Spotlight: Guest Artist Amanda Carr

Guest Artist Amanda Carr

Amanda Carr recently joined public radio station WICN, Jazz+ for New England, as Executive Director, having been involved with the station for over 20 years following her first-ever interview as a jazz artist. In addition to her music and production background, Amanda brings her sales and marketing knowledge to her role at the station.

Amanda is an international recording and touring artist who has received worldwide critical acclaim of her fresh interpretations of the Great American Songbook. The Wall Street Journal hails her, “...a true jazz singer in a time of wannabes”.

While still performing and tapping into her roots of pop, blues, folk & rock with artists like the legendary James Montgomery and Myanna, Amanda has been a guest vocalist with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops, The Artie Shaw Orchestra, Harry James Band and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, among many other guest vocal appearances. A headline artist at EuroJazz Festival, she recorded “Live in San Giorgio” with Trio Martinale in Torino, Italy.

Her Portuguese rendition of ‘Mas Que Nada’ labeled her the Top Three Vocalists of 2009 in the jazz category in Brazil’s ‘Rio Review’. Amanda successfully created and headlined a cross-country tour show of  “A Tribute to Peggy Lee” which sold out thirty dates and still remains a draw for audiences.

Among her corporate and commercial work, she has composed and performed music for two PBS documentaries, one being ‘The Story of Golf’ which received an Emmy Nomination, and also acclaim for her musical contributions to ‘Boston Red Sox: 100 Years of Baseball History’. Her original work with childrenʼs music for the  ‘Lilʼ Iguana’ series is among her favorite composing and recording projects. She is the writer and composer for The Boston Anthem which has been adopted by major Boston sports teams, corporations, organizations and schools.

Her most ambitious project, a big band album entitled “Common Thread”, debuted on the top of multiple Jazz Best Seller charts and in the top 50 on Billboard. Paying homage to her big band musician parents, Amanda founded ‘American Big Band Preservation Society’ in 2009,  a non-profit that preserves the essence of American musical heritage.

She was chosen to represent the USA in a music ambassadorship to Shanghai, China in 2014. Currently, she is Artist Liaison for the esteemed organization, ‘Boston Women in Media and Entertainment’ authoring a popular online interview series. Amanda is an official CBS Radio commentator for Boston’s prestigious annual “Boston Pops July 4th” concert on the Esplanade with WBZ News Radio.

With five jazz vocal recordings, global distribution and airplay, Amanda continues to perform as a solo artist while remaining a popular guest artist. Amanda was presented with the Paul Harris Fellowship Award for 2015 by Rotary International, and she was nominated for 2016 Boston Music Awards Jazz Artist of the Year. Closer to home, Amanda Carr is one of only two artists in history named Honorary Member of the Concord Band.

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Source: www.amandacarr.com Used with permission.

Concord Band Presents “Music from the Movies and More!”

To continue its 60th anniversary season, the Concord Band will hold its annual Spring Pops concerts at 8 pm, April 12 and 13 at 51 Walden Performing Arts Center, 51 Walden St., Concord.

In addition to Pops soloist Amanda Carr, the concert will include American Idol finalist John Stevens and Boston-based jazz drummer Joe Hunt, who will help the band present “Music from the Movies and More!” They will sing solos from the American songbook and jazz duets in a nightclub setting.

To introduce and supplement the vocal performances, Music Director James O’Dell will lead the Concord Band in a medley of songs by Irving Berlin and music from the Disney movie and hit Broadway musical, Aladdin. The band will also premiere a new dance number, Rainbow Samba, by former Concord Band percussionist Anthony Hyde.

Amanda Carr
Guest Artist

Carr, an honorary member of the Concord Band, has sung with the Boston Pops and has toured the United States with her own Peggy Lee tribute show. She has been a big band vocalist with the Artie Shaw, Harry James and Glenn Miller orchestras. She has also been a headline artist at the Euro-Jazz Festival in Italy. Carr performed at the band’s 50th anniversary concert in 2009 and has had several band-vocal pieces arranged for her performances with the Concord Band.

John Stevens
Guest Artist

Stevens got his start as a finalist on American Idol and has sung with the Boston Pops, the Beantown Swing Orchestra and currently fronting his own John Stevens Band. He has released albums of jazz and big-band standards and his first album of original songs in 2015.

Stevens and Carr will sing duets and solos in their Pops performances with the Concord Band, backed up by Hunt, who played with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie in the 1960s. Hunt taught at Berklee School of Music and New England Conservatory, and was a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masters Orchestra.

The April 12 Pops concert is sponsored, for the 42nd consecutive year, by the Rotary Club of Concord . April 12 tickets are available through Rotary at rotaryclubofconcord.org.

The Concord Band sponsors the April 13 concert. Tickets for April 13 are available for $25 each at tables for four (and a few tables for six) with free refreshments at ticketstage.com/concordband.

51 Walden Becomes Concord Cabaret Club

Spring Pops Concerts

Friday & Saturday April 12 & 13 • 8 PM

The Concord Band Spring Pops concerts will feature the spectacular talents of honorary Band member Amanda Carr and American Idol alumnus John Stevens. 51 Walden will be transformed into the Concord Cabaret Club complete with mood lighting and sounds, on the theme, Music from the Movies and More! The vocal talents of Amanda and John will swoon with a variety of duets and solos including New York, New York, I Had The Time Of My Life, Over The Rainbow, Hello Dolly, and other perennial favorites.

SPRING POPS featuring jazz vocalists Amanda Carr and John Stevens Friday, April 12, 2019 • 8 PM Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Concord Tickets: rotaryclubofconcord.org or call Noel at 978-505-2783 Saturday, April 13, 2019 • 8 PM Sponsored by The Concord Band Adults–$25, children under 12–$15. Tickets: www.ticketstage.com/concordband email reservations@concordband.org or call 978-897-9969

Spring Pops Poster

2019 Spring Pops Poster

"Happy Anniversary!" Concert Videos

Happy Anniversary!
Saturday, March 2, 2019
The Concord Band

James O’Dell, Music Director
Andrew Boysen, Jr., Guest Conductor
Roger Cichy, Guest Conductor
Dr. William G. McManus, Music Director Emeritus

	Title	Composer/Arranger
	Emblazoned Joy	Roger Cichy
	Five Concord Diversions	James Curnow
	Flourish for Wind Band	R. Vaughan Williams
	Valdres	Johannes Hanssen
	Abracadabra	Frank Ticheli
	A Festival Prelude	Alfred Reed
	Diamond Jubilee Suite	Andrew Boysen, Jr.
	Auld Lang Syne	Traditional; arr. William Toland
	The Gladiator	John Philip Sousa

One of the Band's long-term projects is to create a comprehensive video archive of concert band literature. The archive documents our performances, helps us to improve musically, and provides a valuable online resource for band programming. You can explore performance videos hosted on our YouTube channel, ConcordBandMA.

The Performance Video Database concept has been created and led by percussionist and executive producer Dan Diamond, and video director Barry Mirrer, with generous technical assistance and resources provided by Concord-Carlisle TV. See feature articles: Performance Video Database, Video Production.

The complete Concord Band Performance Video Database is accessible through a tab at the top of each blog page. You can play a video or view program notes by selecting links in the excerpt shown here.

Concord Band Celebrates Their 60th Anniversary

By Pamela Marshall

The “Happy Anniversary” Winter Concert by the Concert Band on Saturday March 2, 2019 was a joyous event. The 60-year history of the band was evident in every detail. The program included music the band has commissioned over the years, including two new commissions for this concert. The composers were there to conduct their music. Music Director Emeritus William McManus, who retired 10 years ago, was there as guest conductor too. Music Director James O’Dell spoke before each piece with stories about his own 10-year tenure with the Band, his connection with his predecessor Bill McManus, and his pride in the band’s accomplishments.

The Band members are devoted, and many have been in the band for many years. They are also fine musicians. Every section—brass, woodwinds, percussion—had their moment to shine in the diverse programming.

The conductors (l. to r.): Andrew Boysen, Jr.,
James O'Dell, Roger Cichy, William McManus.

Both commissioned composers, Roger Cichy and Andrew Boysen Jr., hit independently upon the same musical germ, turning the initials of the Concord Band Association into the equivalent musical notes or keys: C, B, A.

Cichy’s Emblazoned Joy fanfare surprised us when the quiet middle section supported a spoken intro to the concert. When the energetic fanfare returned, punctuated by wooden whip and bass drum flourishes, we, the audience, were fully into the festive mood.

Andrew Boysen’s piece, Diamond Jubilee Suite wrapped the music history of bands in general and the history of the Concord Band into his piece. The first movement began and ended with snare drum and piccolo alone delicately evoking a fife-and-drum corps marching in and heading away. The second movement “Song” began with a lovely saxophone solo, Director Emeritus Bill McManus’s instrument, and the third movement “Finale” opened with a lively tuba solo in tribute to current Director Jim O’Dell. The Finale gradually brought in the whole ensemble, layering its intricate rhythmic patterns to create a rousing ending for the whole band, and the thrilling energy brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation.

A 25th anniversary commission followed the fanfare, Five Concord Diversions, by James Curnow. It featured a solo brass quintet, played by members of the Band – Richard Given and Art Zavarella on trumpet, Cameron Owen on horn, Peter Norton on trombone, and Kevin Kozik on tuba. This difficult piece showed off the musical skill of these soloists, as well as individual members of the woodwinds, brass, and percussion. In “Introduction”, the brass soloists played sparkling musical fanfares over a clock-like accompaniment from the woodwinds. In “Romance”, Rich Given’s solo trumpet was a quietly dramatic beginning and each soloist took the expressive lead in turn, with woodwind solos interspersed. An unusual duet between Kevin Kozik on tuba and oboe crowned this gorgeous movement. The short “March” featured percussion providing the rhythmic support for the solo quintet. Then they cleverly switched roles as the brass players marked the beat and the woodblock reduced the melody to its rhythmic essence – neatly done. “Ballad” featured the various sections of the brass in answer to their soloing representative, starting with the horn’s beautiful opening statement. The low brass in particular shone with its smooth and rich warm sound. The Finale started with the whole band, playing an angular energetic theme. The angular theme became more and more solid and finished in a rousing ending. Bravo to the soloists and the whole band in this challenging work.

The program included several other delightful works, including Valdres, an elegant Norwegian march featuring Richard Given on cornet; a magically clever Abracadabra by Ticheli; Flourish for Wind Band by Vaughan Williams; and Sousa’s first big hit, The Gladiator.

The hall was nearly full, with an audience of appreciative listeners and supportive families. Several band alumni traveled from far away to be in Concord for this happy occasion. A few of them joined the band onstage to play William Toland’s arrangement of Auld Lang Syne, a traditional closer for the Concord Band’s Pops concerts. The audience sang along gently, but this singer didn’t want to cover up the warm lyricism of the instruments themselves.

There were speeches during this celebratory concert, but they were cleverly interspersed through the program, avoiding any speech-boredom. Band President Ken Troup read a congratulatory Proclamation from the Town of Concord Select Board. Jim O’Dell presented June Grace, band member since 1971, with a certificate on her retirement. The president of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, another fine local band, brought his congratulations. Everyone who was at this concert knows that the Concord Band is a local treasure, and their music-making is a boon to the Concord community.

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Pamela Marshall is a composer (spindrift.com) and horn player from Lexington who has been a member of the Concord Orchestra for more than 20 years. She has many conflicts of interest as she writes about the Band since she has many friends among its members.

Winter Concert 2019

Happy Anniversary!

Saturday, March 2, 2019 • 8:00 PM

The Concord Band
James O’Dell, Music Director
Andrew Boysen, Jr., Guest Conductor
Roger Cichy, Guest Conductor
Dr. William G. McManus, Music Director Emeritus

Program James O’Dell conducting
Emblazoned Joy*	Roger Cichy (1956–)
Roger Cichy conducting
Five Concord Diversions**	James Curnow (1943–)
Trumpets: R. Given, A. Zavarella Trombone: P. Norton French Horn: C. Owen Tuba: K. Kozik
Introduction Romance March Ballad Finale
Flourish for Wind Band	R. Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
Valdres	Johannes Hanssen (1874–1967) arr. G. Bainum
Abracadabra	Frank Ticheli (1958–)
Intermission
A Festival Prelude	Alfred Reed (1921–2005)
William McManus conducting
Diamond Jubilee Suite*	Andrew Boysen, Jr. (1968–)
Andrew Boysen, Jr., conducting
March Song Finale
Auld Lang Syne	Traditional arr. William Toland (1931–2012)
The Gladiator	John Philip Sousa (1854–1932)

 *Concord Band Commission, 2019

**Concord Band Commission, 1988

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Concord Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Five Concord Diversions for Brass Quintet and Symphonic Winds and Percussion

―James Curnow (b. 1943)

One of the Concord Band’s many commissions, Five Concord Diversions was written in 1987 by James Curnow in commemoration of William Toland’s 25th year as Music Director of the Concord Band. Curnow chose to score the brass quintet with homogeneous and heterogeneous groupings of the band. The outer movements of this work feature brass quintet and the tutti ensemble, while the inner three movements feature the brass quintet paired with woodwinds, percussion, and brass respectively. Tonight’s performance comes 25 years, almost to the day, after the première performance, held in the Sentry Center Auditorium in Concord on March 7, 1987, with the composer conducting the Concord Band and the Back Bay Brass Quintet. The composer’s inscription found on the inside cover of the manuscript score reads “For the outstanding preparation of, the commissioning of, and the support of ‘Five Concord Diversions’―Thank you, this has been an excellent weekend. Congratulations on 25 years―you have a fine organization. Best wishes, Jim.” (Source: JRO)

Flourish for Wind Band

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote some of the earliest works for twentieth- century concert band, with many of his pieces considered pillars of band literature. Flourish for Wind Band was written as an overture to the pageant Music and the People performed in the Royal Albert Hall in 1939. The score was then lost, only to reappear in 1971. Flourish for Wind Band is significant, in part, because it is a relatively easy work (grade 3 of 5), by a composer of high stature and skill. (Source: Creekside Middle School Wind Symphony)

Valdres

Valdres is a greatly loved petite Norwegian tone-poem in march time. Its composer, Johannes Hanssen, began his career as a tenor-horn player in the Oslo Military Band in 1900. The opening tune is a bugle call from the Valdres Battalion; Valdres is a valley is southern Norway. The second subject is an old tune for hardanger-fiddle; the trio is a pentatonic tune based upon Norwegian folk music. (Source: Glenn C. Bainum)

Abracadabra

Abracadabra was composed by Frank Ticheli in the summer of 2004, and was orchestrated the following November during a residency at the MacDowell Colony. “The piece is dedicated to my son, and is at once playful and serious, innocent and mischievous. A sense of mystery pervades as the dark key of G minor is balanced by sudden shifts to bright and sunny major keys. Throughout the composition I was thinking about magic, not in an evil or frightening sense, but as a source of fun and fantasy.” (Source: Frank Ticheli)

A Festival Prelude

Alfred Reed’s A Festival Prelude was composed in 1956 for the 25th Anniversary of the Tri-State Music Festival, located in Enid, Oklahoma. The music is built up entirely from one main theme and two fanfare-like figures that occur throughout the score. The composer writes “the music was to establish a bright and brilliant mood throughout, with no other connotation in mind.” (Source: Published Score)

Auld Lang Syne

In 1788 Robert Burns sent the poem “Auld Lang Syne” to the Scots Musical Museum, indicating that it was an ancient song but that he'd been the first to record it on paper. This arrangement is by Concord Band Music Director Laureate, William M. Toland. The phrase “auld lang syne” roughly translates as “for old times’ sake,” and the song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year. It is sung all over the world, evoking a sense of belonging and fellowship, tinged with nostalgia. (Source: scotland.com)

Bill Toland’s arrangement of the traditional folk song Auld Lang Syne, which continues to be played at the conclusion of Concord Band Holiday Pops concerts. (JRO)

The Gladiator

Nothing among John Philip Sousa’s memoirs reveals the identity of the “gladiator,” but the first printing of the sheet music carried a dedication to Charles F. Towle of Boston. Towle was a journalist who was editor of the Boston Traveler at the time this march was written, but the nature of his association with Sousa is not known. The Gladiator was the first Sousa composition to reach such wide circulation. He himself was unaware of its popularity until its strains startled him one day while in Philadelphia on business, taking a stroll along Broad Street. (Source: United States Marine Band)

Original Works Written for the Concord Band

Premiere Date	Composer	Title
3/3/67	William L. Dygert	Festive Trumpet
6/29/72	Mark C. Mudgett	Yellowstone March
12/8/73	Dean M. Groves	The Elements
2/16/73	Christopher Morris	Music for Winds
3/2/74	Christopher Morris	Dance Moment
7/17/75	Norman Dello Joio	Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes
7/24/75	Thelma Steinberg and Lew Tobin	Concord, Mass. and The Spirit of 1775
1/17/76	William M. Toland and Mark Mudgett	Adaptations of Colonial Era Music
3/11/78	Peter Hazzard	A Festival Overture
3/10/84	Concord Band 25th Anniversary Concert
	John Bavicchi	Concord Bridge
	Richard Cornell	Solar Prominences
	Peter Hazzard	Silver Jubilee Overture
	Cheryl Linder	Concord Band March
	Kurt Phinney	Concertino for Alto Saxophone and Band
	Robert Sirota	Concord Suite
	Douglas Toland	Prelude, Fanfare and March
10/26/85	William M. Toland	Concord 350 March
3/7/87	James E. Curnow	Five Concord Diversions
3/7/87	Peter Hazzard	Toland's March
10/24/87	William M. Toland	Pennyghael
10/22/88	James E. Curnow	Welsh Variants
4/7/89	William M. Toland	Chiapanecas
10/27/90	William M. Toland	Suite for Woodwinds
10/26/91	Warren Barker	Triumphant Entrance
12/9/94	James E. Curnow	Overture to a Winter Festival
3/4/95	William M. Toland	A Short Fanfare for a Happy Occasion
3/4/95	William M. Toland	Solstice
3/2/96	Thomas J. McGah	Reflections of Emerson
6/26/97	William G. McManus	Fanfare #1
11/1/97	Daniel P. Lutz	Dichotomy...Impressions of Kerouac
7/22/98	Irving Sanderson	Peace Treaty March
11/7/98	Thomas J. McGah	Sunsets
3/6/99	Stephen Bulla	North Bridge Portrait
6/24/99	William G. McManus	Fanfare ‘99
3/8/03	Julie Giroux	Boston Liberties
10/28/06	Elliot Del Borgo	Israeli Triptych
12/12/08	William G. McManus	Ballad for Boots
3/14/09	Concord Band 50th Anniversary Concert
	Roger Cichy	Flowing Pens from Concord
6/30/10	William G. McManus	Fruitlands 25 Fanfare
6/30/10	William G. McManus	Fruitlands 25 Overture
3/5/11	Andrew Boysen, Jr.	Twilight of the Gods (consortium)
10/27/12	William G. McManus	Elegy
12/7/12	Rene Pfister and Jan Mankowski	Christmas Eve
4/12/13	William G. McManus	Blue Sterling: Theme for Jerry
3/2/19	Concord Band 60th Anniversary Concert
	Roger Cichy	Emblazoned Joy
	Andrew Boysen, Jr.	Diamond Jubilee Suite

Spotlight: Andrew Boysen, Jr.

Andrew Boysen Jr.
Composer

Andrew Boysen, Jr. (b. 1968) is presently a professor in the music department at the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches con- ducting, composition and orchestra- tion. Previously, Boysen served as an assistant professor and Acting Asso- ciate Director of Bands at Indiana State University, where he directed the Marching Sycamores, conducted the symphonic band and taught in the music education department. Prior to that appointment, he was the Direc- tor of Bands at Cary-Grove (IL) High School and was the Music Director and Conductor of the Deer- field Community Concert Band. He remains active as a guest conduc- tor and clinician, appearing with high school, university and festival ensembles across the United States, Great Britain, and Australia.

Boysen earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Con- ducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he served as Conduc- tor of the Eastman Wind Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. He received his Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Northwestern University in 1993 and his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Music Composi- tion from the University of Iowa in 1991.

He maintains an active schedule as a composer, having received commissions from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, the Iowa All-State Band, the Rhode Island All-State Band, the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association, and many university and high school con- cert bands across the United States. Boysen won the International Horn Society Composition Contest in 2000, the University of Iowa Honors Composition Prize in 1991 and has twice won the Claude T. Smith Memorial Band Composition Contest, in 1991 and 1994. Boy- sen has several published works with the Neil A. Kjos Music Com- pany, Wingert-Jones Music, Masters Music, and C. Alan Publica- tions, including pieces for band, orchestra, clarinet and piano, and brass choir.

Spotlight: Roger Cichy

Roger Cichy
Composer and Conductor

Since the appearance of his first published work in 1985, Roger Cichy has been a prolific composer whose works often paint experiences and emotions on a canvas of sound. The composer’s works contain a number of signature elements, among them is his unique use of rhythm and pronounced use of percussion. In many of his works, Cichy employs what he calls “compelling rhythms,” whose repetition drive his melodies forward. His appreciation for percussion’s unlimited sounds and timbres is also notable. Cichy’s work is further defined by his fondness for jazz rhythms, liberal use of strong countermelodies, and thick harmonic texture.

Roger Cichy brings his background as a music educator to his work as a composer. Roger holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts in Music Education degree from The Ohio State University, but also did extensive study in composition with Edward Montgomery, Marshall Barnes and Joseph Levey at Ohio State. He has directed concert bands and marching bands at the elementary, high school and college levels, serving as Director of Bands at both the University of Rhode Island and Iowa State University.

Today, Roger is a freelance composer and arranger, writing for high school, university and professional bands, professional orchestras, and the commercial music industry. His works range from small ensembles literature to compositions and arrangements for marching band, concert band, and symphonic orchestra. He has over 300 compositions and arrangements to his name, including those published by Daehn Publications, C. Alan Publications, and Ludwig Masters Publications. Cichy’s music has been recorded by premier ensembles such as the North Texas Wind Symphony, the United States Air Force Academy Band and the University of Georgia Wind Symphony. He has received numerous composition awards from The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for serious music.

Composing music for a wide variety of genres including orchestras, choruses, wind bands, small ensembles and music for film, Cichy is widely sought for commissions. The music of Roger Cichy is continually being performed throughout the United State and abroad.

His works have been performed at many prestigious conventions including the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinics, CBDNA National and Regional Conventions, ASBDA Conventions, MENC National and Regional Conventions, several All-State Festivals and appear on many contest lists throughout the country. In 2008, Mark Masters released a CD recording of Cichy’s music titled Sounds Sketches and Ideas, which received Grammy listings in three categories. His film score for the PBS documentary The American St. Nick earned him an Emmy.

Spotlight: Dr William McManus

Dr William G McManus
Music Director Emeritus

Dr. William McManus was Music Director of the Concord Band from 1995 to 2009. Upon his retirement, he was named Music Director Emeritus.

Dr McManus was Associate Professor of Music Education at Boston University from 2003-2008,and Chair of the Music Education Department from 2005 until 2008. Prior to joining Boston University, he taught at New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, and Fitchburg State College, and served on the National Executive Board and as Eastern Division President of MENC (The National Association for Music Education), and as President, All State Concert Chair, Professor Programs Director, and Research Chair of MMEA (Massachusetts Music Educators Association).

A graduate of The Boston Conservatory and Boston University, Dr. McManus taught music in Leicester (MA) and Westborough (MA), and was Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools from 1984 until 2001.

In 1995, the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) awarded Dr McManus the MMEA Distinguished Service Award, the most prestigious award presented by that organization. He has also been awarded a Lowell Mason Award and Visionary Leadership Award by the MMEA. In 2008. Dr McManus was honored by the Boston University College of Fine Arts as the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award.

An active conductor, Dr McManus was Music Director of the Concord Band from 1995 – 2008. He has been conductor of the 215th Army Band, the Framingham Concert Band, and the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble. He has appeared as guest conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band, The United States Youth Wind Ensemble, the Boston University Concert Band, and he has conducted many All-District and All State Bands.

In recent years, Dr McManus has concentrated on arranging music for concert band and jazz ensemble and composing original music for symphonic band and various chamber groups. Recent compositions for symphonic band include Fruitlands Overture (2010), Elegy (2012), and Blue Sterling (2013).