Joshua Rifkin (born April 22, 1944 in New York) is an American conductor and musicologist. He studied with Vincent Persichetti at the Juilliard School of music and received his B.S. in 1964. He also studied with Gustave Reese at New York University (1964-1966), at the University of Göttingen (1966-1967), and later with Mendel, Lockwood, Milton Babbitt, and Oster at Princeton University where he received his M.F.A. in 1969. He also worked with Karlheinz Stockhausen at Darmstadt in 1961 and 1965. Vincent Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was a composer and teacher at the Juilliard School whose students included Philip Glass and Thelonious Monk. ... The Juilliard School is a performing arts conservatory in New York City, informally identified as simply Juilliard, and most famous for its musically trained alumni. ... Gustave Reese (November 29, 1899 – September 7, 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. ... New York University (NYU) is a major research university in New York City. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Milton Byron Babbitt (born May 10, 1916) is an American composer. ... Princeton University, incorporated as The Trustees of Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, is the fourth-oldest institution to conduct higher education in the United States. ... Karlheinz Stockhausen (born August 22, 1928) is a composer. ...

Rifkin has taught at several universities, including Brandeis University (1970-1982), Harvard, and Yale. He is noted for his research in the field of Renaissance and Baroque music. Brandeis University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... Yale can refer to an educational institution: Yale University, one of the United States oldest universities. ...

In the 1960s, he created arrangements for Judy Collins and made a recording of his arrangements of music by Lennon and McCartney in the style of the 18th century, known as the Baroque Beatles Book. Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington) is an American folk and standards singer. ...

Rifkin was at least partly responsible for the ragtime revival in the 1970s when he recorded a collection of Scott Joplin's works for Nonesuch records. Ragtime is an American musical genre, enjoying its peak popularity around the years 1900–1918. ... Scott Joplin (March-August 1867–April 1, 1917) remains the best-known ragtime musician and composer, setting the standard for the many who followed. ...