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March 2024: The new year is bringing plenty of great ragtime

Happy New Year to all, and a happy time it is indeed, as the Orange County Ragtime Society (OCRS) has been back up and running for a while and its performers are always rarin' to go.

Having a couple of stable venues, of course, makes so much of a difference. Half Off Books and Records has proved a more than suitable venue, and Spice Social has told us OCRS is always welcome.

Also tipping the scales in ragtime's favor is the fact that so many musicians have made ragtime their music of choice, digging up rare and unusual pieces and sharing not only the music, but also the back-stories and histories of their finds. And with so much published piano ragtime available, the supply of pieces most of us have rarely heard is almost infinite.

The mixture of stable venues with a core of talented musicians has attracted a fan base whose support has contributed all the more to the mission of OCRS to "build back" the ragtime scene as we had come to know it stretching back to the early 2000s.

Our optimism for OCRS's prospects continues to expand, what with the presence of our two current venues plus our occasional concerts at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. We're also continuously in search of additional locations which might be receptive to hosting us.


Here are the details of our next few OCRS meets:
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Saturday, June 15, 2024
Saturday, July 20, 2024
All start at 2:00 pm and wrap up around 5
Where: Half Off Books, Records and Films, 141 W. Wilshire (Suite A), Fullerton, CA 92832
Map of OCRS Location for March, May, June and July 2024 (Half Off Books, Fullerton CA)

For more information about Half Off Books and its history, click here.

Our OCRS events are FREE to the public. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who loves this kind of music and has missed having it all this time. No RSVP is required – just be there if you can, and if not, stay tuned for more posts about future upcoming performances. Also, mark January 7, 2024 and March 10, 2024, on your calendars. These are our next two ragtime concerts at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. The performances are free and so is the parking. Both shows are part of the venue's weekly Sunday afternoon concert series, all of which occur in Theater 37. Like the other shows in this series, our ragtime concerts are from 2 to 3 pm. The January 7 concert at Theater 37 will feature Vincent Johnson, Ryan Wishner and Max Libertor. While Johnson and Wishner have previously appeared on the Theater 37 stage, Libertor is making his debut at the venue.

Since summer 2022, we've had a total of 17 OCRS musicales, and to say they've been remarkable would be to understate. The latest was in December 2023. Our most recent Nixon Library shows were on June 4, July 9, November 12 in 2023 and January 7, 2024. Click the links below to read about the events of 2023 and '24 and to get the details of some extraordinary musical events!

January 2023 OCRS Report

February 2023 OCRS Report

March 2023 OCRS Report

April 2023 OCRS Report

May 2023 OCRS Report

June 2023 OCRS Report

July 2023 OCRS Report

September 2023 OCRS Report

October 2023 OCRS Report

December 2023 OCRS Report

February 2024 OCRS Report


Nixon Library concert reports from 2023-24:

January 2023

June 2023

July 2023

November 2023

January 2024

A word about RagFest: Along the way, some of you have inquired about RagFest. Nothing is scheduled yet, but we continue to work on paving the way for our next festival, and we'll be sure to get the word out as soon as circumstances allow a reboot of this annual event.