Diverse Sounds for a Young Nation
OCT. 16-18, 2025
PROGRAM All events are open to symposium registrants and Susquehanna University faculty, staff and students.
THURSDAY, OCT. 16 3 p.m.
6–6:45 p.m.
Symposium registration opens.
LECTURE-DEMO
CUNNINGHAM CENTER FOR MUSIC & ART
4:15–4:45 p.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA LECTURE-DEMO
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
Colin Hancock and members of the Roof Garden Jass Band 7 p.m.
Dr. Christopher Troiano and the 8th Green Machine Regiment Band
DEGENSTEIN CAMPUS CENTER, MELLON LOUNGE
5–5:45 p.m.
Roof Garden Jass Band
KICK-OFF PARTY
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA CONCERT
Dr. Christopher Troiano and the 8th Green Machine Regiment Band
FRIDAY, OCT. 17 8 a.m.
8:45–9:25 a.m.
Symposium registration opens.
The Ethics of Archival Listening, Preservation, and Stewardship of an Arab-American Soundworld Dr. Anne K. Rasmussen
CUNNINGHAM CENTER FOR MUSIC & ART
8:30 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
Welcome Rick Benjamin
Symposium director and adjunct professor of music at Susquehanna University
CCMA CLASSROOM 240
Professor of Ethnomusicology, College of William & Mary
9:30–10:10 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA MORNING ACADEMIC PAPERS BEGIN.
8:45–9:25 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
Musical Notation from the “Inventor of Jazz”: A Comparative Analysis and Contextualization of Jelly Roll Morton’s Sheet Music and Autograph Manuscripts Dr. Kris Monson Adjunct Asst. Professor of Double Bass, Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College
The Shadow Repertoire of the Dodworth Cornet Band: Reclaiming Part of theNew York Soundscape Dr. Michael O’Connor Professor of Music, Palm Beach Atlantic University
9:30–10:10 a.m.
CCMA CLASSROOM 240
Lecture-Recital: Music for Voice & Guitar from 1850 to 1875 Bruce Cain & David Asbury
Professors of Music, Southwestern University
KEY: CCMA CUNNINGHAM CENTER FOR MUSIC & ART
DOM FLEMONS
EDWARD A. BERLIN
JOHN H. MCWHORTER
10:15–10:55 a.m.
2:45–3:25 p.m.
Victor Record 18255 and the Introduction of Jazz to a Nationwide Audience Dr. E. Douglas Bomberger
Victor Herbert Composed Far More Than Operetta Alyce Mott
CCMA CLASSROOM 240
Professor of Music, Elizabethtown College
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
Independent Scholar, New York, NY
2:45–3:25 p.m.
CCMA CLASSROOM 240
11 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA LECTURE-DEMO
“The American Songster” Dom Flemons 12:15 p.m.
DEGENSTEIN CAMPUS CENTER, APPLE MEETING ROOMS SYMPOSIUM KEYNOTE LUNCHEON
John H. McWhorter AFTERNOON ACADEMIC PAPERS BEGIN.
2–2:40 p.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
Scott Joplin’s Syncopations Dr. Eugene Montague Professor of Music, George Washington University
2–2:40 p.m.
CCMA CLASSROOM 240
Rediscovering African-American Music of the 1870s & ’80s: Minstrel Music, Musical Theatre, and Spirituals Dr. Nico Schüler
Arraying Tune-Groups Within the Anglo-American Ballad Tradition: The Case of Barbara Allen Dr. Kevin N. Moll Professor of Music, East Carolina University and New England Conservatory
3:30–4:10 p.m.
CCMA CLASSROOM 240
Before There Were Stars: Making Records in the Early Recording Industry Mark Tavern Professor of Music, University of New Haven
4:30 p.m.
WEBER AUDITORIUM PERFORMANCE BY SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY’S SYMPHONIC BAND Dr. Eric L. Hinton, Conductor
Historic music for symphonic band, including works by Alton Adams, Clarence Cameron White and James Reese Europe.
Professor of Music, Texas State University
KEY: CCMA CUNNINGHAM CENTER FOR MUSIC & ART
Dinner On Your Own Find recommended restaurants in downtown Selinsgrove at www.susqu.edu/campus-life/ explore-selinsgrove. Or see a list of restaurants, and a campus map, on the last page of the program.
7:30 p.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA PERFORMANCE BY PARAGON RAGTIME ORCHESTRA
Meet Me At The Fair! Sights and Sounds From the Great World’s Fairs Tickets are required for this performance. A complimentary ticket is included with your symposium registration.
SATURDAY, OCT. 18 9:15–9:55 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
Hearing How Ragtime Transitioned to the Blues on the Piano Paul Johnson Independent Scholar, Sacramento, CA
10–10:40 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA
The “Devil” Trumpet Supplants the “Bastard” Cornet in American Music Bryan Proksch Professor of Music, Lamar University
12 p.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA A SYNCOPATED SEND-OFF WITH THE PARAGON RAGTIME ORCHESTRA
After a short performance of classic ragtime selections, conference attendees and students are welcome to join the Orchestra onstage for “side-by-side” playing. Light refreshments will be available in the lobby, immediately following the performance.
11 a.m.
STRETANSKY CONCERT HALL, CCMA LECTURE
“The Life and Afterlife of Scott Joplin.” Edward A. Berlin
THE ROOF GARDEN JASS BAND
THE 8TH GREEN MACHINE REGIMENT BAND
KEY: CCMA CUNNINGHAM CENTER FOR MUSIC & ART
RICK BENJAMIN
Symposium Director Conductor, historian and author Rick Benjamin has built a one-of-a-kind career through the performance of American music from the 19th and early 20th centuries. An energetic researcher and collector, Rick has spent decades searching for forgotten musical scores, which, once found, he presents in concerts, recordings and broadcasts. Rick’s efforts began in 1985 when, as a Juilliard undergraduate, he rescued the lost orchestra library of Victor Talking Machine Company conductor Arthur Pryor. This discovery encompassed nearly four thousand orchestral works by hundreds of notable American composers, including Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, W.C. Handy, Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern and Sousa. In 1988, Rick made his formal debut conducting some of these finds at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Praised by The New York Times, this concert successfully launched Rick’s unusual career. Since then, Rick has continued to build his library of original, historical American orchestral works in all genres. The collection now includes more than twenty thousand pieces — many unique — ranging from the 1830’s to the 1930’s. With these materials, Rick has curated and conducted programs of American music across 49 states and seven countries; in venues including the Ravinia Festival, The Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Chautauqua, the Kimmel Center, New York’s 92nd Street Y and City Center, Austria’s Brucknerhaus and the U.S. Pavilion of the World’s Fair (Seville, Spain), as well as in hundreds of America’s “movie palaces” and historic theaters. For the past 40 years, Rick has been artistic director and pianist of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (PRO), the repertory ensemble he founded at
The Juilliard School. PRO tours yearround and has recorded more than five hundred works (many for the first time) on an extensive series of albums for a variety of labels. Rick’s PRO recordings have made the Billboard charts and have been honored with several major critics’ awards, including Gramophone’s “Editor’s Choice,” BBC Music’s “Opera of the Month,” and Stereophile’s “Record of the Month.” Rick is also a specialist in early film music and has restored the original scores for dozens of “silent” motion pictures. Over the years, he has conducted these for nearly 800 screenings with the PRO, the Irish National Orchestra (Dublin), Denmark’s Aalborg and Aarhus Symfoniorkesters, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, the Olympia Symphony (Washington State), the Anchorage Symphony (Alaska), Chamber Music Hawaii and other innovative ensembles. Away from the podium, Rick Benjamin is a sought-after resource for both the entertainment industry and academia. He has lectured at more than a hundred universities and is the featured performer in an upcoming episode of the PBS Television’s Great Performances series Now Hear This. Since the early 1990’s, Rick’s musical recreations have been heard in productions by the Walt Disney Company, PBS, HBO, National Public Radio (Performance Today and All Things Considered), Turner Classic Movies, the BBC and the FX Channel, among others. In 2022, the Susquehanna University Department of Music invited Rick to develop music history curriculum and begin teaching there. His first course, The Art & Technique of Sounds for the Silent Cinema, was introduced in Spring 2023, and others are in development. This symposium, Diverse Sounds for a Young Nation, is the latest product of this exciting new collaboration. You can learn more about Rick and his endeavors at rickbenjamin.com
CAMPUS MAP 514 UNIVERSITY AVE., SELINSGROVE, PA 17870
@susquehannau
W. SASSAFRAS STREET
S S F
Facilities Man and Central R
TRAX
Printing Services
F
F
Reunion Plaza
Sm
Estill Field House
F V
Smith Lawn
Y
Douglas Arthur ’49 Sustainability Field House F S Alpha Delta Pi Sorority Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Kappa Delta Sorority Presser Liberty Alley International Townhouses Tennis Courts House Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority F S Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity Avenue Lawn Sigma Downtown Kappa Center Tau Kappa Sorority 111 N. Market St. Epsilon Fraternity (approx. 1 mile) Phi Sigma Beta Fraternity
F Garrett Sports Complex**
Arthur Stadium/ Amos Alonzo Stagg Field
PPL
EA
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E. A
Hassinger Hall
Bogar Hall
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9/11 Memorial Garden
Steele Hall
AP
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ALL
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DOWNTOWN SELINSGROVE
EC LEG
Pine Lawn
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PL E
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IRC
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Blough-Weis Library
W. AP
Sigma Alpha Iota Sorority
Living Herbarium
Selinsgrove Hall
Landes Gates
Hillel House Alumni House
Seibert Hall
Global Opportunities (GO) Program
A
Student Financial Services
F
University Marketing & Communications
Admission House
Natura Science Cente
F North Hall
Art Studio
S F S
F F
F
F
S Summit Early Learning
REV 08/25
Recommended restaurants in Selinsgrove ► Amato’s Pizza
► BJ’s Tavern & Oyster Bar
► JB’s Pizzeria
► Axemann Tavern & Smokehouse Fixx
► Bot’s Tavern
► OIP Xpress
► Bamboo Palace
► La Cocina Del Don
► Red Line BBQ
► Isabella Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge
► Selin’s Grove Brewing Co.
► Bella’s Pizza
Multipurpose Field Sassafras Athletics Fields
Softball Field
V FS
CEER Field Station W. SASSAFRAS STREET
S Sassafras Complex
Rugby Field
nagement Receiving
S
HADE COURT
S
S. COLLEGE CIRCLE
S
mith Hall
Susquehannock Tribute Circle
S
Reed Hall
S
S
Aikens Hall
Deg Lawn
Bollinger Baseball Field West Village
Stretansky Concert Hall
(pe
dest
rian s/b
Degenstein Center*
icyc
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only )
ZEIGLER LANE Co
nstr
uc ti
on
Zo n
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Scholars House
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GO House
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Weber Chapel Auditorium
Apfelbaum Hall
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FS
Arthur Plaza
Fisher Hall
FS F
Phi Mu Delta Fraternity
Counseling & Psychological Services
Theta Chi Fraternity
Writers Institute
SD
RIV
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OW
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ME
AD
al es er
W. COLLEGE CIRCLE
unningham Center for Music & Art
Student Health Center
Geisinger Medical Center at Susquehanna University
PARKING & CHARGING
PINE
KEY Blue Light Emergency Phone
A Admission Visitor
Blue Dot Emergency Call Box
V Visitor
All-Gender Restroom
Campus Safety
Accessible
* Degenstein Center
S Student
Apple Meeting Rooms, Bookstore, Burke Hawk Hub, Evert Dining Hall, Lore Degenstein Gallery, Starbucks, Theater & Box Office
18th Street Commons
F Faculty/Staff R Reserved
Garrett Sports Complex ** Aquatic Center, Apple Community Room, Estill Field House, Houts Gymnasium
Green/Carpool Permit EV Charging Stations (4)
► Selinsgrove Hotel
PLACES TO GRAB A COFFEE
► Simply Bowls
ON-CAMPUS
DOWNTOWN
► Sushi Masa
► Scholarly Grounds
► The Kind Café
► Starbucks
► Wagging Tail Coffee Company
PARAGON RAGTIME ORCHESTRA
THANK YOU
The Symposium on Historic American Music has been made possible by the generous support of Martha “Marty” Barker ’70 Blessing.
Special thanks to the Symposium organizational team led by Rick Benjamin: Sara Adams, Leslie Cullen, Eric Hinton and Pat Long.
Photo on front cover: Finneys Orchestra from the collection of Rick Benjamin.