Mansfield Ensembles

• Bass
• Bassoon
• Cello
• Clarinet
• Euphonium
• Flute
• French Horn
• Jazz
• Oboe
• Percussion
• Saxophone
• String
• Trombone
• Trumpet
• Tuba
• Viola
• Violin

The Mansfield Concert Wind Ensemble is a select group of approximately 48 woodwind, brass, and percussion players who perform the most outstanding wind-band literature. One of the oldest wind ensemble's in the country, the Concert Wind Ensemble performs four to five times annually on and off campus.

Each year in the Fall semester the ensemble tours over a three day period and also performs at regional conventions and special events. In addition, the Concert Wind Ensemble records and produces a compact disc of select literature each year. Most recently, the ensemble had two recordings deemed to be eligible for 2014 Grammy Nominations in seven categories. These included Malachi: A Celebration of a Special Life and Critical Speed: The Music of Greg Danner. Additional recordings by the ensemble include Ecstatic Vision, Concord, Music from the Endless Mountains, Strike Up the Bands, This Could be the Start of Something Big, Tenebrae (Dark Hours), Sun and Shade, and Resonance. Membership is not limited to music majors, but an audition is required. The ensemble is involved in commissioning and premiering works of fine composers such as Michael Colgrass, David Maslanka, David R. Gillingham, John Stevens, Mike Mowers, Carolyn Bremer, the ensemble's director- Adam F. Brennan, and others. 

The Mansfield Jazz Ensemble is a select group of saxophone, trombone, trumpet and rhythm players who perform a variety of big band and contemporary jazz literature.  This award winning band has appeared at major festivals, conferences and conventions. In addition, they make annual tours throughout the region..

The Jazz Ensemble invites guest artists to perform with the band every year. The list of visiting jazz artists reads like a "Who's Who" in jazz and includes Wayne Bergeron, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Tom Harrell, DIVA, Tim Hagans, Chris Potter, Denis DiBlasio, George Rabbai, Alan Broadbent, Phil Woods, Chris Vadala, Kenny Warner, the Airmen of Note, Ingrid Jensen, Bob Mintzer, Jiggs Whigham, Randy Brecker, Bill Watrous, Carl Allen, John Riley, DIVA, Ryan Kisor, Michael Davis, the Commodores, Jim Snidero, Clay Jenkins, Phil Woods and many, many others!

The Mansfield Brass Band, made up of 27-29 musicians, performs everything from polkas and marches to more contemporary, advanced selections on traditional British brass band instruments - cornets/flugelhorn, alto horns, baritones, euphoniums, trombones, E-flat & B-flat tubas, and percussion. The Brass Band also places a focus on performing historical American brass band repertoire from the late 19th century. This ensemble provides students an excellent opportunity to perform on brass band instruments, as well as the valuable experience of performing a genre of literature that would otherwise be unavailable. The Brass Band joined the North American Brass Band Association in 2014, and participated in the North American Brass Band Championships for the first time in March, 2015, finishing second in the 3rd section.

The band rehearses only once per week and puts on a concert at the end of each semester. The Brass Band is regularly invited to perform at local community events. As well, the ensemble performs each year at the music department's "Prism" concert in the fall semester, serves as the ceremonial ensemble at December graduation exercises, and participates in the Mansfield Conducting Symposium each spring. Membership is open to all Mansfield students by audition.

The Symphonic Band is under the direction of Dr. Nathan Rinnert, Assistant Director of Bands. This ensemble meets in the Spring semester and is open to all interested students. This 75+ member ensemble performs standard literature for symphonic bands. Auditions are held at the beginning of the semester to determine seating and part assignments. The Symphonic Band is involved in two to three concerts each Spring. Perhaps most notable of the concerts by this group is the student conductor's competition concert held in mid February. Up to six undergraduate and graduate students are chosen by audition to rehearse and conduct the Symphonic Band in preparation for this concert.

The Spirit & The Pride consists of approximately 100 brass, wind, percussion and auxiliary members. Membership is open to all interested undergraduate and graduate students and auditions are for seating purposes only. Any student who wishes to be part of the band will be accepted. All we ask that all members maintain a positive attitude and desire to be a contributor to the group and understand that we will seat you wherever your skill set is best suited for your success and the success of the group.

All band members attend a band camp prior to the start of school. Members who reside on campus are able to access their residence hall housing.

Be sure to visit the Marching Band's webpage and complete the band registration form.

• Choral

The Mansfield Concert Choir of Mansfield, Pennsylvania, is the premier touring ensemble of the university presenting some of the finest talent from the American Northeast. While the majority of the singers are undergraduate music majors, membership is open to all students at the university through an audition process. The group has achieved an impressive reputation of excellence, having been chosen for more than twenty years to perform at conventions or festivals around the world including numerous conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the National Association for Music Educators.

In 2012, the women of the Concert Choir provided the nuns' choruses for the "Sound of Music" Gala Concert in Carnegie Hall. On the international stage, the choir has won top prizes in international competitions including nine gold medals and four gold certificates. In 2014, they gave their debut performance in Carnegie Hall as a part of the Performing Arts Educators 8th-Annual Invitational and returned to this renowned stage in 2017 & 2019 for PAE performances. In April of 2018, the choir performed the choruses in Carnegie Hall's Gala Concert of Bernstein's Candide garnering a "superb" review in the New York Times. The Concert Choir has performed in eighteen countries during their eight European Tours, and the group has produced twenty-one CD recordings on the Mark Custom Recording Label. The singers are frequently praised for the emotional spectrum in their performances, their diverse vocal color, and their varied repertoire.

The Festival Chorus is a mixed chorus of about 60 voices, which is open to all university students as well as community singers. The group rehearses three hours a week and performs a wide variety of choral styles in the fall semester and major choral works during the spring semester. Large scale performances with orchestra and professional soloists include Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria, Orff 's Carmina Burana, Haydn's Creation and Mass in Time of War, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem, Mozart's Mass in C Minor, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Honegger's King David, Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass of Peace, and the Requiems by Brahms, Fauré, Mozart, Rutter, and Verdi. The chorus has also presented Dan Forrest's Requiem for the Living, the High Lonesome Bluegrass Mass by Sharp and Ramsey, and Annelies by James Whitbourn.

Members of the group also join with the Concert Choir to form separate women's and men's choruses in the fall semester. The Festival Chorus has produced numerous CDs and DVD recordings. Students must vocalize for placement into the soprano, alto, tenor, or bass sections.

A highly select ensemble of 8 to 12 singers, which specializes in vocal jazz. The Mansfieldians tour with the Mansfield Jazz Ensemble each year and perform on and off-campus. In 2008, the Mansfieldians won the Championship in the Vocal Jazz Category at the World Choir Games in Graz, Austria. The group rehearses three hours a week and makes frequent guest appearances on behalf of the university. An audition is required for membership.

A highly select vocal ensemble of 12-16 voices established for the study and performance of repertoire from the vocal chamber idiom. Literature includes madrigals & motets from the 16th and 17th centuries, Bach cantatas, part-songs of the 18th and 19th centuries, and contemporary selections. The ensemble performs both on and off campus. An audition is required for membership.

The Mansfield Symphony Orchestra open to anyone with previous orchestral experience, is comprised of students from the music department and other departments throughout the university as well as community members. An audition process at the beginning of each semester is used to place musicians in appropriate seats within the orchestra. Orchestra performances are held on the Mansfield campus each semester the MUSO repertoire list is quite extensive and represents some of the finest orchestral compositions from all major musical periods and many of the world's greatest composers. The literature selected is designed to prepare each member of the orchestra for further opportunities in the orchestral music field whether that be as a performer in a professional ensemble, as a leader in the classroom, or in anticipation of advanced study at the graduate level.

Mansfield has a rich history of high quality stage productions that are both educational and entertaining. The Music Department currently produces one full opera every fall and one full stage musical every spring.

Recent operas have included The Magic Flute, The Crucible, Die Fledermaus, The Tenderland, Pirates of Penzance and Don Giovanni. Recent musicals have included West Side Story, Chicago, Kiss Me Kate, Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Auditions are held the semester before each production and are open to all Mansfield students.  Prior stage experience is encouraged but is not required. There are also many opportunities to work back stage in the areas of set construction, lighting, sound, props and box office.

Man of La Mancha Audition Music