B.S., Concordia College; M.M., Kent State University; D.M.A., University of Colorado

Rowland Blackley is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Ashland University, where he conducts the University Choir, Chamber Singers, and Ashland Area Chorus. He supervises all aspects of the choral program and teaches in the areas of conducting and music education. He co-directs the opera workshop and has served as conductor and music director for several AU theatrical productions. He is in his fourth year as director of the Troubadours, an all-boys ensemble affiliated with the Ashland Symphonic Youth Chorus.

Prior to his appointment at Ashland University, Dr. Blackley served as Director of Choral Activities at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. He has also taught at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Kent State University, and high schools in Ohio and Colorado, and has led choirs on several domestic and international tours. His teaching experience includes music at all levels, from elementary school through graduate students.

A graduate of Concordia College, New York, Blackley received his Master of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Kent State University and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the Literature and Performance of Choral Music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. An accomplished organist, he currently serves St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Ashland, Ohio. He is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists and former Dean of the North-Central Ohio chapter. Dr. Blackley is a seasoned clinician (vocal and church music) and adjudicator (vocal, choral, piano), and his choral compositions are published by Southern Music Company. He resides in Ashland with his wife and two children.

rblackle@ashland.edu