2010 Performing Songwriter Competition Judges

Sonny Ochs

Sister of the late folk icon Phil Ochs, Sonny has devoted her adult life to keeping her brother's memory alive and supporting folk and acoustic music in every way imaginable. She has been guest lecturer at various colleges on "Political Music of the 60s" and has served on numerous boards including the Northeast Folk Alliance, the Clearwater Revival, the People's Music Network, and the Hudson Valley Sloop Singers. Her Phil Ochs Song Nights have played in venues from coast to coast.

Rick Santos

Rick is president of Rick's Music World, a three-store chain of music stores and instructional facilities. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Museum of Making Music, a division of NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants. Rick takes an intense interest in cultivating the careers of young performer such as Mia Boostrom, who performed at the Rose Garden earlier this season after appearing on NBC's "America's Got Talent."

Mark Flanagan

Mark is the longtime Editorial Page Editor at the Attleboro Sun Chronicle and also writes a newsworthy blog for Southeastern Massachusetts.  He is a devoted player of the Appalachian dulcimer and through research has shown the connection between the dulcimer and many European and Scandinavian cultures as they moved to and settled in the Shenandoah Valley and Appalachian Mountains. Mark not only appreciates music, but is a student of it as well.