montreux, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, & North Sea jazz festivals.

Justin Au - Justin Au, performer and Music Educator with the Vacaville Unified School District, is an alumnus of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society’s jazz education programs and one of the finest high-school jazz programs in the nation. Playing a variety of jazz styles, he has toured New York, Japan, Puerto Rico, China, and Brazil. On the national festival circuit, Justin has filled in on trumpet for many well-known groups such as the Creole Syncopators, Steelin' Dan, High Sierra JB, Cornet Chop Suey JB, Cell Block 7, Viper Six, and more.
He has also appeared as a guest trumpeter with many more festival favorites. Justin can be heard regularly with various groups such as The Red Skunk Band, Au Brothers Jazz Band, Harley White Jr. Orchestra, Justin has also served as co-director of the official youth band of the Basin Street Regulars Jazz Society in Pismo Beach and has worked with numerous school ensembles both as a clinician and substitute teacher.

https://www.facebook.com/discountjazz/

Lisa Gonick

Brining traditional Jazz & Vintage Jazz, Swing, Blues & Bop performed for your listening & dancing pleasure. Lisa sings and plays ukulele and banjo throughout the Bay Area in various early jazz bands. She leads her own band, Lisa Gonick and The Damfino Players, playing Hot/Trad Jazz, Swing and Blues.

The band includes friends and neighbors Virginia Tichenor and Marty Eggers, her husband Cliff Moser and band mates Jeff Green, Don Neely and other Bay Area notables.

Jeff Green

Jeff first picked up a banjo at age 10 and discovered traditional jazz in 1985. He quickly gained a reputation for playing solid rhythm and tasty chord melody and honed his chops with likes of the Goldcoast Jazz Band, Polly's Hot Paupers, Cell Block 7, and the Natural Gas Jazz Band.

It was when Jeff had the opportunity to play with Virginia Tichenor at Pier 23 that he found a love and appreciation of ragtime music, and the genre continues to expand his repertoire.

Jeff has been working with Earl Scheelar's Zenith Jazz Band, Lisa Gonick and the Damfino Players, Virginia Tichenor's Key System Rhythm Ramblers, Neely's Rhythm Aces and many other outstanding early jazz and ragtime ensembles.

Kevin Gunia

Kevin Gunia discovered ragtime after stumbling across John Arpin's recording of the complete Joplin rags at a used CD store. He was riveted—and fortunately, his piano teacher allowed him to learn ragtime alongside classical music. Having already publicly played a handful of rags, Kevin became further immersed in the ragtime world through his friendship with Michael Chisholm. They began performing as a piano four-hands duo in 2021 and have given nearly fifty performances to date. One year later, the Chisholm-Gunia Duo began performing with Frederick Hodges on a second piano; the group call themselves The Pianophiends.

Kevin has remained active in both the ragtime and classical music communities. As a composer and a pianist, Kevin's compositions blend the two genres. In addition to music for solo piano, he has composed chamber music, large ensemble works, choir music, and an opera scene. Grammy-winning soprano Estelí Gomez performed his art song, and a string quartet was performed by the Ivalas Quartet, formerly in residence at Juilliard. Kevin is currently a doctoral candidate in music composition at the University of Oregon, where his dissertation will be a full-length symphony for orchestra.

https://www.kevingunia.com/

Frederick Hodges

Learn more about Frederick's Special Seminar at this year's Festival.

http://www.frederickhodges.com/

Brian Holland

Brian Holland is an internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, recording artist, and entertainer whose career spans more than four decades. Known for his dazzling command of ragtime, stride, swing, boogie-woogie, blues, and early jazz, Holland combines formidable
technique with an easygoing stage presence and an unmistakable sense of fun.

Holland has performed across the United States and internationally, including appearances as far afield as Rwanda. He has worked with ensembles including the Titan Hot 7, Sierra Stompers, Holland-Coots Jazz Quintet, Big B.A.D. Rhythm, Groovus, Swingin’ West, and others.

His newest quartet, Brian Holland & The Ragabonds, released its self-titled debut on Rivermont Records in 2024.

Beyond the stage, Holland has played a major role in preserving and presenting early American music. He served as Artistic Director of the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival from 2015–2020 and has served as Co-Creative Consultant for Monterey’s Jazz Bash by the Bay since 2018.

Today, he remains a lively ambassador for the music, bringing its history forward with personality.

https://shanesmohawk.com/

Vincent Johnson

Vincent Matthew Johnson’s philosophy of ragtime music seeks to preserve, encourage, and revitalize this beloved, quintessentially American music. His pianistic approach is informed by a wide range of syncopated styles, from classic ragtime to stride and early jazz piano with a particular affinity for the oft-forgotten novelty piano stylings of the 1920s and 1930s. As a preservationist, he has a growing archive of original sheet music from the era and has made efforts to transcribe and commission transcriptions of historical records and piano rolls. His interest in transcription extends to the unpublished compositions of contemporary composers and he has been instrumental in notating works by California-based composers such as John Reed-Torres and Eric Marchese. He has served as a judge at the West Coast Ragtime Society Youth Piano Competition and at the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing New Rag Contest.

In his own compositions, Johnson combines the format and parlance of historical rags and piano novelties with his own humor and sensibilities to create a personal, unique style. In The New York Times, columnist John McWhorter called him “a composer who has taken the torch passed on since Scott Joplin and created ragtime that continues in the Bolcom spirit and keeps the genre ever moving.” His rags have won awards, been programmed by pianists from Manhattan to Hungary, and featured on albums including Max Keenlyside’s Invincible Syncopations: The New Ragtime Music of Vincent Matthew Johnson on Rivermont Records.

Vincent performs regularly at ragtime clubs and festivals throughout California, and is known to moonlight as a pianist at Downtown Los Angeles’ storied 1642 Bar with friends Eve Elliot and John Reed-Torres.

Miss Maybell (Lauren Sansaricq) with Brennan Ernst

We are delighted that Miss Maybell together with Brennan Ernst are participating in the West Coast Ragtime Festival this year. They share a mutual, lifelong passion for pre-1920s popular music and have complimentary musical skills. With a wink to the pretentious barrelhouse hoi palloi, thus was born, “Miss Maybell” who will be accompanied by Brennan.

Brennan Ernst - Piano:  Brennan is a Philadelphia, PA based guitarist, pianist and banjoist versed in jazz, blues, country and other genres.

Fresh from the recently released album of previously unrecorded songs of the 1890s – 1920s, Under the Midnight Moon, this duo will bring to life songs created over 100 years ago. 

https://www.missmaybell.com/

Lisa Gonick – Vocals, Strings
Virginia Tichenor – Piano
Jeff Green – Banjo, Guitar

Key System Trio

Virginia Tichenor, Lisa Gonick, Jeff Green

The Key System Trio derive their name from the Key System Railway Public Transportation Service that linked San Francisco, Oakland, Eastbay and beyond prior to the Bay Bridge via trains, streetcars, buses and ferries. Neighbors’ Virginia and Lisa learned the original Key System C Streetcar ran right in front of their houses in Oakland! As History enthusiasts, the name Key System is a fun way connect to the past: how the Bay Area traveled, lived, worked and played.

Piano: Virginia Tichenor (See bio below) Harkening from St Louis, Princess of Ragtime, is an Early Jazz, Blues and Ragtime powerhouse. Virginia plays in many bands at various venues, private events and clubs throughout the country. Ms. Tichenor is an exciting musician and fantastic person.

Banjo: Jeff Green (See bio above) Like Virginia, Jeff plays regularly with many bands in the Greater Bay Area. His solid rhythm and creative chord soloing keep him in much demand on strings. Also, a great vocalist, with a deep love of Fats Waller and Andy Razaf- you will hear his sweet crooning of whatever this week’s earworm is.

Vocalist, Uke/Tenor Banjo & Guitar: Lisa Gonick (See bio above)  Bandleader and dancer- Lisa Gonick has worn many musical hats. Currently, Lisa helps run Zenith Jazz band and Key System. Her passion for Early Jazz, Blues and Swing shows in her creative arrangements and danceable tempos. As a Lindy hopper/Swing dancer, she knows what it takes to keep dancers on the floor and listeners of all ages happy!

www.lisagonick.com

Carl Sonny Leyland

Carl Sonny Leyland was born & raised on the South Coast of England, growing up close to the city of Southampton.

At age 15 Leyland discovered boogie woogie and Leyland was inspired to go to the piano & begin on a path that would become his life's purpose. Sonny’s repertoire now includes authentic blues & early rock & roll stylings, rockabilly & western swing, ragtime & early jazz styles which has proven to be a versatile combination for success over the years.

Whether playing solo or with others, Sonny’s playing displays an infectious spontaneity, providing plenty of surprises for the listener. While he possesses the necessary vocabulary to pay tribute to the greats of old, he refuses to limit himself to this & prefers to let each performance be an opportunity to say something new. His repertoire spans the Ragtime era to the 1950s and includes original “Leyland” material.

https://www.carlsonnyleyland.com/

Max Libertor

Max Libertor was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. His ragtime journey began during the pandemic lockdown when his father showed him a YouTube video of Tom Brier sight-reading a Super Mario Brothers theme. Something clicked that years of childhood piano lessons had never been able to unlock—and he hasn’t looked back since. Almost entirely self-taught, Max started by learning Brier’s arrangements, then dove deeper. His studies grew to include older ragtime recordings, sheet music, and early jazz.

His dedication has earned him recognition throughout the ragtime world. Max was named Ragtime Kid at the 2023 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival and has since performed at the West Coast Ragtime Festival and the Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. He is a 2026 From the Top Fellow and recently won the 2026 Old-Time Piano Playing Contest’s New Rag division and Youth division.

Beyond performing, Max is also a composer, arranger, transcriber, and multi-instrumentalist. He currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts ad an undecided major at Berklee College of Music.

https://maxlibertor.com/

https://youtu.be/9f1Zh07xZQM?si=hxSMZA1x2leH8ueS
https://youtu.be/IR6ZoESJRWA?si=-NsszemVH3ths0ba

William McNally

William McNally is a two–time winner of the World Championship Old–Time Piano Playing Contest, and three–time winner of their New Rag Contest. Since 2019 he has served as the Scott Joplin Foundation’s Ragtime Kid Program Director.

Piano Puzzles & Magic Trix, McNally’s album of the complete solo piano works of Arthur Schutt paired with more recent novelty works by Vincent Johnson, also includes the premiere recording of four works by Art Tatum, has just been released. Previously, Dream Shadows was released to high acclaim: reviews in Fanfare Magazine—two of them—called the recording “highly natural and persuasive…his prismatic range of touch and tone allows him to trace out the shifting moods of the music—from the sentimental to the nonchalant to the smashing—with unusual sensitivity…the disc is so good, from beginning to end, that it’s hard to know what to highlight…a treasure!” McNally’s “serious classical” CD with works by Brahms, Reger and Busoni was lauded by the New York Times as “effortless…fascinating…mercurial… and intelligently curious.”

He completed his doctorate at CUNY’s Graduate Center, where he studied with Ursula Oppens and wrote a ragtime–focused dissertation. He has served on the faculties of Texas State University, CUNY Queens College, and Temple University. He currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife Daria and ten–year–old son Nick, where he teaches privately and spends most of his “free” time cooking, biking, and thinking about Bach and syncopated stuff.

https://www.williammcnally.com/

T. J. Müller

TJ Müller is a bandleader and multi-instrumentalist based out of St. Louis, where he directs both The Arcadia Dance Orchestra and The Gaslight Squares. Although based in Missouri, T.J. was born in Canterbury, England. Always traveling from a young age, T.J. began playing traditional jazz cornet with his family band led by his father, Rev. Anton Muller. While living in Edinburgh, T.J. was offered a job touring with the Americana group Pokey Lafarge.

After leaving the Lafarge ensemble, T.J. established his own groups in St. Louis and began specializing in the historic jazz music of Missouri. T.J. can be found performing around St. Louis weekly, preaching about good St. Louis music from Ragtime to Swing.

https://tjmullermusic.com/

Don Neely

“One can’t imagine the vintage music scene today without the influence of Don Neely, the founder of the long-running Royal Society Jazz Orchestra. The California based bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and arranger has nearly 50 years of musical experience playing tunes from the 1920’s and 30’s. He expanded the audience for hot syncopated music beyond the Bay Area without sacrificing authenticity. Dapper Don, with his silver hair and mustache making him look like the elder statesman he has become, still performs around California with other bands as well as his own 11-piece Royal Society Jazz Orchestra.”

Brian Sheridan
The Syncopated Times

Gary Neuman

Gary has a classical background from Pease Conservatory in Sacramento, studying under the master, Dilworth Simmons.
​
He entered into the world of commercial performance in 1980 in Saratoga CA, playing 5 nights a week at Shakey's Pizza Parlor on Hwy. 9.
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A partnership was forged with Banjo Bill, and they moved on to Clancy's in Jack London Square. After many years of saloon entertaining in this smoky environment, Gary played at the Overland House and later, the Fat Lady. The early 80s ushered in a 15 year run of Sunday afternoon entertainment in Tiburon and Corte Madera at 39 Main, the Dock and Marin Joe's, where Gary and several other musicians played for loyal fans. San Francisco piano bars stole Gary away from Oakland clubs and he drew fans to the Gold Dust and Lefty O'Douls on Union Square. Other San Francisco venues included Hornblower Yachts, Cityscape and the Holiday Inn at the Wharf. During this same timeframe Gary was the piano player for Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra.

https://www.garyneumanmusic.com/

Andrew Oliver

Andrew Oliver is a pianist from Portland, Oregon, specializing in stride piano, 1920s jazz and blues, ragtime, and tango. His playing is energetic and authentic, drawing on the styles of pianists such as Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, and Earl Hines to deliver a stomping style which emphasizes the exciting groove that brought jazz to the forefront of popular music in the 20th century.

A specialist in the music of the great New Orleans pioneering pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton, Andrew has recorded all of Jelly’s known compositions on the “Complete Morton Project” YouTube Channel with clarinetist David Horniblow. Their duo album of Morton’s tunes on Lejazzetal was selected as one of the 10 best jazz albums of 2019 by the Times (London). Andrew lived in London from 2013-2020, performing in the UK and Europe with a number of acclaimed groups including the Dime Notes and Vitality Five.

Andrew is the founder of the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, a 2012 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works recipient, and an Oregon Arts Commission fellow.

https://andrewoliver.net/

   Left to Right:

Michael Chisholm, piano
Susanne Wong, violin
Judy McCall, cello
Adam Roderick, drums
Mike Hart, tuba
Sue Horn, flute
Mike Young, clarinet
Brian Gayek, trombone
James Rogers, leader, cornet

Pacific Coast Ragtime Orchestra

PCRO was organized in 1980 by music teachers in coastal towns south of San Francisco, and brings the sounds of the Ragtime Era to life. PCRO's spirited, authentic style invigorates the music of such ragtime legends as Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb, Eubie Blake, James Scott, Percy Wenrich and Irving Berlin.

Dara Phung

Dara Phung is a San Francisco-based pianist and music director who is delighted to return to the West Coast Ragtime Festival. She first took part in the festival through its youth competitions and masterclasses. After earning her music degree from the University of Southern California, Dara went on to build a career as a collaborative pianist and performer. She is the collaborative pianist for the San Francisco Bach Choir and the Young Women's Choral Projects of San Francisco, and has accompanied YWCP's premiere ensemble on tours to Canada, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico. Dara is the music director at Noe Valley Church, where she leads the adult choir and youth choral scholars program.

When she's not playing ragtime or working with choirs, Dara enjoys accompanying classes at the San Francisco Ballet School and performing with Teatro Mistral's Opera Cocktales at Martuni's.

Richard Powers, Dance Historian / Instructor

Richard is currently the dance historian and social dance instructor at Stanford University. His focus since 1975 has been the research and reconstruction of American and European social dance forms. His research is drawn from a personal collection of over 2,500 historic dance manuals, the largest personal collection in the world, supplemented with a twelve thousand-title collection of period dance music.

He is one of the world’s foremost experts in American social dance, noted for his workshops in Paris, Rome, London, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Geneva, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, including 36 workshops in France (teaching in French) and 32 in Japan (teaching in Japanese).

Richard choreographed the ragtime dances in the films Cold Sassy Tree (1989), danced by Faye Dunaway and Richard Widmark, and Spring Awakenings (1994). He choreographed the 19th century dances for North and South (1985), Mrs. Perkins' Ball (1986) and Glory (1989).

Learn more about Richard's Special Seminars at this year's Festival.

https://www.richardpowers.com/

The Ragabonds

Brian Holland & The Ragabonds bring a fresh, playful energy to one of ragtime’s most distinctive instrumental combinations: piano, banjo, tuba, and drums. The quartet features Brian Holland on piano, Katie Cavera on banjo, Paul Hagglund on tuba, and Gareth Price on drums and washboard—four veteran musicians steeped in ragtime, traditional jazz, swing, and early American popular music.

The group grew from the rhythm section of the Sierra Stompers and quickly developed an identity of its own: historically informed, hard-driving, and never overly reverent. Their sound pays tribute to the classic ragtime quartet tradition associated with the 1940s West Coast revival, while giving the music a distinctly modern personality. In 2024, the band released its self-titled debut on Rivermont Records. The 14-track album ranges from Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton to later compositions and unexpected repertoire, revealing a group as comfortable honoring tradition as it is reshaping it. Jazz pianist Jeff Barnhart, after hearing their treatment of Joplin’s “The Ragtime Dance,” declared, “I never want to hear it any other way!”

Onstage, The Ragabonds combine virtuosity, rhythmic drive, humor, and an infectious sense of fun—proving that century-old music can still sound spontaneous, surprising, and completely alive for audiences of every generation.

Brian Holland – (See bio above)

Katie Cavera - Katie Cavera is originally from Southern Indiana. She attended Indiana University and studied jazz performance and composition with Dr. David Baker, playing with his Jazz Ensemble in a special presentation of Duke Ellington Masterworks at the Smithsonian Institution. Since moving to Southern California, Katie has become a sought-after guitarist, banjoist, and bassist. Her credits include working with Jug Band legend Jim Kweskin, Jim Cullum’s Jazz Band at The Landing in San Antonio, Texas, George Probert from the Firehouse 5 + 2, and members of Turk Murphy’s Jazz Band including Bob Helm, Leon Oakley, Ray Skjelbred and Brian Holland and the Ragabonds.

Paul Haggland - Paul was first introduced to live ragtime performance in St. Louis on a family trip at the age of 5. A keen performing interest in ragtime and West Coast Revival jazz of the 1940s and 50s was fostered by discovery of the Firehouse Five Plus Two and Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band as a young teen playing tuba, trombone, and euphonium in middle and high school ensembles, continuing with Seattle University’s pep band. He performed with the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band from Seattle from 2008-15 and has played with the California-based High Sierra Jazz Band, Sierra Seven, and Sierra Stompers since 2017. Paul has been with Brian Holland and The Ragabonds since their 2023 inception as a subunit of the Sierra Stompers as well as other groups closer to home in the greater Seattle area.

Gareth Price – Gareth is a jazz and traditional swing drummer based in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area. He is well-known on the West Coast traditional jazz scene for his work with swing bands, ragtime ensembles, and live theater performances.

David Thomas Roberts

David Thomas Roberts is an American composer, pianist, visual artist, and writer, best known for his pioneering work in modern ragtime music and the related style he termed "Terra Verde."

Born in Moss Point, Mississippi, Roberts demonstrated early artistic talent, beginning to paint, compose music, and write stories by the age of eight. Over his career, he has created more than 120 works for solo piano, alongside numerous chamber, vocal, and electronic compositions, often blending classical influences with syncopated rhythms characteristic of ragtime.  In his twenties, he emerged as a leading figure in the revival of ragtime, earning high praise from New Orleans jazz historian Al Rose, who in 1986 described him as "the most important composer of this half-century in America."

As a performer, Roberts has appeared at prestigious venues worldwide, including Oslo Concert Hall in Norway, major concert halls in Japan, New York's 92nd Street Y, and numerous locations across the United States. His compositions have been interpreted and recorded by acclaimed artists and ensembles, such as Japanese guitarist Takashi Hamada and the Ophelia Orchestra of Norway, and have featured prominently in media outlets like ABC's Good Morning America, NPR's All Things Considered, and CBC Radio in Canada. In 2003, he provided piano accompaniment for the Oakland Ballet in arrangements of classic ragtime works.

https://www.davidthomasroberts.com/

Ray Skjelbred

Ray Skjelbred has been a piano soloist as well as band leader and sideman in blues, jazz and swing groups for many years in Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, and in festivals and concerts throughout the U.S. and Europe.

He has also worked as chosen accompanist for legendary blues singers Victoria Spivey and Barbara Dane. His 2018 film, Piano Jazz: Chicago Style! (recorded at the Royal Room) won the documentary/history award at the 2018 New York Jazz Film Festival.

Learn more about Ray's Special Seminar at this year's Festival.

https://rayskjelbred.com/

Martin Spitznagel

Martin has been hailed as a remarkable, astonishing, and "face-melting" musical talent. His flying fingers and sparkling repertoire have left audiences across the country enthralled with America's first popular music, Ragtime. Whether performing the masterworks of Scott Joplin or the score to Star Wars, Martin is truly at home on the piano bench.

He found success early, winning a Yamaha Disklavier at the age of 14 in Calliope Media's nationwide Crazy for Ragtime competition. His entry, chosen from the hundreds of submissions by a panel of judges that included world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, coincided with the centennial of the birth of ragtime music in 1897.

Despite this early success, Martin was largely self-guided until 1998, when he met Eastman School of Music pianist and pedagogue Dr. Tony Caramia, who challenged him to "find the surprise" in every performance. Under Caramia's tutelage, Martin flourished, developing a keen ear for melody, a gift for improvisation, and a talent for composition.

https://www.martinspitznagel.com

Bub & Petra Sullivan

A Sacramento native, Petra has a degree in Music and teaches violin and piano. Bub, originally from Chicago, also studied classical piano as a child, then later took up string instruments before discovering ragtime.

Squeek Steel

Squeek Steele is globally notorious for her wide-ranging expertise at the piano. Classically trained, she long ago branched out into musical styles like ragtime, honky-tonk, and traditional jazz, as well as composing soundtracks for documentaries, musicals and a folk opera.

She’s a sought-after entertainer, playing gigs (in every imaginable musical style) in Berlin, Singapore, Hong Kong, and all over the United States. Her recordings have been selling well for decades.

She’s also in the Guinness Book of World Records for “the most pieces of music performed from memory”. In 1988, in Philadelphia, she earned this record by playing many hours worth of tunes thrown at her by judges, including rock, classical, religious, world, Broadway, jazz, bluegrass and many other styles. Her record remains today.

 https://goodoldsongs.com/

Jared Z. Szabo

A Southern California native, Jared started his music and ragtime journey in 2021. Since then, he has earned significant achievements, becoming the New Rag Champion (winning with his composition Gateway Rag) and 2nd-Place Junior Champion of the 2025 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. He is also honored to have been chosen as the 2025 Ragtime Kid for the Scott Joplin Ragtime Foundation in Sedalia, MO. Jared has been studying piano under Dr. William McNally via virtual lessons since early 2025.

Jared was first introduced to ragtime in 2021 by way of his electronic keyboard which had “The Entertainer” as one of its sample songs. He has been enamored with the ragtime style ever since. He has had the privilige of attending and performing at several ragtime festivals including the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival, the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest & Festival, the West Coast Ragtime Festival, and the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. These all furthered his love for this music genre and gave him opportunities to meet and play for other ragtime enthusiasts. Jared currently performs at the Rose Leaf Ragtime Club in South Pasadena and is a favorite artist at Varenita Senior Living in Simi Valley.

In addition to playing and composing ragtime, Jared enjoys transcribing vintage sheet music and piano rolls to post on his MuseScore profile (sjoplinfan), discovering new rags from fellow composers, and researching the history of ragtime. A major inspiration for him is Max Kortlander, a very talented piano roll artist and composer who produced many arrangements of ragtime and ragtime-related music. Outside of ragtime, Jared enjoys volunteer work, camping and other outdoor activities with his Trail Life troop, and participating in his teen discipleship group at church. Jared enjoys architecture and urban planning, and is particularly fascinated with the city of St. Louis for its history, contributions to American music, and its architectural significance. He hopes to pursue a career in architecture and continue studying music in higher education.

https://jzsragtime.com

Lilianne Tao

Lilianne Tao, 15, is a pianist and vocalist studying with Justin McKay and Christine Buckstead, respectively. She passed her 2024 Certificate of Merit Level 10 with state honors. Lily won first place in the Paradise Symphony Orchestra's Young Artists Competition in February 2023 and 2nd place in CAPMT's Go for the Gold Competition in May 2023.

She was the youngest featured artist in the 2022 West Coast Ragtime Festival. She is also a California Arts Scholar after attending the California State Summer School of the Arts (CSSSA) for piano in 2024. At the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) National Student Auditions (NSA), Lily was a regional semifinalist and a national qualifier. Lily loves improvisation and composition. She also performed in the Music Teacher's Association of California (MTAC) State Convention's Improvisation Honors Recitals and demonstrated in multiple improvisation presentations by Justin. Lily is a sophomore at Chico High School.

Virginia Tichenor

Virginia has been consumed by ragtime her entire life, as the daughter of Trebor Tichenor, the noted ragtime scholar, pianist, collector and founder of the St. Louis Ragtimers. She studied music at the St. Louis Community Association for the Arts and took advanced training from concert pianist, John Phillips. Always at the crossroads of the ragtime revival, her parental home houses the world's largest library of ragtime sheet music and piano rolls. Virginia grew up with legends like Eubie Blake, Max Morath and Butch Thompson chatting in her own living room.

Her father was advisor-confidant for most of the ragtime community, so Virginia often heard new rags when they were forming in the minds of their composers. The topic of her college research project? The ragtime revival, of course! In 1998, Virginia released her first solo recording, a CD entitled Virginia's Favorites. It includes four two-piano duets with her father, Trebor.

Matt Tolentino

Matt was born in Dallas, Texas. Music has always been the center of Matt's life. His musical adventures began at age 11, playing clarinet in his elementary school band. Although he is a multi-instrumentalist — playing accordion, clarinet, saxophone, tuba, piano, tenor guitar, banjo, and mallet percussion — the accordion is Matt's first musical "love."

Matt eventually put together his 18-piece Singapore Slingers Orchestra, which plays a wide variety of musical styles dedicated to ragtime, traditional jazz, and popular songs of 1895 to 1935.

He also leads The Matt Tolentino Band, as well as a polka band, The Royal Klobasneks. His ensembles perform in various sizes clubs, festivals, special events, and private parties.

https://www.matttolentino.com/

John Reed-Torres

John Reed-Torres was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He first encountered ragtime music during a school recess, hearing a piano version of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" from an ice cream truck. This experience sparked his lifelong passion for ragtime and other historical antiquities.

Reed-Torres is a largely self-taught musician who began learning to play piano on any available instrument. He joined the high school marching band, learning to play the trombone and the bass clef, which he later used to aid his self-taught treble clef skills. After high school, he took music classes at Pasadena City College and received lessons in classical piano through work-study scholarships.

John performs at various Los Angeles and Southern California venues, including the Rose Leaf Club and the West Coast Ragtime Festival. Reed-Torres composes his own rags, such as "Spring Street Rag" and "The Belle of Los Angeles," which showcase his unique style while honoring the tradition of early ragtime masters. He has released self-produced recordings of his original work, as well as performances of classic rags by African American composers like Scott Joplin and Arthur Marshall.

Reed-Torres is a vocal advocate for the preservation and understanding of ragtime history and its connection to music and culture. He aims to connect his diverse ethnic heritage to the broader community through his music, which he views as a universal language. In addition to his musical pursuits, he also aspires to become a mechanical engineer and architect.

Joan Walton, Dance Choreographer / Instructor

Joan Walton was introduced to the world of Vintage Dance by Richard Powers in 1983 and has not stopped her involvement since. As Assistant Director and dancer with Cincinnati’s Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Troupe for ten years, she performed all over the country, including at the Smithsonian and on the ABC-TV mini-series North and South. Since 1991 she has taught classes in 19th Century, Ragtime, and Jazz Age dance styles at Vintage Dance workshops across the USA, in Paris, Russia, and the Czech Republic.

Her high-energy, focused teaching, theatrical choreographic style and morning warmups have become well known to vintage dancers over the years. A keen observer of learning styles, Joan has an ongoing interest in understanding the many ways that people learn to dance.
Teaching on the faculties of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the College of San Mateo, and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music produced opportunities to choreograph Vintage Dances, Musical Theatre and award-winning Opera productions. She received a master’s degree in dance education from Stanford University’s top-rated School of Education, and is currently teaching, choreographing, and residing in the San Francisco Bay Area.