For years, Ashland University has offered students several options for music performance, including the Symphonic Band, Jazz Orchestra and Marching Band. These groups are an important part of both sporting events and the overall Ashland community.

When band director Joseph Lewis, Jr. stepped down from the role after last school year, a new band director, Slade Denman, took his place in directing dozens of students across multiple bands this school year.

Denman’s journey to AU is varied. “I’m from Zanesville, Ohio, and I went to school in Athens at Ohio University,” he said. “Then I went to school in Texas a little bit for two years, and then I taught there in Texas and in Kentucky the last three years, and now I’ve made my way much closer to home and family and the culture I love,” he said, highlighting his journey across multiple states before ultimately coming back to Ohio.

Denman plays piano and saxophone himself; additionally, he leads a summer adult ensemble in Kentucky and the Appalachia region.

“Think kind of, you know, Ashland Symphony Orchestra, but in the band style and in Kentucky instead of here,” he said.

He was drawn to come to Ashland University because of the positive he has heard about the university. He also likes the small-town feel, while having access to resources many similar sized towns might not have.

“For such a, on paper, being a small school, small town, it definitely doesn’t feel that way. It’s a very bustling community,” Denman said. “For example, the facilities we have here are great. The fact that we have our own art center is awesome, and the stage here is great,” he continued, highlighting the positive features of Ashland University that drew him here.

Slade Denman hopes to increase the number of students involved in bands on campus as he starts his tenure as band director.

“For me, my main goal is recruitment and to build the program numbers wise,” he said. “When I taught high school, I had 120, 130 in that group and it was also a small high school,

so I know what it takes to have big numbers at a small university, and I hope to be able to instill some of that experience here.”

Denman also wants to bring new music-related events to campus.

“A lot of schools nearby, I’m thinking especially OSU and BG, do some music camps in the summer,” he said. “Something like that, so Honor Band-esque, or maybe, you know, sort of like a piano camp or a double reeds camp or just a music festival where it’s both the vocal and band and orchestra affiliated would be something that’s nice that I think there’s a desire for, that we could incorporate on campus.”

Denman also wants to reach out to middle and high schoolers to get involved in the Ashland University band.

To find out more about the Ashland University bands, visit https://www.ashland.edu/ashland-university-bands. For more information about events and organizations on campus, visit Engage Ashland.