About Us

The Rogue Music Education Conference is the brainchild of Dr. Terry Fonda-Smith, Mark Gowman, and Emeric Viani, music educators with a shared passion for teaching and a deep-seated emotional need to shake things up. Though they were never students at the same time, Mark, Emeric, and Terry met through their common affiliations with the Eastman School of Music, and their participation in and leadership of Eastman and/or Rochester-area world music programs. Terry is now head of the lower school at Harley, while Mark teaches at East Rochester, and Emeric is at the Pike School in Andover, MA.

The Rogue Conference came about from a desire to "step outside of the box"... away from the standard ensembles, padagogies, and curricula that have remained virtually unchanged for a century, while providing attendees with hands-on workshop activities and classroom resources that are immediately useful. The 2015 Rogue conference will feature hands-on, active workshops that are focused on children's songs, dances, and musical games from four different parts of of the world.

Our event is called the ROGUE Music Education Conference, a name we hope conveys the spirit and essence of the conference itself.