Arthur Winer performs alongside his students in band
By Khalil Reed, September 29, 2026
For most college students, graduating means leaving their professors behind. For some of Arthur Winer’s students, it meant joining his band.
Winer, a music professor and director of Cal Poly Pomona’s Songwriter Showcase, originally started his band MacArthur in New York with some friends before relocating to Southern California in 2005 when he took a teaching position at CPP. The band features several former CPP students who have performed with the group over the years.
“I know them from the Songwriter Showcase, some for years and from other classes,” Winer said. “I told them, ‘Let’s go, let’s go play.’”
The Songwriter Showcase began as a single concert each year featuring students performing their original songs. Winer later expanded the ensemble, which has grown into the largest ensemble in the CPP music department.
Several Showcase musicians have also gone on to perform with MacArthur including current members and music industry studies students Andrea Herrera, Roger Mantero, Brent Mazon and Mark Davidson.
The band is now in its third or fourth lineup since its start, according to Winer, with members cycling in and out over the years as graduated students become occupied with other obligations. The group went on an extended hiatus after performing in 2014 with a different lineup before reforming three years ago.
“There’s no intrigue involved around former band members leaving,” Winer said. “We were just all very busy and stopped performing. It takes a lot of effort and coordination to keep a band going.”
For Winer, MacArthur is less about fitting into a specific genre or building a career around the band and more about having a reason to make music.
He explained that the band is not intended to be a major source of income and there is no mercenary scenario about it. The goal is more so to have fun and be good artistically.
“If I was in it to make money, I’d form a wedding band or something,” Winer said. “Those guys work every weekend, but they’re not playing their own music. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I want out of this.”
That approach ultimately shaped how Winer views the band’s success. He said he is happy when he likes the songs, enjoys playing with his friends and sees people responding to the music.
One of the band’s recent accomplishments was in December 2025 when Winer introduced a new Creative Projects class centered around producing a music video for MacArthur’s single “The Lethal Like Like.” The class gave students academic credit to help plan and shoot the video.
The group spent about a month planning the project before filming it in one long day in the music recital hall. Winer later edited the video over the summer and posted it to YouTube, where it has received more than 17,000 views.
“I just remember laughing the whole time,” Winer said. “There was skit in the middle of the song where Andrea and Brent are meeting at a party and Brent’s hitting on her and she shuts him down. There was also a scene where we’re all lying around like we’re dead playing instruments. It was very fun.”
Music industry studies student and MacArthur guitarist Roger Mantero took multiple classes with Winer and got to know him during his time at CPP. Winer also helped Mantero register for classes during his first semester.
Even so, Mantero said being asked to join the band caught him off guard.
“It feels a little weird being in a band with my professor,” Mantero said. “There were a lot of amazing guitarists in the ensemble, and I was like, ‘Why me?’ I was pretty surprised, but very honored.”
Those relationships have continued outside CPP, with the band regularly performing around the Pomona area.
MacArthur played a set at DBA256, a free admission music venue and bar in downtown Pomona Sept. 18. They were part of a lineup featuring other local rock bands and Winer’s former student Ali Aldridge, performing under the stage name, Ali Michae.
“We’ve played at DBA so many times, I feel like it’s a residency,” Mantero said. “I love the people, I love the community and I appreciate the music. We all back each other up, we’re all friends.”
Winer also performed with Aldridge that night, backing her on guitar and vocals. She later returned to sing backup vocals with MacArthur, playing a mix of covers and original work, including a rendition of Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time.”
Winer invited Aldridge since he knew her from the ensemble and took it as another opportunity to have her own set and play different types of music.
“I love playing with those guys,” Aldridge said. “There is usually a professional level when you’re in classes and everything, but it really just feels like any other band.”
MacArthur is scheduled to perform again Oct. 15 at CPP alongside Kelly Jones, a former CPP faculty member and songwriter. The performance is part of a benefit supporting student scholarships and the Songwriter’s Showcase Ensemble, with the first 50 students receiving free admission.
“I’m trying to have this be a fulfilling experience,” Winer said. “That means artistically, but it also means building a community and finding enjoyment from performing and not sitting behind my computer all day.”