John Reed-Torres was born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif. He first heard ragtime music during school recess in fifth grade. An ice cream truck came creeping along, playing the A theme of Joplin’s “The Entertainer.” “Right then and there, ragtime bit me, and simultaneously released multiple inner infatuations that I now have for antiquity, ranging from architecture to automobiles.”

Shortly after that, John began to teach himself piano throughout his middle school and early high school days. He developed a short repertoire and began to play for friends and at church while simultaneously playing trombone in the high school marching band.

He worked up performances of Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” and “Sugar Cane” as well as some classical pieces, winning first-place awards two years in a row in his school’s talent show. He also played the soundtrack for a short, independent silent film that earned third place at a festival, and won a gold medal at the NAACP/ActSo competition in Los Angeles. That same year (2009), John began music studies at Pasadena City College, where he began formal piano lessons and started to expand his repertoire in classical music and ragtime. He has performed at various venues around Los Angeles and Pasadena, including the Rose Leaf and Orange County ragtime societies.

John’s influences are Scott Joplin, Bach, Chopin, and James Scott. He wants to expand as many aspects of history, especially the history of ragtime, into his generation, so everyone will recognize ragtime as a monumental form in the development of culture and music. He believes that music “is a universal language which spans the globe,” wherein “different genres are like different dialects of one language,” and that “ragtime is the dialect that I understand and am able to convey best.” This is John’s 2nd appearance at RagFest.