For the past 14 years, Andrew Greene’s Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra (www.peacherineragtime.com) has been performing and preserving culturally important American popular music, namely Ragtime, across the United States. Using the original theatre orchestra scores and period instruments, Peacherine has defined itself as one of the leading preservationists of music from the early 20th century.
Started in the basement of a dorm hall at the University of Maryland, the orchestra has grown to perform repeatedly at the Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, The American Film Institute, and at concert series, colleges and universities, and historic theaters across 27 states. Peacherine has been hailed as “the premier American ragtime ensemble” by The Washington Post, and their recordings have brought the orchestra worldwide attention and acclaim.
Now, as Peacherine prepares for their 15th Anniversary, the ensemble is gearing up for its most ambitious recording project yet, celebrating some of the most intriguing finds from their over 15,000 piece collection of historic American orchestrations: ragtime, theater, and dance music, as well as early jazz & blues from the late 1800s to the 1920s.
Their next recording project, tentatively titled Fluffy Ruffles (after George Hamilton Green’s 1919 one step), will feature some of the best and most obscure pieces from the ragtime and early jazz eras. Included will be standard fare: works by Scott Joplin, James Scott, Joseph Lamb, Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake, George Gershwin, etc. along with works by obscure composers, such as Luther Augustin Clark, Mel B. Kaufman, and others. Many of the selections will be recorded using the original theater orchestrations for the first time since their publication over 100 years ago. Instrumental and vocal numbers will be included, featuring Peacherine’s vocalists William Edwards and comedienne Karen Vincent.
In addition to the recorded tracks, this recording will feature a booklet of liner notes written by PRSO’s director Andrew Greene, replete with information on the selections, composers, cover art for the sheet music, and rare photographs.
On top of the above, PRSO plans to record music videos that will be shared on Peacherine’s YouTube Channel. A core mission of the orchestra has been to share our music as an educational tool, and past videos on our channel have been used not only to entertain, but to educate audiences on the history of American popular music.
Peacherine seeks to raise $20,000 to bring this recording project to fruition. Funds are in place from several donors to get the ensemble started, but the ensemble needs your support to make their vision a reality.
The group hopes to record the album sometime in the spring/early summer or 2024, with release slated for fall/holiday season of 2024, just in time for Peacherine’s 15th Anniversary.
The $20,000 goal will cover musicians’ fees; recording studio and engineering costs (including video & audio recording, mixing, mastering, and editing) with Arts Laureate, who have worked with PRSO for all of their recordings since 2015; album Design (including covers, liner notes, physical disc); Production and manufacturing of the physical discs and subsequent release on Rivermont Records; and Fractured Atlas fees and promotion.
In return for donors tax-deductible support, Peacherine will give backers rewards, such as digital and physical copies of the finished CD, behind the scenes access to the production of the recording, donors names listed as backers on PRSO’s website and in the liner notes, or even the opportunity to have a private concert performed for you by Peacherine’s Director, or even the entire orchestra, similar to a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign.
To learn more about the fundraising campaign, visit www.peacherineragtime.com, visit: bit.ly/prso2023 or call (443) 694-4116. Donors wishing to support the orchestra and this project via check can do so by sending contributions to: PRSO, P.O. Box 139, Rockhill Furnace, PA 17249.
Checks should be made payable to Fractured Atlas, with “Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra” in the memo line.
The Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non‐profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” and are tax‐deductible to the extent permitted by law.
