Juan La Manna’s final SUNY Oswego recital to feature around 75 alumni performing

For his final recital as a SUNY Oswego music faculty member, Juan La Manna will lead a free College-Community Orchestra and Alumni Concert –- with around 75 alumni expected to perform –- at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, in the Sheldon Hall ballroom.

Starting his career teaching at SUNY Oswego in August 1997, the retiring La Manna said he had the idea for bringing back former students for a grand finale about a year ago.

“I had the idea more than a year ago, and I started writing and starting digging people up. The alumni office found some email addresses for me,” La Manna recalled. He also reached out via social media, where he is connected to students from decades ago.

“I started writing to them and lo and behold, I have people coming from as far as Florida,” La Manna said.

The first half of the concert, about 35 to 38 minutes in length, will feature current members of the College-Community Orchestra.

“Then in the second half, everybody joins and we have a gigantic orchestra of about 110 people,” La Manna said, with that portion expected to last around 45 minutes.

In addition to the outreach, the ongoing process has included sharing a Google Drive with all the music, asking participants to practice parts on their own.

Earlier Saturday will be a whirlwind of preparation. After a luncheon thanking participants, sponsored by the Oswego Alumni Association and Music Department, an early afternoon rehearsal will bring together the assembled alumni.

“It’s going to be so wonderful to get so many people together,” La Manna said.

‘I couldn’t get luckier’

In coming to the place that has given him a home and so many opportunities over nearly three decades, La Manna feels extremely fortunate.

“It was my first application and I got it,” La Manna said of applying for the Oswego faculty position. “I couldn’t get luckier. I was coming from Kansas City and the interview was after classes had ended. My ensemble to conduct was the high school orchestra.” 

Over the years, La Manna has enjoyed highlights that included performing and conducting some of world’s most renowned classical music pieces on campus, as well as helping start enduring programs like the ongoing Ke-Nekt’ Chamber Music Series.

“That has brought in some incredible artists with whom I performed,” La Manna said. “That was very nice.”

Some highlights have taken him farther afield, such as being allowed to serve as principal conductor for the Miami Ballet for four years, where he would commute from Oswego to Miami on Thursday evenings and return on Sunday night.

“The fact that I could do that was incredibly wonderful,” La Manna said. “I am so thankful for so many things that SUNY as a system has allowed me to do. It’s allowed me to pursue whatever I wanted to pursue as long as I did my job. The department as a whole has always been supportive of anything and everything.”

On the community level, La Manna has had the opportunity to serve as musical director and conductor for the Oswego Opera Theatre company as well.

‘Great department’

But the campus has been home for so many connections and work worth cherishing.

“I think we have a great department, and we work very well together,” La Manna said. While it focuses less on classical music than when he started, “we started with a recording technology minor and now we have a full-fledged audio production major.” 

“The students who populate the department now, who are more than we’ve ever had, are more interested in popular music, which is also great. We’re all working toward the same end –- oneness in what you’re doing.”

While Oswego is not a conservatory where students come in expecting to play music as a profession, students’ passion and love of music have proven truly rewarding. 

“I’ve had incredible students,” La Manna said. “Students came to the orchestra just because they wanted to make music. They’re not looking for fame or riches or power, they just want to play. To take them from Point A to Point B is truly a joy for me.”

The April 27 concert brings things full circle, as the love of music for the alumni who return will join the passion of current students who enjoy playing as well.

“The most amazing thing about all of them is that they still want to play,” La Manna said. “That’s the point of it all. You can do it all your life and you can do it at whatever level.”