Liam McManus

Liam McManus is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, studying with Matthew Strauss of the Houston Symphony. Hailing from Buffalo, New York, he’s been a percussionist for 14 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he studied primarily with Michael Burritt; and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied with Timothy Genis, Will Hudgins, and Matthew McKay of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has subbed with the Erie Philharmonic and Massachusetts Symphony, and has performed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the Chautauqua Institution Music Festival Orchestra in the summer of 2021, and the Texas Festival Orchestra at the Round Top Festival Institute in the summer of 2024.

In addition to being a passionate orchestral player, Liam is an avid chamber musician. In the summer of 2021 he gave a concert with the Music School Festival Orchestra Chamber Players at the Chautauqua Institution, which included a performance of Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. He also performed at the 2022 Percussive Arts Society International Convention as a member of the International Percussion Ensemble Competition-winning Eastman Percussion Ensemble. Deeply invested in performing solo snare drum literature, he has competed in several competitions for the instrument. He was selected as a finalist in Division 2 of the 2021 Modern Snare Drum Competition, and won Second Place in the College Division of the 2023 Black Swamp Percussion Snare Drum Competition.