Five Towns College Notable Alumni

One of the Five Towns College notable alumni is Howard Grene. Howard is a music industry professional whose career has taken multiple forms, beginning in his teens as a member of street teams for independent record labels and as a local event organizer. Howard’s early professional career found him at Artemis Records where he worked directly with the company’s president, renowned industry executive Daniel Glass (Glassnote Records, Rising Tide Records), as both his assistant and assistant to the radio promotions department. Soon after, Howard moved to Topaz Records as Label Manager. Led by President and Founder Scott Schlachter (Adrenaline Records, Poppyseed Music) and Marvin Schlachter (Chess Records, Prelude Records, MicMac Records), Howard grew tremendously under the tutelage of both industry leaders where his position included marketing, A&R, licensing, and assisting in the label’s in-house studio. Most notably, Howard was directly involved in the opening of Topaz’s distribution arm, TPZ Distribution, where he oversaw the signing and management of distributed labels.

Simultaneously, Howard’s thriving music production and DJ career under the artist name How Hard continued to grow and his involvement in electronic music culture saw the success of event organization group Hardmind; formed with fellow Five Towns College alumni Jamie Velasquez. Continuing his pursuits within the music industry, Howard launched Hard X Music in 2006. Hard X Music contains its publishing catalog, in-house and distributed labels, recording services, and consultant services to indie labels. As President, Howard oversees the development of Hard X Music catalogs which now feature some of the most iconic names in hard electronic dance music, in addition to the emerging underground talent that the company continues to focus on. Hard X Music’s works are continuously licensed and played throughout the world by top DJs.

Currently, Howard resides at Entertainment One, formerly Koch Entertainment, as Manager of the Royalties department. His position includes the supervision of department employees whose roles include licensing, copyright registration, artist and mechanical royalty accounting, income processing, and music publishing. Some of the accolades Howard has received in his position include Employee of the Month (February 2007) and Employee of the Year (2013). Constantly striving to develop talent, Howard designed and implemented the department’s internship program which launched the careers of many individuals, including numerous Five Towns College notable alumni.

“Throughout my time at Five Towns College, I had the opportunity to intern for a television station as well as a radio station. I interned for an entire year at News Twelve and then decided to give radio a try. My internship at JVC Broadcasting began in February 2013. JVC Broadcasting is a Long Island radio cluster that includes My Country 96.1, Party 105, WRCN and La Fiesta. I began working in programming under the Senior Vice President, Charlie Lombardo. After my internship, he hired me as a part time employee working in both the programming and promotions department. It was not long until the promotions department needed to fill a full-time position and I was the first one they turned to.

“I was hired as the Promotions Manager of JVC Broadcasting in August. Some of my responsibilities include, planning, scheduling, and organizing station events. I also manage and hire our interns, control Public Service announcements, and host an hourly weekend talk show. I am enjoying my time at JVC Broadcasting, I was lucky enough to find a position in the field that I love.”

This Five Towns College notable alumni graduated in 2011. Jason began his career as an intern at KMA studio in Times Square. After interning for four months, Jason was hired by the world-class recording studio (the fastest to go from intern to paid employee in the history of KMA music) and began working with some of the largest artists in the world. After only one year out of school, Jason opened his own recording studio in Times Square – just a few blocks from KMA. As president of Studio212 and lead engineer of the studio, Jason has worked with such artist as J. Cole, Foxy Brown, Memphis Bleek, DMX, and Smif and Wesson. Studio212 is located in the heart of Manhattan right on West 54th and Broadway. Besides recording and mixing, Studio212 is a production facility as well and has tracks with J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, 2chainZ, Young Jeezy, Yo Gotti and many unsigned independent artists.

In 2013, Studio212 produced and recorded the single off of Yo Gotti ‘s new album “I Am” titled “Cold Blood” featuring J. Cole which opened #7 Billboard Top 200 and #2 Billboard Hip-hop and R&B.

The next Five Towns College notable alumni is Amanda Rocco. In 2008, Amanda Rocco graduated from Five Towns College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her first experience working in production was in the equipment room for the film Bay Ridge Boys in a summer film class. Amanda began her career in talk show production as a student at Five Towns, where she interned for Rachael Ray. She was hired full-time upon graduation. She has worked her way from Production Assistant to Senior Associate Producer on a range of talk shows including Rachael Ray, The Jeremy Kyle Show, The Nate Berkus Show and The Revolution. She is currently Segment Producer at The Dr. Oz Show. She has worked on numerous independent TV and film production projects, including The Amazing Spider-Man, Bad Girls Club, On The Case With Paula Zahn, the HGTV Pilot Showhouse and the CBS Pilot Say It Now. She attributes much of her success in film and TV to the internships, field-experienced professors and career services available to her at Five Towns.

“I value the hands on experience I had as a student. Film and TV production is so much more than you can read in books,” she says. “It undoubtedly prepared me for a career that I truly enjoy.”

Next on our list of Five Towns College notable alumni is Vincent Brancato. Vincent graduated from Five Towns College in August 2008 with a Bachelor of Music degree. He was part of the HEOP program at Five Towns College. He graduated Cum Laude and went on to earn the Class of 2008 Jazz Commercial Music Award. Vincent was offered his first teaching job in the New York City Department of Education starting September 2008 where he spent four years working as a music teacher, teaching pre-k through high school. Along with his full time job, he taught one graduate level course at Five Towns College.

While teaching, Vincent earned a Master of Science degree in Education from CUNY Queens College. At the end of his fourth year of teaching, he was offered the opportunity by the Principal of the school to be trained as an Assistant Principal, for an opportunity in China. Brancato became the highest ranking American in the company that oversees the US High School program in China.

Vincent has been, and continues to be, a leader in designing ESL and US programs. He is now a leader in the accreditation process for the school. He is beginning his second year in China and was just offered another two year contract to continue his work in China. While working, Vincent was asked to be a guest speaker at the International Seminar of High School Curriculum and Cultivation Model hosted by Beijing Normal University, Beijing Fengtai Education Committee, China Education Society of Professional Committee of High School Education and WLSA. He has presented this program to College Presidents, Superintendents, Principals, and even a committee comprised of leaders in the education field from Harvard University.

On top of these responsibilities, Vincent is working on a Master of Science in School Building Leadership at Mercy College, so he can become a certified Principal. He plans to complete this degree by August 2014.

Marc Bauman, owner and chief engineer of House Recording Studios, is an all-around music entrepreneur with esteemed accomplishments in sound engineering, music production, DJ entertainment and live/studio percussion. Marc graduated from Five Towns College in 2008, receiving a bachelor of professional studies in business management and audio recording technology. Graduating Magna Cum Laude, he learned the business of the music industry while specializing in sound engineering.

During his college career, he began interning at prestigious recording facilities Electric Lady Studios and Cove City Sound Studios. By observing an array of acclaimed artists, songwriters, producers and engineers, Marc honed his craft and took his engineering and production level to new elevations.

In 2010, Marc opened a commercial audio recording and mixing facility called House Recording Studios (houserecordingstudios.com). “We do everything here from rock to hip-hop, sound for TV and radio, audio restoration and transfer, songwriting and production, etc. We even host birthday parties at the studio.” In addition to operating his beautiful studio, Marc also runs a DJ Entertainment company, performing all over the Metropolitan area at weddings, sweet 16s, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, etc. Marc said “You really have to wear multiple hats in this industry.”

“Five Towns College is really a great school with a ton of opportunity, however it is what you make of it. There’s only so much one can learn in the actual classroom. For me, the real learning began when applying the awesome classroom concepts to projects in my home studio at the time. While most of my friends were out partying on a Saturday night, I was sitting behind Pro Tools learning hot keys and reading up on various signal processors. Anyone who owns a laptop can record music these days, so you really have to be a go-getter to set yourself apart.”

In the three and a half years Marc has been a commercial studio owner, he not only has had the opportunity to work with an abundance of talented musicians, but he has also worked extensively with well known companies and professionals such as The A&E television network, The New York Islanders, Spike TV, The Long Island Medium, among others.

There is no doubt that Marc is a Five Towns College notable alumni because he has has carved a stable niche in the recording industry and did so by being passionate about his career and sensitive to his clients’ needs, but above all, he strives for nothing but the best, and this shows through his professionalism and all of his musical endeavors.

Anthony Scareon has emerged as one of the most respected arts leaders in New Jersey, and serves as the Manager of Administration and Board Relations at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, NJ. A 1300 seat, former Vaudeville movie house, transformed into a concert hall that presents a wide range of performances of every genre and art form. As the primary support to the organization’s President & CEO, Anthony is responsible for overseeing all administrative and operational aspects of the organization, as well as serving as the liaison between the Board of Trustees and the Staff. Under his leadership, Anthony has been instrumental in transforming a community theatre into a full-fledged performing arts center and growing the annual operating budget from $1.5 million to approximately $9 million. As a result, the venue now welcomes more than 200,000 patrons to 200 events annually, generates over $6 million in ticket sales and has an estimated impact of $14 million dollars on the local economy.

Anthony began his career in music publishing and moved into the presenting side of the business almost 10 years ago. Before becoming a Five Towns College notable alumni, he received a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in Music Business, and worked as the college’s stage manager full-time throughout his tenure.

He lives in Paterson, New Jersey with his wife Nadia, and is a voting member of the New York Chapter of The Recording Academy of Arts & Sciences.