Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will play music from World Fairs

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The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (PRO) will bring its touring performance of “Meet Me at the Fair” to the First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit on Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m.

The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is a year-round, professional ensemble re-creating “America’s Original Music” – the exciting sounds of early musical theater, silent cinema, and vintage dance.

This multi-media program features music from the Philadelphia, Chicago, Buffalo, and St. Louis world’s fairs of the early 1900s and includes video clips of those fairs to go along with the music.

The PRO came into being as the result of conductor Rick Benjamin’s 1985discovery of thousands of turn-of-the-century orchestra scores oncebelonging to Victrola recording star Arthur Pryor.

In 1988 the orchestra made its formal debut at Alice Tully Hall – the first concert ever presented at Lincoln Center by such an ensemble. Since then PRO has appeared at hundreds of leading arts venues, including the Ravinia Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, Chautauqua, the Brucknerhaus (Austria), the New York 92nd Street Y, and the American Dance Festival.

The concert is open to the public free of charge, with a free-will offering taken to help defray the costs of the event. For more information, contact the church office at 570-586-6306.