Robert J. Manners
Robert Manners is an active choral conductor based in Binghamton, New York. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of The Binghamton Downtown Singers. Robert recently was invited to direct the High School Honor Choir for the Tioga County Music Educators Association. He also served as conference committee chair for the “Voice of Tomorrow” Collegiate conference and as honor choir adjudicator for the American Choral Directors Association.
As the concert and facilities manager for the Binghamton University Music Department, Robert is responsible for coordinating and marketing all department concerts including ensemble concerts, faculty showcases, guest artist residencies, and student recitals. He is also a graduate of Binghamton University, having earned a masters of music in Choral Conducting while studying with Dr. William Culverhouse. During his studies. Robert served as the assistant director of the Chamber Singers, Treble Choir, and Harpur Chorale, founded a Tenor/Bass ensemble, and he directed the Dryden Area Intergenerational Chorus, a community group of singers at every age level and skill set in their Summer concert series. He collaborated with the Momenta String Quartet to premiere “Prunella,” an opera in two acts, by Lief Haley, and with Kelsey Watts, soprano, to perform Jake Heggie’s one act opera, “Another Sunrise.” He also was a conductor with First Inversion Choir in Rochester, New York. He believes that everyone should have a pathway to singing no matter their skill level, and choral singing can lift up individuals as well as communities for the better.
Robert is a Lyric Baritone and premiered the solo in “Mawlaya Salli” by Shireen Abu-Khader at the National ACDA conference in Cincinnati, has sung the role of Monostatos in “Die Zauberflöte” with the Binghamton University Opera Workshop, and performed the Bach Christmas Cantata with the University United Methodist Church of Syracuse. He serves as section leader for the United Presbyterian Church in Binghamton, as well as a regular cantor for many local churches. Robert began his conducting studies with André J. Thomas at Florida State University while earning a masters of music in Music Composition. As a composer, Robert is active in arranging and transcribing on many projects, has taken lessons with Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, and also wrote scores for film with director Randy Parker. He holds a Bachelors in Music Theory from Nazareth College of Rochester.
