Eric Marchese

Eric Marchese is a dedicated preserver of classic ragtime, performing nearly all of Scott Joplin’s ragtime repertoire, as well as a generous variety of other classic rags, early folk ragtime, and popular and Tin Pan Alley tunes.

Over the years, Mr. Marchese has also added to his ragtime library, broadening his knowledge of the music – background which he shares with audiences during performances at venues such as the Shannon Performing Arts Center in Whittier and Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo. Over the years, he has appeared at the West Coast Ragtime Festival, the Ragtime Pianorama of San Clemente’s annual Dixieland by the Sea festival and the Ragtime Corner conducted by the Sacramento Ragtime Society at the annual Jazz Jubilee held in Sacramento each Memorial Day weekend.

Here in southern California, Mr. Marchese gives educational performances at libraries, private parties and house concerts, and for school-age children, in which he explains the music’s history and performs a variety of selections. In October 2000, he began working with the Fullerton-based non-profit Friends of Jazz to spearhead the effort to produce RagFest 2000, Orange County’s first-ever festival of ragtime music, which has since been held every year in October in downtown Fullerton. In November 2001, he founded the Orange County Ragtime Society.