A Grammy-award winning musician, two Grammy-nominated recording artists, an Emmy-award winning TV producer, an Emmy-award winning composer, a former six-term U.S. Congressman, a music industry insider, a nationally recognized sound engineer, a real estate executive, a choral music teacher and a guitar part manufacturer round out the members of the new Sound Recording and Music Technology (SRT)/Mass Media Studies and Production (MSP) Advisory Board at Montgomery County Community College (MCCC).

This high-profile group met for the first time recently, said SRT and MSP Director David Ivory, a Grammy-nominated engineer and lead member of the Philadelphia Music Industry Task Force.

“They’re working together as part of a larger effort to help guide, promote and build awareness of the SRT/MSP programs at MCCC,” said Ivory, “and provide new opportunities for students.”

In April 2018, MCCC added a state-of-the-art recording studio, the Mix Room, that has expanded its SRT and MSP programs. The Mix Room has become an experiential learning space where students can work with and learn from professionals in the industry.

Most recently, students had the opportunity to meet and work with professional drummer Marcus Baylor, who was recording on the drums in the Mix Room for Queen Latifah’s performance at the 2023 NAACP Image Awards.

Last month, the SRT/MSP programs hosted a Master Class featuring Preston Elliot, host of “The Preston and Steve Show” on 93.3 WMMR-FM, to talk about his hall of fame career in the radio industry. Master Classes are free and provide students and community members with the opportunity to meet with and learn from professionals in the music industry.

The new Board’s members include:

• Grammy nominated performer Helen Bruner - Producer, artist, songwriter and one-half of the Grammy-nominated duo Helen Bruner & Terry Jones. Signed to Cardiac/Virgin Records as a solo artist in the 9̓0s, Bruner's songs have reached No.1 on the Billboard charts, have been featured in blockbuster films, TV shows, soundtracks and licensed to more than 250 compilation albums internationally. Bruner is a co-owner of Philerzy Entertainment and Philerzy Productions, based out of Philadelphia, a multifaceted music company.
• Former U.S. Rep. Anthony “Tony” Coelho – A former six-term United States Congressman from California, elected in 1978 and serving until 1989. He served on the Agriculture, Interior, Veterans Affairs, and Administration Committees during his tenure, specializing in disability rights. In 1986, Coelho was elected House Majority Whip, the third most powerful position in the House of Representatives. In 2020, he gifted the College a $100,000 scholarship to help students with disabilities earn a degree in SRT.
• Music producer Bobby Dreher - Musician, music producer, engineer, recording artist, performer, photographer, radio and streaming host, and musical artist consultant in Artist development.
• MCCC alumnus and audio engineer Kevin Folk, - A 2013 SRT alumnus, Folk has helped produce albums across the country and was hired to tour internationally as an audio engineer for live performers. He works as a broadcast engineer for Beasley Media Group and began teaching audio and video production at Central Montco Technical High School in 2020.
• Emmy winner and WHYY-TV producer Lisa M. Gray- Gray has been working in TV production in various roles for years and currently produces segments for WHYY-TV’s weekly lifestyle magazine “You Oughta Know.” She won a regional Emmy Award for producing an episode featuring Melissa Etheridge on WHYY’s weekly music program “On Tour.”
• Grammy nominee Terry Jones- Songwriter, Producer and one-half of the Grammy-nominated duo Helen Bruner & Terry Jones, co- co-owner of Philerzy Productions and Philerzy As a vocalist, Jones has worked on recording projects for GRAMMY winners Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and is the featured vocalist on Redman/Method Man’s platinum-seller, “How High.” Jones has written and produced songs that have reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts as well as many international charts.
• Commercial real estate executive Gary N. Leone- A lifelong lover of music, Leone works as first vice president of CBRE commercial real estate. He represents many of the top national and international retail brands expanding throughout the region and beyond.
• Springfield Township High School choral music teacher Andrew Puntel- Puntel directed the choral, instrumental, and general music program at Cathedral High School for Girls in Manhattan from 2005-2008. There he had opportunities to direct choirs in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and direct the marching band in many annual New York City parades. He is currently the choral music teacher at Springfield Township High School, where he teaches a dual credited "Digital Music Production" course and a new piano/keyboarding elective. Puntel also serves as Organist and Music Director at St. John Neumann Parish in Bryn Mawr.
• Adam Reiver, Owner / President of FU-Tone, EVH D-Tuna and Polymer Records- FU-Tone manufactures high performance guitar parts, bridges and guitars. FU-Tone is the industry standard for high performance guitar parts with an artist roster second to none. EVH D-Tuna (Edward Van Halen Drop D Unit) allows Drop D tuning on the fly for locking guitar tremolos. Reiver had a 30-year partnership with Edward Van Halen and now continues to operate the brand with Eddie’s son Wolfgang. Having revived the brand “Polymer Records” with guitarist Steve Brown (Trixter / Def Leppard) – Polymer focuses on releasing classic and new music on vinyl.
• Grammy winning musician, producer and writer Allan Slutsky - Slutsky is a Grammy Award winning Philadelphia musician, record and film producer, and author, whose five-decade career has followed a path that has taken him from Carnegie Hall to New York’s famed Apollo Theater, to London’s Royal Festival Hall, as well as dozens of other prestigious venues across North America and Europe. A veteran pit orchestra musician with more than four dozen Broadway musicals to his credit including “Hamilton,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Dreamgirls,” “Mama Mia,” “The Color Purple,” and “Chicago.”
• Emmy winning composer Rodney Whittenberg- Whittenberg is an Emmy Award winning composer and Emmy nominated film producer. He is also a multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, sound designer, music producer, writer, podcast producer, film director, editor, producer and educator. He has produced and directed the award-winning documentary “Voices of Ages” and produced and co-directed the Emmy-nominated “Portraits of Professional Caretakers- Their Passion, Their Pain” and the award-winning documentary “Angels and Saints-Eros and Awe.”

Ivory, along with SRT Coordinator Michael Kelly, MSP Coordinator Jerry Collom and Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Business and Professional Studies Kelly Strunk are the MCCC staff members also on the Advisory Board.