The House Brand Woodwind Ensemble performed three sets of concerts between March and June, 1981. The original group consisted of Univac employees Joe Stefani and Dick Peik, clarinets, Glen Newton, French horn, and Kate Saumur, bassoon. For the next pair of concerts, Cyndi Stenehjem, flute and piccolo, and Jan Peterson, bass clarinet, replaced Kate. Glen doubled on guitar.
Glen Newton, the group's leader, commented on the ensemble's fourth set of public appearances, November 25 and December 14, 1981:
The first concert with the reconstituted HBWE also included Marv Root, a classical guitarist. Carol Martin announced and Ron Middlestadt recorded us again. This concert included several woodwind quintets, as well as Corelli trios played by Marv, Don, and Joe. My contributions were an arrangement of Fauré's "Pavane" and another humorous piece, this time under the pseudonym "Manny Others".
I arranged "Pavane" for two guitars, flute, two clarinets, and bass clarinet, based on a flute and guitar arrangement Cyndi and I had read through earlier.
"Minnesota — State of the Art" was a conglomeration of the Blue Danube Waltz (with the echo parts a half step higher than the melody), Minnesota Rouser, the St. Paul Waltz, and some musical clichés, arranged for guitar, piccolo, horn, two clarinets, and bass clarinet.
We were invited to perform again at the Shepard Road cafeteria, and on December 14th we played the same program as we had in Roseville. We rode from one plant to the other in a Univac mini-van, as we had done the previous time.
Introducing the original composition on the program, Glen noted that Manny Others was probably a name familiar to the audience, who may have seen advertisements of concerts featuring music by, for example, Bach, Chopin, and many others. As one would expect, the joke drew faint chuckles from a few of the audience members. The November 25, 1981, program notes included Glen's faux biography of Manny Others:
Mannheim Lars ("Manny") Others (hatched 1492) achieved a measure of local repute by practicing organic gandening in his Minneapolis apartment. Turning to musical composition as a means of self-expression after his eviction, he quickly became known for his lack of originality. While his compositions, such as Minnesota — State of the Art, have no redeeming social value, it is appropriate to play one at this time, for American tradition calls for a Thanksgiving turkey—a description fitting both Manny and this piece.