Rogue World Music Values
Performance. Education. Participation. Connection. Collaboration.
Located in Ashland, Oregon, we are a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit arts organization dedicated to offering opportunities for connection and joy through the experience of world music. Our community programs offer unique opportunities to experience the traditional songs and dances of cultures all over the globe.
What Matters to Us:
Showcasing culture-bearers of communities as the majority of performing/teaching artists that we hire.
Adding cultural context through personal storytelling to all productions and learning opportunities we produce.
Supporting and collaborating with other local organizations dedicated to the arts, cultural competency, racial equity, and diversity & inclusion.
Amplifying the voices of local and regional cultural communities.
Contributing to local community celebrations.
Fostering musicality as a life skill in any person, at any age, and as a means to enrich community connections.
What We Do:
Ashland World Music Festival- Join us for a FREE multi-day, multi-event, multi-venue music festival with local, regional, & national performing/teaching artists for the whole family. Learn more.
Songbirds- A program designed to help K-5th graders AND their teachers develop musicality as a life skill by learning music from cultures around the globe. Learn more.
Special Events- Immersive experiences in the music, food, and dance of specific cultures. Playshops with visiting national and international teaching artists. Evenings of storytelling and music. Special events in collaboration with other local organizations. Learn more.
Our Team
Ana Byers, Executive Director
Ana brings a wide and varied background of experiences to Rogue World Music. As performer with a background in theatre, film, movement, voice-over and narration work, music, and singing, she is a dedicated lover of the arts and an outspoken advocate for the sense connection, understanding, and voice that the arts can bring to a community. She has a degree in Theatre Arts and a secondary education in Nonprofit Management. In addition to her background in performance, Ana has helped stage and produce large-scale fundraising events for Rogue Valley organizations connected to the arts, environmental stewardship, health-care, local farmers, and artisanal crafting.
Sophia Blanton, Development & Events Manager
A life’s career spanning international education, world arts & culture brought Sophia to Ashland and Rogue World Music. In addition to decades teaching in countries like Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Egypt, she produces and co-produces world music and culture festivals internationally. She joins us to help bring in the next level of programming and community presence for a new world of uplifting world music experiences.
Travis Puntarelli, Songbirds Music Instructor
Travis has been carrying and crafting folk music all the years of his adult life. Between Indiana and Oregon he received an eclectic education. As a student at Indiana University he studied theater, folklore, and ethnomusicology. As a traveler he visited 49 states and 8 countries collecting and preserving music from contemporary and traditional folk artists. He was the Master of Music and choir leader for 4 years at Camp Grounded, a device-free summer camp for adults. He has over 15 years touring experience with his own music project, Balladir, which performs locally and nationally. He is currently planning another overseas tour to trace family roots into southern Italy.
Our Board
Peter Bland, Board President
Peter is a singer and musician in Plain Folk, a spinoff of the Rogue World Ensemble. Prior to moving to Ashland full-time in 2018, he worked as an industry expert and Thought Leader in his Quality discipline of Pharmaceutical Change Control. He led policy development and Continuous Improvement teams and initiatives during his 21 years at Genentech, and 8 years at Toshiba America MRI. In his career, he gained a reputation as a “closer”of challenging projects and initiatives. Musically, he sang with he Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir for 11 years. He was a tenor section leader and served on the Board of Directors for 5 years, focusing on helping the organization develop and drive forward the Strategic Plan.
Mark Knippel, Board Secretary/Treasurer
Mark Knippel’s music contains a wide variety of influences, from the repetitive rhythmic intensity of African music, to the fluidity of Indian classical music, to the exotic melodic and scalar ideas of composers like Bela Bartok and Oliver Messiean. He studied composition at Southern Oregon University and the University of Oregon, under Todd Barton, Wayne Slawson, Robert Kyr, and David Crumb. He graduated in 2006 with a BA in music composition and education from SOU, and in 2011 with his MMus from the U of O.
Mark completed an assistantship for the world-premiere musical, Tracy’s Tiger, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon in 2006. He has received the ASCAPlus Award, and received the Schneider Award, given to the outstanding music student at Southern Oregon University. He currently serves as a Development Associate at Britt Festivals in Medford, Oregon.
Gabriel Barrera, Board Member
Gabriel Barrera is a Visual Artist living in Southern Oregon. He works in various mediums from traditional art methods to multimedia and graphics. The identity of his art work is rooted in social justice, advocacy, and mentorship. Being influenced by his mother, a school teacher, and his father, an artist/tool designer, he has found his strength in merging his influences to produce his practice of Artivism. He has been practicing as an artist ever since his parents provided him with sketch pads and pencils when he was a child. Gabriel received a BFA from Pratt Institute in NYC. He has also been greatly influenced by his experience as a scenic artist with 20 years in the theater industry working for theaters such as South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and numerous colleges in California, Oregon and others. His experience and advocacy for social justice developed while working in theater. His ideology is heavily influenced by BIPOC women in the field. While developing as an artist, he also developed as a mentor for BIPOC youth. Gabriel is considered an influencer and mentor among his community. He currently operates ScenicG out of his art studio on the stolen lands of the Latgawa, Takelma, Shasta, and Modoc peoples in Talent, OR with his spouse Merilee, a visual art and design company providing services in art/design, workshops, consultation, facilitation and mentorship. Gabriel is always available to mentor BIPOC youth and advocates for the leadership, hiring and promotion of BIPOC artists in all fields of creativity. His vision is to provide space centered with social justice values to provide a creative outlet for himself, colleagues, collaborators, mentors and mentees. Together we can advocate for the empowerment of BIPOC creatives!