Advisory Council

Chair:
Jerry Breslow, Esq 

Jerry is a retired business executive and lawyer. He joined the board of MCYO in 2012 and, with MCYO’s merger with Strathmore in 2015, became Chair of the Advisory Council and its designee on the board of the Strathmore Hall Foundation (SHF). Previously, from 2001 to 2012, Jerry served as a director, and also had served as Secretary and Parliamentarian, of the SHF. He also had been a director and President of the predecessor organization of the National Philharmonic. Jerry was a founding director of the Suburban Hospital Foundation. A musician and composer, Jerry has established and conducted choruses and choirs in the Washington area, and has written songs for the annual Hexagon musical comedy revue since 1963. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the Harvard Law School.

Members:
David Phillips
David Phillips is a former member of the Dayton (OH) Junior Philharmonic Orchestra and the United States Marine Band who became involved with the MCYO as a volunteer and donor when he was the Director of Corporate Philanthropy at Lockheed Martin Corporation.  He subsequently joined the MCYO board and helped Cheryl Jukes and Eliot Pfanstiehl lead its growth and formal integration into Strathmore’s education program. He was on the Music Center Design Committee and was Strathmore Board Chair when the Music Center opened. Upon retirement from Lockheed Martin, he became the Associate Dean for the Visual, Performing, and Media Arts at Montgomery College, from which he is retired. He has served as board member and chairperson of the MCYO, the Maryland State Arts Council, Maryland Humanities, and the Strathmore Hall Foundation.


Bette Eberly-Hill
Bette Eberly-Hill is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music with majors in Horn Performance, Music Ed. and Music History. She also has a Master of Music Degree from the University of Maryland.  She played French horn professionally in the DC area and taught Instrumental Music in Prince George’s County before having 3 children.  She is now a retired MCPS Instrumental Music Teacher and has taught the New Horizon’s Band at Montgomery College.  She first joined the MCYO Board when 2 of her children were playing in the orchestras and has remained a member.  She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Margaret Schweinhart Senior Center.


Noreen Friedman
Noreen Friedman recently retired from a long career with Lockheed Martin where she held positions in market research, strategic planning, international partnerships, and contracts. A freelance writer and flutist, Noreen performs with guitarist Bob Wysong as the Friedman-Wysong Duo and with pianist/flutist Robin Schultz as Double Treble. She participates in several community concert bands and flute choirs including Flutes on the Brink, Song of the Angels Flute Orchestra and the Metropolitan Flute Festival Orchestra in summer residence at New England Conservatory. Noreen volunteers at Strathmore, providing Development research support and performing at Mansion teas. She serves on the leadership committee for the DC chapter of the American Technion Society, the Olney Town Center Advisory Committee and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life (Southern Montgomery County).


Helene Granof
Helene Granof joined the MCYO board of directors in 2011. With the merger of MCYO with Strathmore in 2015, she continued on the MCYO Advisory Council up to the present. As a non-performer, Helene is a regular attendee at concerts at the Strathmore Music Center. She particularly enjoys those performed by MCYO, especially because many of her former students have played in those orchestras.
Helene was an elementary school teacher from 1984 to 2010 at Burning Tree Elementary School, Montgomery County Public Schools. She continued as a substitute teacher until 2021.
She was a member of the 2011 class of Senior Leadership Montgomery, and remains a member of Leadership Montgomery.
As a volunteer, Helene has been one of the producers of the annual Bannockburn Spring Show, now in its 65th year. The show, written and performed by members of the greater Bannockburn community, is a satirical musical review.
Helene also volunteers as a docent in the Insect Zoo and the Qrius program for school children at the National Museum of Natural History. She also serves as a Reading Partner, tutoring Washington D.C. students who are below reading level.


Robin Schulz
Robin Schultz earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in music and psychology, as well as her k-12 music teacher certification from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  While earning her teaching certificate, she served as a graduate assistant for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Marching Bands.  Robin earned her master’s degree in music education at Northwestern University. She also attended Interlochen National Music camp while in high school.   Prior to moving to the DC area, she was a middle school band director for 11 years, and also worked as a winds coach for the Greater Bridgeport Youth Symphony Orchestras in CT.  She was previously the principal flutist of Annandale Symphony Orchestra in VA and played flute with Flutes on the Brink as well as percussion with the Rockville Concert Band.  She currently teaches private piano lessons, and also serves as piano accompanist for the Norwood upper school choirs. Robin has performed on both flute and piano locally at venues such as the Strathmore mansion, the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery, the Israeli Embassy, the Franciscan Monastery, and Brookside Gardens.  She has been a member of the Maryland Directors Band since 2012 and has served on the MCYO Advisory Council since 2018.