KUSF 90.3 FM

Ragtime music from the concert halls and barrooms of America

The Ragtime Machine is a weekly one-hour radio program presented Monday nights, 9:00-10:00 on KUSF, produced and hosted by DAVID REFFKIN. The purpose of the program is to develop an audience for ragtime performance by providing entertaining and informative broadcasts featuring music, interviews and news. It is the only program of its type in the country, and it is heard every week without exception, co-hosts, substitute hosts or reruns.

Since its inception on July 4, 1981, The Ragtime Machine continues to broadcast commercial and private recordings, as well as live performances by ragtime artists. The program also features interviews with the creators and performers of the music and coverage of topics related to ragtime music and its history. KUSF broadcasts on 90.3 FM and netcasts at kusf.org.

Among the highlights of past shows:

* interviews with Donita Fowler (Scott Joplin's niece), Harold Scott (James Scott's nephew), Patricia Lamb Conn (Joseph Lamb's daughter), Neil Daniels (Charles Daniels's son), Lalo Schifrin (film composer, arranger/conductor for The Sting II), Gunther Schuller (Director, New England Ragtime Ensemble)

* exclusive broadcast of ragtime performances, including the original 1972 concert of The New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble, as well as the premiere of recordings from around the world

* broadcast of the 1983 USPS Joplin postage stamp commemoration

* hundreds of interviews with almost every major and minor figure in the genre

Airtime for The Ragtime Machine is provided by the University of San Francisco, which owns and operates KUSF. Underwriting is solicited from organizations and individuals to help cover production costs. Donations are tax-deductible, and acknowledgement is given in each program, in the quarterly program guide and in subsequent publicity.

DAVID REFFKIN is the award-winning producer and host of The Ragtime Machine. He is a violinist and graduate of The New England Conservatory, where he was a recording engineer on The Red Back Book album of the NEC Ragtime Ensemble, with which he has performed. As a professional violinist, he plays with a variety of orchestras and small groups. In 1973, he founded The American Ragtime Ensemble, which performs the popular music of 1890-1920, including salon music from around the world, from the original orchestrations.

David and his ensemble are featured in highly successful commercial recordings, and he has emerged as an authority on ragtime orchestration and performance.

He is a contributing editor and reviewer for The Mississippi Rag, which features transcribed interviews from The Ragtime Machine. He was voted by that journal's readers as Best Ragtime Journalist. He wrote the foreword for the discography Cakewalks, Rags and Novelties (a finalist in the 2004 ARSC competition), contributed the births and anniversaries data for a ragtime calendar, and has helped edit and proofread numerous ragtime publications. In 2006, he received the prestigious Scott Joplin Award "for research, performance, and the advancement of ragtime."

SAMPLE OF INTERVIEW GUESTS: