This concert series celebrates the achievements of the founding director of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies (formerly the Office of Folklife Programs) and of the Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler, who died in July 1994. Accortding to Richard D. Smith in the August 1994 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited, Ralph was "one of the most influential figures in bluegrass, folk and old-time country music history...[I]t is largely due to Rinzler's efforts...that folk festivals enrich the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans; and that bluegrass and old-time music delight millions more around the world."