The American Ragtime Ensemble is planning its wedding and party calendar. Although our name reflects the original conception as a ragtime orchestra, we perform a full range of concert, salon and ballroom dance music. We also provide classical music and authentic Regency, Victorian and Edwardian era dance music.
If you are not familiar with our organization and its proven track record, please take a moment to check out the Music tab for information and music tracks. We are pleased to present acoustic music at sensible decibel levels played by highly experienced musicians. You may be unaccustomed to planning an event in which musicians will play a part. I will help you in our initial discussion to translate the tone you would like to set for the occasion into musical styles, instrumentation, and specific titles.
For weddings, our library contains many traditional wedding marches from the last 150 years and hundreds of pieces for special moments within the service. Of course, we take requests for occasions requiring unusual music or new, custom arrangements.
The ensemble is really a core group from which I select the appropriate number and type of instruments for each engagement. This is the only ensemble of its type in the country. We underline our great flexibility in size and instrumentation, as this is a particular advantage in figuring space and budget for music. Our production requirements are very simple – often just the chairs and a place to put them! The agreement (a simple, one-page letter of contract) may be negotiated with your venue, host or yourself.
We hope you will be interested in live music performed by professional musicians who enjoy creating and completing a successful event. Please contact us any time to learn more about the ensemble or inquire about specific dates. We are available every day of the year (except the ones already booked!).
The American Ragtime Ensemble, directed by David Reffkin, plays the music of the late 1800s to early 1900s (sometimes called thesalonera) using the rare, authentic period orchestrations. Their historic 1975 recording of ragtime, Ragtime Chamber Music, is available directly from us. Please go the Contact page to request information and place an order.
They are also heard on a CD of ragtime music by American composer Judith Lang Zaimont. David orchestrated two of her pieces, and the ensemble appears along with Ms Zaimont on this disc, called Prestidigitations, from MSR Recordings (MS 1238)
The logo of The American Ragtime Ensemble was created by calligrapher Virginia LeRoux, of Ashland, Oregon.