Joshua Maness
Director, Brighton Middle School Band
Assistant Director, Brighton High School Band
Joshua Maness is the Director of Bands at Brighton Middle School. He has a long history with the Brighton Band program as a former student, staff member, and now current director.
Mr. Maness has a Bachelor of Music with a focus in instrumental music education from The University of Memphis. He graduated in 2023 with a 3.79 gpa and the distinction of Magna Cum Laude. Mr. Maness has served as the Director of Bands for Brighton Middle School since 2025. Prior to this, Mr. Maness had the pleasure of working at Liberty Tech. High School in Jackson, Tennessee as the Director of Bands and at Overton High School in Memphis, Tennessee.
While attending the University of Memphis, Mr. Maness was a part of The Mighty Sound of the South for 4 years. In that time, he served as the euphonium section leader and Drum Major for the band. Mr. Maness has studied music and education under Dr. William Plenk, Dr. Albert Nguyen, Dr. Wilker Augusto, Dr. Zach Coprus, Dr. Mueller, Dr. Emily Frizzell, Dr. Josef Hanson, Dr. Kevin Sanders, and Professor Jarrett McCourt.
At Brighton, Mr. Maness works in virtually all areas, including marching band, concert band, jazz band, chamber ensembles, percussion, and winter programs. In the classroom, Mr. Maness is a firm believer in setting high expectations, hard work, and the concept of remaining focused. Mr. Maness’ goal is to provide students with a high-quality music education where they can become higher-order thinkers, develop life skills, obtain scholarships to college, and reach new levels of musicianship that students did not believe were previously obtainable.
Mr. Maness is a member of the West Tennessee Band Orchestra Association, the Tennessee Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education. In his spare time, Mr. Maness enjoys spending time with his wife and 3 pets, playing with his euphonium, and occasionally playing video games.