Manny Maldonado
Owner/Artistic Director/Chief Publisher and Arranger
Manuel James "Manny" Maldonado is the founder, owner, artistic director, and chief arranger/publisher to MJM Works, LLC. Bands playing his winds and percussion arrangements consistently make U.I.L. State, US Bands. and Bands of America finals competitions. He helped establish great programs such as Claudia Taylor Johnson High School and Cedar Park High School with his insight into the marching arts, and now offers that same insight for other aspiring and inspiring programs throughout the United States.
Manny Maldonado began writing for the marching arts in 1997. As a young director and arranger, Manny had the opportunity to work with many world-class marching band arrangers, studying their arrangements and how they relayed on the marching field. Some of the more notable arrangers are Michael Klesch, Thom Hannum, Bret Khun, Jair Klarfeld, and Carol Chambers. He was able to hone in his craft, emulating what traits he liked from them, and adding his own flavor of creativity to produce an arrangement style all his own. He had this same opportunity to study and teach drill from world-class drill writers, including the drill of Michael Gaines, Leon May and Darryl Pemberton.
Manny Maldonado taught band and percussion for Cedar Park High School (2002-2008) and CT Johnson High School (2008-2013), where he learned the invaluable art of show pacing and design flow within a marching production. He also learned orchestration tricks and nuances that help make successful schools sound "better", as well as what the appropriate level of difficulty is for different levels of performers.
In 2007, Manny launched "MJM Works" as a side hustle to his band director job. His knowledge of the activity along with his networking abilities and his integrity allowed him to pursue the company full time in the fall of 2015. Manny has been in the band director "trenches" and understands the needs of the directors and students.
Manny Maldonado is also the head leadership facilitator for SASI, where he speaks to 2500+ student leaders every summer on strategies to become a better band program. His affiliation with SASI allows him to network with some of the most successful band directors in the country.
Manny resides in Bulverde, Texas, with his wife, Candace, and their two sons, Jameson and Owen. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, camping, and taking trips to Port Aransas, Texas.