Jack Schantz
Trumpet
Jack Schantz was artistic director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra from 1994 to 2009. Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Akron, Jack has toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and Woody Herman. He also has worked in the pickup bands of Jimmy Dorsey, Larry Elgart and Guy Lombardo. Among shows he worked: "Miss Saigon," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Guys and Dolls," "Kiss of the Spider Woman," "The Color Purple" and "The Sound of Music." He also has performed with artists such as Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Cleo Laine, Jack Jones, Nancy Wilson and Diane Schuur. He has played trumpet and flugelhorn with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Band, and the Akron Symphony Orchestra. He led the Jack Schantz Jazz Unit in the ‘90s, and in 1993 recorded "Speechless" under the Jack Schantz Jazz Quartet name. He also contributed to the Paul Ferguson Jazz Orchestra’s "Big Band Christmas" album and to Dave Morgan’s "The Way of the Sly Man." Schantz earned a bachelor of arts degree in theory from the University of Akron as well as a master’s degree in trumpet.