Higher Education News

Ashland University Winter Update

Dr. Rowland Blackley

ASHLAND UNIVERSITY is pleased to share news of faculty appointments for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Jazz legend Jack Schantz has joined the Ashland University faculty as Director of the AU Jazz Orchestra. He was Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at the University of Akron School of Music for twenty years and taught trumpet at area universities prior to that. He has played in the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra since 1988 and served as its Artistic Director from 1993 to 2009. The Founder and Leader of the Jazz Unit (starting in 1976), Jack has also played in the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and as a free-lance trumpeter in Playhouse Square pit orchestras since 1999. He played with the Blossom Festival Band and has held positions with the Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras, as well as the Woody Herman Thundering Herd. Jack’s career has also taken him to Germany, Brazil, Morocco, and throughout the United States. Ashland University is excited to have him leading our big band.

Professor Slade Presley Denman is Ashland’s new Director of Bands, conducting the Symphonic, Marching, Community and Pep Bands. He brings a wealth of experience in music education, performance, and conducting. Prior to his appointment at AU, he served as Director of Bands at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky, where he directed the Concert Band, Marching Band, Rock Band, and Jazz Band. Earlier, Denman served as Professor of Instrumental Studies at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth and Director of Bands at Allen East Local Schools in Harrod, Ohio. He is the Founder, Artistic Director, and Conductor of the Mountain Arts Center Wind Orchestra.

Professor Denman is currently completing his DMA in Wind Conducting at the University of North Texas, having studied conducting under Eugene Corporon. While at UNT, he taught conducting, led the Concert and University Bands, and worked with the Marching and Pep Bands. Denman earned his Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from Ohio University. An accomplished conductor, pianist, and saxophonist, Denman is a sought-after clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor. He holds professional affiliations with the CBDNA, NAfME, International Conductors Guild, and the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic.

Dr. Elisabeth Roberts joins Ashland University as Assistant Professor of Music, teaching in the areas of music history, theory, aural skills, and music appreciation. A graduate of Belhaven University, she has two Master’s degrees from the University of Missouri (Composition and Musicology) and a Ph.D. in Musicology with a collaborative specialization in music cognition from Western Ontario University. While at Western she taught several music history and theory courses and was a research assistant for her advisor, Jonathan DeSouza. Roberts is an accomplished pianist and a composer, but also brings to Ashland an impressive scholarly portfolio. Her research areas include: Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memory, Popular Music, Music Technology, and American Music. Dr. Roberts also has a heart for making musical events that “bring community and colleagues together in surprising ways.” She holds membership in the Society for Music Perception and Cognition and the American Musicological Society.

Dr. Rowland Blackley
Chair, Music and Theatre Departments, Director, Choral Activities, Professor of Music

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