At the age of sixteen his reputation as an accordionist had grown so much he was receiving many offers to join tours with stage bands, which he declined due to his continuing musical studies.
In the 1940s, he was the leader of a successful trio with guitarist Tony Mottola and organist George Wright, and played regularly on NBC radio broadcasts.
[1] At the peak of his career, he played 30 live radio broadcasts (including The Jack Berch Show[3]) and eight studio sessions each week.
[4] Magnante wrote method books for accordion players and numerous arrangements of contemporary popular standards, schlagers and classical pieces.
His arrangements and compositions stretch across a number of musical genres, including easy listening, jazz and boogie-woogie, and light classical pieces.