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Smithsonian Folkways Staff

Contact Information

Click on a staff member's name to read a brief bio.

Richard James Burgess
Director of Marketing and Sales

202.633.6452, BurgessR@si.edu

Richard Burgess brings forty years of international music business experience to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. He has been a producer/engineer, artist manager, consultant to major labels, record producer, major label recording artist, studio musician, and independent record label and artist booking agency owner in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and the United States with many gold and platinum albums to his name. He is the author of the book, The Art of Music Production, and lectures on the subject of record production and the music business. He was educated at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. He played with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain and has won awards from Music Week (UK Producers Award), British Arts Council, Park Lane Group, and the Greater London Arts Association.

Betty Derbyshire
Financial Operations Manager

202.633.6446, DerbyshireB@si.edu

Betty Derbyshire has almost thirty years of experience at the Smithsonian, the last eight as Financial Operations Manager for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. During her career at the Smithsonian she has held various positions including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, Associate Director of the Office of Information Resource Management (now Office of the Chief Information Officer), Administrative Specialist for the Office of Folklife Programs, and Logistics Specialist for the Division of Performing Arts. She has been recognized throughout her tenure with a variety of awards, most notably the Robert A. Brooks Award for Excellence in Administration and a James Webb Fellowship that led to her M.P.A. degree. She has served as Acting Ombudsman for the Smithsonian and was a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center. She also has worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Film Institute, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Laura Dion
Sales and Marketing Specialist

202.558.7038, DionL@si.edu

Toby Dodds
Technology Director and Webmaster

202.633.6461, DoddsT@si.edu

Toby Dodds came to Folkways in April, 2001. Since that time he has helped introduce many technology innovations at the Center including the launch of Smithsonian Global Sound and the digitization of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Prior to coming to the Smithsonian he was employed by the Experience Music Project, a music museum in Seattle, as a programmer. He holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Washington in Seattle, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Library and Information Science at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Spencer Ford
Service Representative

202.633.6463, FordS@si.edu

León García
New Media Content Producer

202.633.6459, garciale@si.edu

León García is a musician and ethnomusicologist. He worked as an IT and marketing consultant in Mexico and New York City for over ten years before earning his Master's degree in ethnomusicology under the guidance of professor emeritus Dale Olsen. His research includes jazz, bolero and trío romántico from the 1950s and 1960s as well as music from the Mexican diaspora in the United States. He has taught classes on American roots music and directed ensembles of salsa, jazz, and Mexican music. He has contributed to the development of online teaching tools during his professional and academic career. He is a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology and has presented his research at the Society for American Music and as a guest lecturer at Trinity University in San Antonio. In 2006 he was awarded a fellowship from the Smithsonian.

Mark Gustafson
Marketing, Radio and Retail Promotions

202.633.6457, GustafsonM@si.edu

Mark Gustafson joined the Folkways staff in 2002 with almost ten years of experience in music marketing and promotions. He has worked for a record label in Atlanta and for KOCH Entertainment, where he handled field marketing and promotions. He lives in Baltimore, where he was born and raised.

David Horgan
Online Marketing Specialist

202.633.6458, HorganD@si.edu

David Horgan joined Smithsonian Folkways in April, 2008 to manage the online marketing and sales of the collection via Smithsonian websites, distributors such as iTunes and eMusic, and other online outlets. Prior to joining Smithsonian Folkways, David was the Director of Marketing & Analytics for Musictoday, an online music services company based in Charlottesville, VA, and was an associate for Dean & Company, a strategy consulting firm located in Tysons Corner, VA. David holds a B.S. in Finance and Marketing from the University of Virginia, and was the lead vocalist/guitarist for Southwater, a Charlottesville-based bluegrass band. David continues be a traditional acoustic music and digital music enthusiast, believing there need be no compromise between the two.

Helen Lindsay
Mail Order Fulfillment: Lead Service Representative

202.633.6462, LindsayH@si.edu

Helen Lindsay has worked at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings since November 1999. Her duties in Mail Order include quality control for all domestic and international orders. Previously she was employed by Meeting Management Services as Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Operations, and Registration Coordinator for three years. She considers being a foster parent to her niece one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs in her life.

Keisha Martin
Manufacturing and Inventory Coordinator

202.633.6447, MartinK@si.edu

Keisha Martin is the newest addition to the Folkways staff, joining us in 2005 after volunteering at the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. Originally from Jamaica, Martin has also lived in New York City and North Carolina, where she received a B.A. in art from the University of North Carolina.

Mary Monseur
Production Manager, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

202.633.6454, Monseur@si.edu

Mary Monseur came to the Center in 1993. She served as assistant to the Festival Director and as assistant to the Director and Curator of Smithsonian Folkways. In 1995 she began coordinating CD productions for Smithsonian Folkways. Together with her colleagues at the label, she has worked with scholars and artists worldwide to produce more than 250 recordings. She holds a B.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona and an M.A. in English with a folklore concentration from George Mason University.

Margot Nassau
Royalties and Licensing Manager

202.633.6448, NassauM@si.edu

Margot Nassau joined Folkways in 2001 from the San Francisco Bay area, where she worked in artist management, representing American blues and "roots" artists. She started her career at a major symphony orchestra after graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans with degrees in business management and music. At Folkways, she focuses on royalties, licensing, copyright, and contracts.

Jeff Place
Archivist

202.6336438, PlaceJ1@si.edu

Jeff Place has been the archivist for the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at the Center since coming from the Library of Congress American Folklife Center in 1988. He oversees the cataloging of the Center's collections. He has an M.A. in library science from the University of Maryland and specializes in sound archives. He was on the Preservation and Technology Committee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and is on the advisory board for the Woody Guthrie Archives. He has been involved in the compilation of thirty-eight CDs for Smithsonian Folkways including Woody Guthrie's Long Ways to Travel: The Unreleased Folkways Masters, which won him the 1994 Brenda McCallum Prize from the American Folklore Society, the Asch Recordings of Woody Guthrie, many of the Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series and the Lead Belly Legacy Series. Place has been nominated for four Grammy Awards and ten Indie Awards, winning two Grammys and five Indies. He was one of the producers and writers of the acclaimed 1997 edition of the Anthology of American Folk Music and the Best of Broadside, 1962-1988 (2000). He is also involved in the radio series Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways. Place has overseen the recording of a number of regional folk festivals in addition to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He was a member of the curatorial team for the traveling Woody Guthrie exhibition, This Land Is Your Land, and the co-curator of the 2003 Appalachia program at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has been a collector of traditional music for over thirty-five years.

Pete Reiniger
Sound Production Supervisor

202.633.6449, ReinigerP@si.edu

Pete Reiniger's affiliation with the Smithsonian dates from 1973, when he was on the Festival technical crew. He served as Technical Director for the Festival from 1975 to 1977 and from 1991 until 1999. During the 1990s he also became involved with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. He is now Sound Production Supervisor and Chief Engineer for Smithsonian Folkways and has been involved in numerous award-winning recordings. He has been twice nominated for a Grammy, winning one for his work on the Anthology of American Folk Music. Professional affiliations include the Audio Engineering Society (AES), the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). He is currently on the Board of Governors for the Washington, D.C. Chapter of NARAS.

Anthony Seeger
Curator and Director, Emeritus

202.633.6443, ASeeger@ucla.edu

Anthony Seeger is an anthropologist, ethnomusicologist, archivist, and musician. He received his B.A. from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago. His research has concentrated on the music of Amazonian Indians in Brazil, where he lived for nearly ten years between. In 1982 he returned to the United States as Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music. In 1988 he moved to the Smithsonian Institution to assume the direction of Folkways Records and to become the curator of the archival collections of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. In 2000 he accepted a position as Professor in the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and was appointed Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian. Seeger is the author of four books and over fifty articles on anthropological, ethnomusicological, archival, intellectual property, and Indian rights issues.

Daniel Sheehy
Curator and Director

202.633.6455, SheehyD@si.edu

Daniel Sheehy served as Director of Folk & Traditional Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts 1992-2000 and staff ethnomusicologist and Assistant Director, 1978-1992. Dr. Sheehy directed the National Heritage Fellowship awards and grants programs of $4 million annually for projects in the folk and traditional arts across the United States and its territories. A Fulbright-Hays scholar in Veracruz, Mexico, he earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA. He served as co-editor of the South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean volume of the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. His book Mariachi Music in America: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture was published by Oxford University Press in 2006. The American Folklore Society honored him with the Benjamin A. Botkin prize in 1997, recognizing major impact on the field of public folklore.

Ronnie Simpkins
Audio Recording Specialist

202.633.6445, Ronnie@si.edu

Ronnie Simpkins joined Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in 1996, serving in Mail Order before taking over duties as dubbing engineer for the archival collection.

John Smith
Sales and Marketing Specialist

202.633.6450, SmithJM@si.edu

John Smith joined the Smithsonian Folkways staff in May 1999. He brings over fifteen years of music industry experience to the Center, as his previous work in Seattle included music buyer for an independent music store, account service representative for KOCH International, a nightclub DJ, and Music Director at KBCS 91.3 FM Bellevue/Seattle, WA. Smith also ran his own promotions company, whose clients included Capitol Records and Almo Records.

Stephanie Smith
Assistant Archivist

202.633.6439, SmithSDL@si.edu

Stephanie Smith came to the Center in 1995, and has served as the Center's visual materials archivist since then. Smith earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Scottish ethnology from the University of Edinburgh, and an M.A. degree in library science from the University of North Carolina. Her research specialties are English country dance; Scottish, English, and Appalachian folk music and dance traditions; and the British and American folk revival. Smith, with Daniel Walkowitz of New York University, and the Center's video producer Charles Weber, started the English Country Dance Video Documentation Project in 1999, with the ultimate goal of the production of a documentary film. Smith is the Convener of the American Folklore Society (AFS) Dance and Movement Analysis Section, co-Convener of the AFS British Folk Studies Section, and is an active member of the International Council for Traditional Music Ethnochoreology Study Group. She serves on the non-profit boards of the Country Dance and Song Society and Pinewoods Camp, Inc. in Massachusetts. In her spare time, Smith is a community dance caller and organizer, a musician, a photographer, a Jane Austen fan, and an avid traveler.

Atesh Sonneborn
Associate Director

202.633.6451, SonnebornA@si.edu

Before coming to the Smithsonian, Atesh Sonneborn wrote new music for theater, film, and dance in the United States and Western Europe, taught piano to children and adults, managed and produced concerts, festivals, recordings and artists. His articles, reviews, and photos appear in The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music and other scholarly publications, and he co-authored Planet Drum (1991) with drummer Mickey Hart and Professor Fredric Lieberman. He lectures internationally on applied ethnomusicology topics, and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at UCLA and University of Maryland. He is chair of the Society for Ethnomusicology's Audio-Visual Publication Committee and a founding member of its Applied Ethnomusicology Section. Current research interests include Garifuna and other Caribbean percussion traditions, folk music of the Veneto (Italy), music in Sufism, intentionality in music performance, digital music distribution, and arts management methodology. He holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA.

Sandra Vuong
Web Designer

202.633.7478, VuongS@si.edu

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 2001
Washington, DC 20024 USA
Phone: 1-888-FOLKWAYS or
1-202-633-6450
Fax: 202-633-6477
Email: SmithsonianFolkways@si.edu

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