Our Artists

The Burba Family

David Burba is the major force behind much of MMM’s music. His contributions include writing, recording, singing, and instrumentation for many MMM songs and he is the owner of Barking Dawgs Studio, where most of the MMM music is recorded. David has played in various dance, bluegrass, blues, and contemporary Christian bands around the Phoenix area for over 25 years. He has played at major events for Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, youth conferences, weddings, blues bars, and many musical theater productions. He still performs live today at various venues and can be found playing music every Sunday night at St Timothy’s Parish in Mesa AZ. David holds a Computer Science degree from Arizona State University and works for a major computer chip manufacturing company which requires him to travel extensively throughout the world (he hopes the Karaoke bars in Asia do not take videos of their patrons!). David’s wife, Alice, has been singing in churches since she was in junior high school and has been involved in various drama productions. She provides vocals for many MMM tunes. Alice plays multiple instruments and can also be found singing at St Timothy’s Church every Sunday night. Alice holds a Bachelors degree in Social Work from Arizona State University and a Masters degree in Adult Education from Penn State. Alice currently is an independent consultant for the State of Arizona and provides training and certification for adoption and foster care.

David and Alice have 3 incredibly wonderful and talented children: Zach, Luke and Monica. All of their children play multiple instruments and play in various musical settings. Zach, their oldest, is an avid song writer, singer, and recording engineer for several MMM songs. He writes all the music and performs nationally with his band “iji”. Zach is currently living and playing music in Seattle Washington. Luke, their middle child, plays several instruments and is working on his bachelor degree with a goal of doing sound for film.  Monica, their youngest child, provides vocals to various MMM songs. Monica plays guitar and piano and sings in her high school choir, find more info here.

Tim & Julie Smith & Family

Tim and Julie Smith have been professional music ministers for over 25 years in the Phoenix , AZ area. They have written and recorded dozens of collections of music ranging from liturgical music, theater, children’s music, and bilingual music. Their songs have been published in the SPIRIT & SONG hymnals by Oregon Catholic Press, in the VOICES AS ONE hymnals by World Library Publications, and several of their song collections are available through Resource Publications, Inc. in San Jose , CA .

Together, they have written 5 musicals which have been performed in New York , Texas , Illinois , Washington , California , Colorado , and Ontario , Canada . In addition, they have given many concerts, workshops, teachings, and repertoire sessions throughout the country. Tim grew up in Phoenix , Arizona in a musical family, see maid whiz. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1982 with a degree in music education. He also received a Masters in Arts in Liturgical Music from Santa Clara University in 1995. Julie grew up in Minnesota and also graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in English Literature and a minor in music. She later studied music at Grand Canyon College and received a Masters certificate from Corpus Christi Institute. Tim and Julie met while playing music at the ASU Newman Center in 1981 and were married in 1984. They have five brilliantly talented children (Bernadette, Jeremiah, Dominic, Ezekiel, and Immanuel) who also participated in the recording of several Music, Movement & Magination songs.

Brian Haner

Brian Haner is a writer, performer and studio guitarist from Los Angeles, California.  He has done studio work for the past twenty years and played for some of the biggest names in the business (Frank Zappa, Kenny Loggins, Tower Of Power, Rose Royce just to name a few).  His film credits include the movies, Payback, Extreme Justice and the Granny.  His television credits include Eerie, Indiana, TV 101, Charlie’s Angles, Chips, Love Boat and many other popular shows.  He is currently writing songs for the country market and is a staff writer at Budgiesongs Publishing Co. in LA. Haner stepped on stage at The Improv Comedy Club in Los Angeles for the first time as a standup comedian in the summer of 2006. Within six months he was working the comedy circuit full-time, playing to packed houses and getting rave reviews. In 2007, he lended his talents to the latest Warner Bros. CD by his son’s VMA award winning band, Avenged Sevenfold. “Watching my son succeed at such a high level and being able to help him has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life – and he gives me free guitar strings.”

For the past year, he has been touring the U.S. with Jeff Dunham, selling out arenas from coast to coast. Besides receiving rave reviews as Jeff’s opening act, “Guitar Guy”, he has brought his gift of song to Jeff’s loveable cast of characters. The whole gang will be singing Haner’s original tunes on Jeff’s upcoming Comedy Central Christmas special and DVD – Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas. The companion CD, Don’t Come Home For Christmas, will contain 12 original songs. On the rare nights Haner has off from The Jeff Dunham Show, he can be seen headlining Improv Comedy Clubs across the country.

Jay Cleveland

Jay Cleveland is a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC), providing music therapy services to children and adults with developmental disabilities in the Phoenix area. He is director of Music on the Move, an agency providing these services since 1998. Jay received degrees in both music therapy and education from Maryville University in St. Louis , Missouri in 1992. After completing his music therapy internship at the Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies in Glendale , Arizona , (now The Children’s Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies), Jay began his private practice, working with children and adults with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities. After arriving in Arizona , Jay developed his performance and songwriting skills while playing coffeehouses in the northern Arizona communities of Cottonwood and Sedona. Currently, he is an active participant in the music ministry at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Mesa , Arizona. Jay lives with his beautiful wife, Christine, and three wonderful kids, Jordan, 16, Emily, 7, and Jack, 5 in Tempe , Arizona.

Peggy Collins

Growing up on the prairies of Illinois as #4 of 5 kids makes Peggy Collins feel right at home writing children’s songs. She has been playing guitar and writing songs since she was 11. Her first song, written at the ripe old age of 12, is a retrospective account of being a kid!! It’s called Happy Childhood!! Peggy holds a bachelor’s degree in Commercial Music from Millikin University in Decatur , Illinois . Her principal instrument was voice; however, these days, she uses the piano for most of her writing and “dabbles” with the violin. Over the years, she has always been involved in musical activities. Her credits include: elementary, high school, and college guitar groups; musical theater singer for a summer rock band; audio engineer; song writer; music teacher; and, children’s choir director. After operating her own home childcare business, she decided to implement a home preschool program as well and loved it!!!. That prompted the light bulb to go off and back to school she went to get her teaching certification from Ottawa University in Phoenix . She has enjoyed teaching Pre-K and music for the past 4 years at St. Timothy Catholic Preschool and Kindergarten in Mesa , Az. She loves teaching the little ones, writing music, directing the St. Timothy’s Children’s Choir, and being a kid herself!!

Roman Orona

Roman Orona is a native of the Southwestern United States and is of Apache and Yaqui heritage. His artistic inspiration and versatility is reflected as a result of his early exposure to the nurturing environment of his American Indian upbringing. As a dancer, songwriter and singer, Roman has presented his style of dances and songs to children, youth, and adult audiences through out the United States, Asia, Mexico and Canada. He has also written/co-written and co-produced original works for American Indian performances, theatre, and numerous recitals. During his numerous travels Roman continues to promote his principal mission and vision of unity and harmony among all peoples of the world.

Tiffany Prochera

“To inspire and enlighten through words and music” This is Tiffany’s motto and mission in life. She began her musical career performing with choral groups at the age of 6 and soon after commenced her classical piano training. At 15, she wrote her first song and was soon receiving praise for her work from other composers and musicians. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Film Studies in 1995, Tiffany attended the School of Recording Arts of Manitoba and the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology where she was exposed to the art of production and the world of computer -generated music.  Armed with this knowledge, she decided to take on the roles of producer and engineer on many of the tracks on her debut CD, The Precious Many , in addition to performing all the vocals and most of the instrumentation. It was at this time that Tiffany also founded Halo Central Productions and began arranging and producing works for other songwriters. Her past projects include the arranging, production and performance of song on a demo soundtrack for the animated children’s film Caleb the Colt, written by Claire Hutchinson.

Currently completing her Bachelor of Music degree as a composition major, Tiffany has also had several pieces, including solo piano and chamber works, performed at various venues throughout Winnipeg , Manitoba Canada such as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival at the Centennial Concert Hall and Canadian Mennonite University. Her one-act opera, The Ride , was performed by the University of Manitoba ‘s Contemporary Opera Lab in August of 2004. With a mission to inspire and open minds and a desire to explore a variety of musical styles, Tiffany does her best to ensure that listeners are treated to an entertaining auditory experience. For more information contact, please contact Tiffany at her web site: www.tiffanyprochera.com

Dan Sell

At the age of thirteen, Dan Sell arrived at Seaside Park , New Jersey , for a week long vacation with his family. As soon as the car was unpacked, Dan and his younger brother were ready to head down the boardwalk and test their luck against the carnival games that beckoned. Just before he left, Dan boldly predicted that he would beat the odds and return with the electric guitar he coveted. With the very first quarter he laid down, the giant spinning wheel landed on his number, and just as he predicted, the guitar, a shiny black solid body electric, was his. Now, over three decades later, the guitar remains a focus in Dan Sell’s life. As a singer-songwriter Dan has performed in concerts, coffee-houses, and private parties in the Phoenix area for the past 18 years, blending and bending musical styles to meet the needs of soulful lyrics. On his latest CD, Blind Ambition, he blends blues, rock, reggae, jazz, and ballads to form the 10 original songs on the disc. Perhaps the most powerful song on the CD is “You Don’t Even Know Us.” Written in the weeks following September 11th, the song utilizes Middle Eastern rhythms and minor tones to underscore the message that love will prevail over even the most hideous evil.