Being an all-volunteer operated and supported non-profit organization, our volunteer staff are crucial to the smooth running of our year-round events and annual Tucson Folk Festival! We need additional support with all of our committees! We’re always looking for fresh, new ideas, and folks to assist us with our established events!
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2025 FESTIVAL SEASON COMMITTEES
40TH ANNIVERSARY
Committee Description: Help TKMA celebrate 40 years with special programs throughout the year and at our annual festival. May include a storytelling panel at the festival, special recognition efforts for our volunteers, and a special fundraiser theme during the year.
Committee Members: Melissa Hall-Cohn, Eric Schaffer, Aspen Green, Matt Rolland, Neal Schlosburg, Ron Pandy, Jim Lipson
BROADCAST
Committee Description: Assists with the festival video broadcast, both on the ground logistics and online chat and audience engagement (if broadcast live). Upload Performance sets to YouTube. Choose feature songs and create social media posts to share throughout the year.
Committee Members: SAACA, Matt Rolland, Jonathan Frahm
Video Broadcast produced by Southern AZ Video Productions
BEVERAGE FUNDRAISER SALES
Committee Description: Recruit Festival beverage sponsors. Coordinate purchase of alcoholic (SAACA) and non-alcoholic (TKMA) for onsite festival beverage sales. Purchasing also covers supplies needed for hospitality tents. During the festival, stocks coolers at each stage with ice and beverages each morning.
Committee Members: SAACA, Ian Williams
TKMA and SAACA are proud to partner with our beverage partner, Finley Distributing
COMMUNITY SOCIAL EVENTS, SONG CIRCLES, AND COMMUNITY CONCERTS
Committee Description: Produce and host monthly social concerts, parties, and song circle events.
Committee Members: Ron Pandy, Don Copler, Jonathan Frahm, Greg Aiken, Eric Schaffer
DEVELOPMENT / SPONSORSHIPS / GRANTS
Committee Description: Networks to secure community partnerships, festival sponsors, in-kind donations, writes grants, and explores new revenue opportunities for the festival.
Committee Members: Matt Rolland, Brett Dooley, Melissa Hall-Cohn, Jonathan Frahm
STORAGE ORGANIZATION AND EQUIPMENT TRANSPORT
Committee Description: Transports equipment and supplies from storage unit or other places to the venue where it’s needed; packs it up and returns it after the event. Provides some maintenance on equipment and notifies Logistics Coordinator when something needs repair or replenishing.
Committee Members: SAACA, Don Copler, Ron Pandy
FESTIVAL EMCEES
Committee Description: Recruit and liaison with stage emcees for the annual festival. Update the stage script with information collected from all committees (sponsors, raffles, schedule, merchandise, etc) and prepare stage binder notebooks for emcees. Send welcome email to emcees and act as point of contact during the festival weekend. Find replacement emcees as needed for cancellations.
Committee Members: Eric Schaffer
FESTIVAL FAMILY SHOW / YOUNG ARTIST SHOWCASE
Committee Description: Help make the festival an inviting place for families with young children to attend and encourage young artists to perform. Coordinates Family Show Headliner Selection and Booking for Festival; Young Artist outreach and coordination for festival; Outreach to schools.
Committee Members: Ron Pandy, Mohammed Al-Sammak
FESTIVAL HOSPITALITY AND GREEN ROOMS
Committee Description:
- Help make our performers at the festival feel welcome and well-cared for! Coordinates festival hospitality tents with snacks, drinks and seating (Plaza Stage, Library area for Volunteer and Performer Hospitality, North Church Stage, Telles Area)
- Host instrument check tent at Library area, snacks, seating, and accomplishing other festival hospitality goals.
Committee Members: Aspen Green, Carol Schaffer, Neal Schlosburg, Melissa Cohn, Mohammed Al-Sammak
FESTIVAL GROUND OPERATIONS
Committee Description: Festival logistics and ground operations planning; coordinates rental and staging needs for festival; site layout and mapping; city and venue permitting.
Committee Members: Greg Aiken, Aspen Green, Matt Rolland, Daniel Roth, Ron Pandy, Art Dyer
FESTIVAL HEADLINER SELECTION
Committee Description: Coordinates headliner selection for festival (national and regional acts); coordinates outreach to agents for quotes; facilitates performer contracting and advancing
Committee Members: Aspen Green, Neal Schlosburg, Ron Pandy, Jonathan Frahm, Matt Rolland, Melissa Hall-Cohn
FESTIVAL KITCHEN STORE
Committee Description: Coordinates TKMA Merchandise sales at Festival; Staffs and Runs Kitchen Store at Festival; Coordinates Performer CD Sales at Festival and act as designated performer welcome spot.
Committee Members: Nikki Chayet, Kathy Damstra, Stephanie Engs, Andrew Hines, Myra Martin
FESTIVAL RECORDERS (AUDIO)
Committee Description: Coordinates stage digital recorders; Volunteers to record stage performances to provide a high fidelity audio recording to all performers; supports post-festival editing and upload to Dropbox.
Committee Members: Brian Hanner, Syndenn Sweet
FESTIVAL SONGWRITING COMPETITION
Committee Description: Coordinates annual songwriting competition at festival, judge recruitment, and songwriting communications
Committee Members: Jonathan Frahm, Eric Schaffer, Greg Aiken, Andrea Buttrick, Laurin Gaudinier, Lister Potter III
Day-of-Competition Judges: Becca Smith, Chris Baron, Eric Schaffer, Sarah Vitort, Scott Gilmore, Virginia Cannon
Day-of-Competition Emcee: Sophia Rankin
FESTIVAL THURSDAY FUNDRAISER & SHOWCASE
Committee Description: Coordinate and host a fundraiser showcase or open mic on the Thursday the week of the festival featuring festival performers. Acts as a fundraiser for the festival.
Committee Members: Jonathan Frahm, Eric Schaffer, Melissa Hall-Cohn, Neal Schlosburg, Chris Baron, Wally Lawder
FESTIVAL STAGE DESIGN
Committee Description: Help make our stages look stunning! Plans and coordinates festival stage décor and design; Ensures sponsor recognition and signage at appropriate stages; Supports broadcast team for livestream video layout
Committee Members: Matt Rolland
FESTIVAL HOMESTAY COORDINATION
Committee Description: Coordinate with festival performers to secure volunteered homestay options during the festival.
Committee Members: Eric Schaffer, Jonathan Frahm, Aspen Green
FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS & SONG CIRCLE
Committee Description: Recruits Festival workshop instructors; Reaches out to community groups for social meet-ups at festival; coordinates workshop and ballad tree schedule at festival; reviews and finalizes festival workshop locations
Committee Members: Jeremy Gilliam, Brett Dodd, Erika Segura, Art Dyer, Matt Rolland, Jerry Martin
FUNDRAISERS
Committee Description:
- Coordinates and promotes year-round fundraisers to raise funds for the festival; Plans mid-year large fundraising (El Casino show); Supports New Fundraising Events
- El Casino Ballroom Concert Fundraiser: Help organize Tucson Folk Festival’s biggest fundraiser concert of the year! We host one large concert at El Casino Ballroom to raise funds to support the festival.
Committee Members: Eric Schaffer, Jim Lipson, Aspen Green, Melissa Hall Cohn
GALLERY AND HISTORY PROJECTS
Committee Description: Coordinates annual TKMA gallery efforts, Library displays, installations, and take-downs.
Committee Members: Terri Edmonson, Linda Lou Reed, Lucinda Beckham, Don Copler, Emmy Creigh, Katie Popiel
MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS
Committee Description:
- Year-Round Social Media Engagement and Posts; Posts News to TKMA Website; Send out email blasts as needed; Calendar Listings for Year-Round Events
- Supports festival marketing coordination; Update and distribution of festival press release; Recruitment of editorial and video coverage; Coordinate festival flyer distribution; distribution of press kit to performers and partners; recruit social media coverage
Committee Members: Jonathan Frahm, Matt Rolland, Laura Kepner-Adney
MEMBERSHIP
Committee Description:
- ENGAGEMENT – Coordinates Annual Member Survey. Leads effort to expand Membership base. Coordinates membership gatherings and explores new initiatives to provide membership perks and benefits.
- DATABASE – Keeps track of the membership Mailchimp e-mail list; manually enters new contact info for sign-ups; tracks donation database; monitors software to maintain membership list up to date (Mailchimp / Paypal); Maintains automatic renewal reminders; Sends out yearly reminder to members for renewals
Committee Members: Don Copler
NEW FOLK OUTREACH
Committee Description: Works to grow TKMA Audience; Encourage first time festival applicants; Promote diversity of our festival performers; Outreach to new community groups for participation in the festival; Outreach to new potential performers
Committee Members: Jonathan Frahm, Matt Rolland, Neal Schlosburg, Lizzie Reaves
PERFORMER SELECTION COMMITTEE & PERFORMER RELATIONS
Committee Description: Liasion with Board for Performer Selection annual goals; Part of a team that reviews performer applications to select invited acts and alternates; Committee meets weekly from November – December (approximately a four hour weekly commitment for a month); Schedules acts for festival; Supports performer communications leading up to festival
Committee Members: Jerry Martin (Chair), Greg Aiken (Board Representative), Laurin Gaudinier, Bill Moeller, Keith Reins, Kathy Harris, Clio Tucson (Mary Smith), Dennis Yannutz, Carl Martin
PHOTOGRAPHY
Committee Description: Coordinate volunteer photographers for fundraisers and the festival. Recruit and lisasion with festival volunteer photographers. Prepare media seats at the festival in the front frows and coordinate photographer passes.
Committee Members: Jonathan Frahm, Neal Schlosburg
Festival Photographers: C. Elliott, Phil Kelly, Jeff Miller (SpryTime), Bill Moeller, Rex Scofield, Kerry Whelan, BG Boyd, Paul Everett, Julius Schlosburg, Katrina Emmert, David Anderson, Katherine Kwan
PRINTED MATERIALS, T-SHIRTS, MERCHANDISE
Committee Description:
- Design year round flyers and graphics for TKMA events
- Coordinate festival artwork design, merchandise and t-shirt design, and oversee ordering. Support merchandise displays at festival to maximize exposure and sales.
- Recruit Ad sales for festival program; design festival program and coordinate printing
Committee Members: Matt Rolland, Aspen Green, Myra Martin
RAFFLES
Committee Description:
- Key fundraising committee for the festival; Leads Board for recruitment of donated items for festival raffle (gift cards, restaurant certificates, musical instruments, gift bags, etc); Prepares baskets, summary of donated items, and trains festival volunteers for raffle sales
- Develops and maintains oversight of a variety of raffles held at fundraisers (50/50, baskets)
- Coordinates participation in annual Jim Click raffle
Committee Members: Scott Cohn, Matt Rolland, Don Copler
STAGE CREW & FESTIVAL STAFFING
Committee Description: Supports recruitment of volunteer stage crew leads and all staffing designated by the Board (janitorial support, zone captains, etc)
TABLING AND OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES
Committee Description:
- Help increase TKMA / Tucson Folk Festival’s presence in the community by participating in tabling opportunities at various festivals and shows around town.
- Host and coordinate TKMA performance opportunities at partner events such as Festival of Books
Committee Members: Mohammed Al-Sammak, Jim Lipson
VENDORS
Committee Description: Recruit festival vendors for food sales, artisan sales, and business and non-profit exhibitor. Handle payment, permitting, advancing, and mapping for vendor participation. Coordinate sponsor tables and onsite participation.
VOLUNTEERS
Committee Description:
- Plans for and secures volunteers for year-round fundraising events; Sends out needed information prior to events; Helps oversees volunteers at TKMA events.
- Leads festival volunteer recruitment and coordination; Maintains the volunteer email list.
Committee Members: Mohammed Al-Sammak, Melissa Hall-Cohn, Neal Schlosburg, Jonathan Frahm
WEBSITE
Committee Description: Maintains TKMA and Festival webpages. Updates webpages with festival related content, resolves security issues or web updates as needed. Updates internal email servers as needed.
Committee Members: Jonathan Frahm, Matt Rolland, Art Dyer, Larry Peterson, Neal Schlosburg
Questions? Or to sign up to be a volunteer for a TKMA Event and/or Tucson Folk Festival, please contact the Volunteer Team. Learn more about joining a committee or volunteering.