The ACFM Project Team

A founding Board of Directors consisting of civic and community leaders, music and museum professionals has been formed to develop the ACFM project.  It includes:

David Bernz is a two-time Grammy award winning producer for “Pete Seeger At 89” (2008) and “Pete Seeger and the Rivertown Kids-since Tomorrow’s Children” (2010). He has been a performing/touring folk artist since 1990 as a soloist and in the groups Stone Soup, Dave Perry Rande (with jazz clarinetist Perry Robinson) and Work o’ the Weavers, celebrating America’s pioneering folk quartet. He is a practicing attorney and the owner of Main Street Music in Beacon, NY.

Steve Blamires was born and raised in the west of Scotland where traditional music is alive and well, Steve co-founded the “Isle of Arran Folk Festival” (Scotland) which is still going strong decades later. After moving to the USA he has co-founded a music festival in Sebastopol, CA, hosted Celtic music shows on FM radio in California, Alaska, New York and hosts a Celtic music show on the internet. Steve lectures on history, culture and the music of many countries for National Geographic and other organizations, traveling on expedition ships across the globe and in the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Phil Ciganer is the originator and proprietor of The Towne Crier Café, established 1972 (now in Beacon, NY.) Phil Ciganer has presented performing artists from the U.S. and around the world. Founder of a free concert series for New York City parks in 1968, he has staged concerts and special events up and down the Hudson Valley, from the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie and the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He produced and directed the Bear Mountain Festival Of World Music and Dance from 1981-84 and the World Peace Festival in 2000, and has worked as a consultant to festivals and venues across the US as well as in Canada, Europe and Central America.

Gretchen Dykstra has a long career in managing nonprofit organizations, Gretchen has turned her attention to writing. She was Founding President and CEO of the National 9/11 Foundation, served under Mayor Bloomberg as Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs for New York City, and was Founding President of the Times Sq. Alliance. In addition, she has worked for the Rockefeller, Edna McConnell Clark Foundations and the Brooklyn Community Foundation. She has taught in China and volunteers with the Bard Prison Initiative and Save the Children.

Adrian Ellis is the former Executive Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and leading arts consultant. 

Libby Ellis is co-owner and managing principal of AEA Consulting, a leading global arts and entertainment consulting firm located in Beacon. She has a background in art history and comparative literature, and 20 years of experience advancing arts and culture. Raised in Ohio, Libby lives in Cold Spring and serves as a Board member of Sculpture Center in New York.

Matt Greenhill is vice president of FLi Artists (formerly Folklore International), representing traditional/roots-music artists worldwide.  Matt learned agent and management skills from his father, Mitch, and his grandfather and founder of the company Manny Greenhill.  Throughout his tenure at FLi, he has also been involved with record production, concert and tour production, performing and music publishing.

George Mansfield is Deputy Mayor and third term councilman for the City of Beacon. Prior to City Council, he served two terms on the City Planning Board. He has 25 years experience as a general contractor. He is also the owner and operator of Dogwood, a food, drink and music venue on Main Street in Beacon.

Bruce Molsky is a Grammy-nominated master of traditional fiddle, banjo and guitar. He is Berklee College of Music’s Visiting Scholar in the American Roots Music Program.

Tom O'Connor is a Beacon-based arts marketing and audience development consultant with extensive experience in the not-for-profit and commercial arts and culture field.

Andrew Revkin is a journalist, author and educator who has been covering science and the environment from the North Pole to the White House for over three decades, writing the Dot Earth blog for The NYTimes. Now a Pro Publica investigative reporter focused on the environment, Revkin has won top awards in science and investigative journalism and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been a performing songwriter since the early 1990s and often accompanied Pete Seeger.  

David A. Ross has a 40-year career as an art museum professional and educator.  Ross held curatorial and senior administrativepositions at the Everson Museum of Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the University Art Museum at UC Berkeley; and directorships at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  A guitar player and vocalist, he is currently the Chair of the MFA in Art Practice at the School of Visual Art in New York City. 

Peggy Ross is a Councilwoman for the City of Beacon. She is a lifelong educator with experience as school director, museum educator and foundation executive. She has chaired City of Beacon committees on zoning and planning. Raised in Chicago, she has a particular interest in Delta and Chicago blues.

Joe Louis Walker is a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Blues Music Award winner. The Poughkeepsie-based guitarist and singer-songwriter tours internationally, and has long engaged in his role as a music educator.

In formation is the ACFM Advisory Committee.  This group of musicians and other individuals closely engaged in the folk music community, will help guide the organization and assure that it reflects the concerns and values of the large and complex set of communities that the ACFM strives to serve.  As of January 2017 the list includes:

Jim Brown

Tom Chapin

Michael Doucet

Rhiannon Giddens

John Fischbach

Béla Fleck

Christine Lavin

Greil Marcus

Molly Mason

Joey Ryan

Matt Smith

Tony Trischka

Jay Ungar

Dar Williams