Meet The Board
President
Andy Mitran
Five-time Emmy® Award winner, Andy Mitran started his career in music as a child. He went on to become the Music Director on TV's longest running children's program, The Bozo Show. Andy has written almost four hundred pieces of music that have been used on the Oprah Winfrey show, Dr. Oz, the Nate Berkus show and many others. As a studio owner, he has completed projects for some of Chicago's Biggest Brands including the Bulls, Cubs, Sox, WGN, WTTW and Empire Carpets.
Treasurer
Al Jewer
Internationally acclaimed composer and owner of Laughing Cat Records, Al Jewer is a classically trained musician with backgrounds in rock, pop, jazz and New Age music. His first solo release, "Prairie Plain Song" charted #4 nationwide for New Age Music. His latest solo release, "River Crossing" recently debuted to great international acclaim. As a studio owner and producer, Al has over 40 commercial releases to his credit, capitalizing on his dual background in music and engineering.
Membership Chair
Ed Bazel
Ed Bazel has been the recipient of Miller Piano Specialists Hall of Fame Award in the Instrumentalist category (2017), Entertainer of the Year (2018) and a Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to being an award winning solo pianist, he is the founder of The River of Calm - Music to Soothe Your Soul™ - an online radio station bringing calming music to a stressed-out world.
MMA Records Chair
Joseph Akins, Ed.D
Professor of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University, specializing in teaching MIDI sequencing, sound synthesis, digital audio, Pro Tools, Logic Pro and a host of keyboards and virtual instruments. In addition to being a professor, Joseph is a pianist, composer and producer, and composes music for visual media and sound design for synthesizers.
Board Member
Joseph L. Young
Joseph Young is an acclaimed flute, sax, and keyboard recording artist. In addition to his various recording, composing, and performing gigs, he also teaches the playing of world flutes, e.g., Native American style flute, Irish penny whistle, Chinese Xiao, among others, as well other jobs related to the recording end of the business, including video recording and production.
Board Member
Michele McLaughlin
Michele McLaughlin is a multi-award winning, contemporary solo pianist and composer. She has over 1.8 Billion spins on streaming platforms. She has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine both online and in-print. She has charted multiple times on the New Age Billboard Charts with several of her albums and has over one million monthly listeners.