WEST COAST RAGTIME FESTIVAL

Nick Arteaga

Nick's interest in ragtime began as a teenager in his hometown of Sacramento, where he taught himself to play on his grandmother's player piano. Later, after some formal lessons with Dr. Robert Bowman, he began performing professionally in a Chinese restaurant, accompanying singers at universities and working as a church musician. Nick began taking ragtime seriously after checking out a Sacramento Ragtime Society meeting around 2011.

A few years later he became a regular performer at the West Coast Ragtime and Sutter Creek Festivals. Although Nick specializes in ragtime, he has also introduced ragtime festival audiences to obscure Central and South American syncopated piano music as well as his own intricate ragtime compositions. Besides his musical activities Nick has helped run his parents investment business in Chico, CA and has also worked in government. He currently resides in Chico, in a small 1920s house that he restored.

Au Brothers

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.

Look for the Au brothers performing with with Feebadge Serenaders, Neville Dickie, Marty Eggers and Clint Baker. 

Clint Baker

Clint started playing clarinet in 1980. His first school band director needed trombonists and quickly switched Clint to trombone. In the years that followed he would learn additional instruments including tuba, tenor banjo, and drums. He has appeared at the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Jubilee and has performed at the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Jubilee (later called the Sacramento Music Festival) every year from 1988 until its demise in 2017.

In 1990 he created Clint Baker's New Orleans Jazz Band (1990–2000). For over 20 years, Clint has led a New Orleans style jazz ensemble, The Cafe Borrone All Stars, at Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park. Clint also performs regularly with seven other well-known bands and he is a noted jazz educator.

http://www.clintbakerjazz.com/

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/

Jeff Barnhart

Jeff Barnhart is an internationally renowned pianist, vocalist, arranger, bandleader, recording artist, ASCAP composer, educator and entertainer. Jeff shares his mastery of the classic swing, jazz, and ragtime repertoire of the early to mid-20th century with a versatility and vibrant energy that finds him constantly appearing as a soloist, band pianist, and with smaller groups—most notably Ivory & Gold® with his talented wife, flutist/vocalist Anne Barnhart—at parties, festivals, clubs, and cruises throughout the world.

Jack and Chris Bradshaw

Jack and Chris are classically trained ragtime piano duo artists from Gilroy, California, righteously proclaim that, with 88 keys and 20 fingers at their disposal, they have the most piano keys held down at any one time — many of them right! Not going for speed, their quest is for clarity and classic ragtime charm as their fingers dance off the keyboard to Jack's four-hand arrangements of popular rags, cakewalks, marches and novelty numbers. Jack also performs solos to round out their programs.

Besides performing at West Coast, this lively pair gets around and has appeared at the Sutter Creek, Scott Joplin, Blind Boone, Shaniko, Santa Cruz, and the Fresno Flats Ragtime Festivals, and at Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo. The rollicking road to ragtime thus far has taken them to eleven states, Canada, and even to Zürich, Switzerland for a youth ragtime competition and to play a few tunes. They also play in the Ragnolia Ragtette with the Drivons and as the Piano & Pipes Ragtime Trio with theater organist, William Coale.

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.

It was Dr. Olvera who first introduced Isaiah to the world of ragtime/old time piano music. The first ragtime number he learned was Dizzy Fingers by Zez Confrey, which he performed at Coast Ragtime Society Youth Competition (his rendition of Dizzy Fingers was later featured in the World Champion Old-Time Piano Playing Junior Showcase). This led to his regular appearances as a youth performer at the West Coast Ragtime Society Festival and the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. Isaiah’s rendition of Tom Brier’s rag, Razor Blades, won him the Grand Prize and Artist of the Year Award in the online 2021 International Youth Music Competition in the Jazz, Ragtime, and Blues category.

Michael Chisholm

Michael is currently residing in Auburn, California, has been an active participant in the California ragtime circuit since 2013. Originally from Sugar Land Texas, he took an interest in ragtime at a young age when he saw Jo Ann Castle perform on reruns of The Lawrence Welk Show. At age 10, his family was given a piano and he immediately started teaching himself to play.

Constant combing of the Internet for sheet music and information began his interest in collecting original copies of ragtime music. The scope of his collecting has broadened from just ragtime to all music printed from 1800 to 1950. To date, his collection numbers over 75,000 sheets. Composition quickly became a knack for him, having penned several rags, cake walks, marches, and intermezzos since learning to play piano. Michael is currently on the Board of Directors for the West Coast Ragtime and Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festivals, and has been featured in the Santa Cruz Ragtime, Orange County Ragtime, and Old Town Music Hall Ragtime Festivals.

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

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.

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.

Freebadge Serenaders

Greg Sabin & Patrick Skiffington

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.

Banjo, vocals: Greg Sabin
Washboard, vocals: Patrick Skiffington

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.

Frederick Hodges

Frederick is hailed by the press as one of the best concert pianists in the world, and has established a reputation specializing in late romantic music as well as Ragtime, Broadway and Hollywood musicals of the first half of the 20th century by America's best composers, such as George Gershwin and Cole Porter. He maintains a busy concert schedule of stage, television, radio, and film appearances around the globe.

Additionally, he is a much sought-after silent-film accompanist for both live performances and DVD. He performs regularly at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in California, the Cinecon Film Festival in Hollywood, The TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, The San Francisco Silent Film Festival, and at other silent film festivals around the country. He also performs at music festivals such as the Sacramento Music Festival, the West Coast Ragtime Festival, and the Sedalia Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. His website is www.frederickhodges.com.

http://www.frederickhodges.com/

Brian Holland

Brian Holland (piano) is an internationally renowned pianist, composer, recording artist, and entertainer who has enjoyed a music career spanning more than four decades. From playing pipe organs in pizza parlors throughout the Midwest to playing Ragtime piano in Rwanda, Africa, Brian has toured the world sharing his love for all forms of early American music.

Brian performs with some of the hottest jazz bands in the US – Sierra Stompers, Holland-Coots Jazz Quintet, Big B.A.D. Rhythm, Groovus, Swingin’ West, and others – promoting his unique and creative styles of jazz, ragtime, stride, swing, boogie, and blues.

Brian earned a Grammy nomination for his work with Bud Dresser on their 2006 album, “Ragtime-Goodtime-Jazz”. This album, plus several others, are available at www.shanesmohawk.com. 

https://shanesmohawk.com/

Ivory & Gold

Praised by The L.A. Jazz Scene as a musical duo that can “draw out the beauty in the rich melodies and play the music...with taste, sensitivity, and a real affection for the idiom,” Ivory & Gold® celebrates the greatest examples of American jazz, blues, ragtime, Broadway and hits from the Great American Songbook. Internationally renowned American musical performer and historian Max Morath calls Ivory & Gold® “musically flawless.”

Ivory & Gold® has played to packed houses on 6 of the 7 continents in every imaginable scenario. This husband-and-wife team continues to thrill audiences with music, history and humor, enjoying a hectic schedule of concert, festival, and private home appearances. The Barnharts’ versatility and rapport create an incomparable listening experience for all ages and in all settings, from an intimate 20 person gathering to a 2000 patron event. 

http://ivoryandgold.net/

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.

Charlie Judkins and Miss Maybell (Lauren Sansaricq)

We are delighted that newlyweds Charlie Judkins and Miss Maybell 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 is accompanied by Charlie.

Adding to Lauren’s and Charlie’s combined strength is that their repertoire is built largely on obscure songs and verses, happily and skillfully, imbued with life, lilt, and spontaneity to boot. Lauren and Charlie are themselves serious early 78 RPM record collectors. They know, and revere, the details about the recordings of the pioneering composers, instrumentalists, vaudevillian singers, and lyricists, and familiarize themselves with the nuanced vocal and instrumental differences between versions of given songs sung by the same singers on various “takes” and record labels. These are a "not to miss" duo!

https://www.missmaybell.com/

Key System Rhythm Ramblers

The Key System Rhythm Ramblers features great Ragtime era music lead by the super talented Virginia Tichenor on Piano, featuring Jeff Green on Plectrum Banjo/Vocals and Lisa Gonick on Tenor Banjo/Vocals. They'll be seranading you with a variety of Ragtime, Folk Ragtime, Dixieland and Early Jazz, from Scott Joplin to Fats Waller. This music is great for listening and even better to dance to.

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

Being aged 16, Max is a new youth performer to the festival lineup. Known for his masterful playing of Tom Brier and other ragtime pieces, he was discovered as a walk-in at last year's West Coast Ragtime Festival where he wowed us all.

Since then his life has been blooming. He is this year's winner of the Ragtime Kid award at the Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia. He was also a youth performer on this year's Sutter Creek Festival program.

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/

   
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.

Richard Powers

Richard Powers is an expert in American social dance, noted for his choreographies for dozens of stage productions and films, and his workshops in Paris, Rome, Prague, London, Venice, Geneva, St. Petersburg and Tokyo as well as across the U.S. and Canada. He has been researching and reconstructing historic social dances for twenty-five years and is currently a full-time instructor at Stanford University Dance Division. He teaches a variety of social dance history and practicum classes for the dance division of the Stanford University Drama Department. He joined the Dance Faculty in 1992 and serves as a faculty liaison to the Friends of Dance at Stanford organization.

Richard co-founded the Flying Cloud Academy of Vintage Dance (1981) to produce large-scale monthly recreations of Victorian and Ragtime Balls. Formed the Flying Cloud Troupe, a 30-member performing company (1982) and co-founded the supporting Fleeting Moments Waltz & Quickstep Orchestra.

Richard started and directed the Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble (1992) and serves as an advisor and choreographer for the Swingtime Dance Troupe. 

https://www.richardpowers.com/

Brian Holland & the Ragabonds

The cheerful ragtime combination of piano, banjo, tuba, and drums was first presented on record more than 80 years ago by members of the Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band (including pianist Wally Rose). Their recording of the "Black and White Rag" caught on and helped to kickstart the first ragtime revival wave in the 1940s.

In 2024, Brian Holland and The Ragabonds revive the instrumentation - but with plenty of surprising twists! The playlist is a mix of old and new compositions spanning nearly a century, yet sounds fresh and contemporary in these performances by The Ragabonds. Musicians include: Brian Holland (piano), Katie Cavera (banjo), Paul Hagglund (tuba), and Gareth Price (drums).

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/

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.

Sullivans / Drivons

These four offer an array of contemporary and classic rags, including Latin tangos and waltzes, plus ragtime and novelty songs. Among the pillars of the Sacramento Ragtime Society, the Sullivans have been part of the ragtime world for over 20 years. They have had the rather unique pleasure of being interviewed and performing in China for Shanghai television.

Petra Sullivan, piano; Bub Sullivan,mandolin/cünbus/vocals; Robyn Drivon, tuba; Steve Drivon, percussion/trombone/vocals.

Lilianne Tao

Lilianne Tao, 14, 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 freshman 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/

Tadao Tomokiyo

Tadao discovered the piano when he was three and hasn’t stopped playing since! He studies classical piano and horn, but ragtime holds a special place in his heart. He is in his first year at Yale College, where he studies piano with Elizabeth Parisot, plays horn with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and sings with Redhot & Blue, Yale’s jazz a capella group.

Tadao’s classical training also includes Interlochen, Tanglewood, and the InterHarmony and Perugia festivals in Italy. He has been named winner of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras’ concerto competition and winner of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra’s conducting competition.

Tadao has been featured on the West Coast Ragtime Society’s Spotlighting Ragtime Youth concert and the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest’s Junior Showcase. In addition, he has performed at the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival for the past few years, and was selected as the Ragtime Kid of 2022.

John Reed-Torres

A South-Central Los Angeles native, John recalls hearing ragtime for the first time as a child when he heard an ice cream truck creeping along to the strains of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer".
Right then and there the ragtime bug bit him and sparked his love for a wide range of antiquity.

https://www.facebook.com/ragtimejohn/

Joan Walton

Joan Walton's high-energy teaching style and ability to communicate concepts to all levels of learners have become well known at universities and dance studios across the country. She has deep knowledge of Historical and Social Dance, Tap Dance, Musical Theatre Choreography, and Musical Theatredance Styles.

Ms. Walton currently teaches Dance in World Cultures, Dance Appreciation, and Dance in Film.

She has performed and choreographed all over the country, taught Vintage Dance workshops both internationally and at home, and received a Masters degree in Dance Education from Stanford University in 1999.