For Jason Ladd, his career directing music is oftentimes very similar to the music itself: spontaneous and filled with seemingly random notes that somehow form a chord.

Ladd, now in his second year as the assistant director of instrumental music at Marquette, has followed an unusual career path. Among stops ranging from Florida to upstate New York, he has taught music to students aged from kindergarten to college.

Ladd earned a Master of Music degree in both tuba performance and music education from Syracuse University and a doctorate in philosophy in music education from Florida State University.

“Thinking back five years ago, 10 years ago, I didn’t have any idea that I’d be in this situation,” Ladd said. “That’s one of the amazing things about music. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Ladd directs orchestra and symphonic band at Marquette and is the co-director of the Marquette pep band with Erik Janners, who directs the wind and jazz ensembles. He said the ability to direct more than one type of ensemble attracted him to the job.

“The personalities are very different,” Ladd said. “The band is much more outgoing, whereas the orchestra is more reserved.”

Ladd also said he enjoys pep band because it isn’t as predictable as the other ensembles.

“I actually have a lot more immediate excitement for pep band,” he said. “So much of it is fed off of what the team is doing.”

Ladd said being able to help expand the music program to include a second concert band, among other things, has been his biggest accomplishment at Marquette.

“I’m only the second full-time (band director) hired by Marquette,” Ladd said.

He said he enjoys “being able to meet and to talk with incoming students, and building up the reputation of the music department.”

Janners, director of music at Marquette, agreed.

“Bringing Dr. Ladd aboard was a great benefit for the program,” Janners said. “His approachability and friendliness with students is really appreciated, and his musicianship has really benefitted the groups that he works with.”

Ladd said Marquette’s fledgling music program, which has grown to include a music minor since Janners was hired in 2007, is different from others he worked in because its ensembles are entirely made up of non-music majors. As a result, students are in many cases more enthusiastic about music, and their director shares the same passion.

“Dr. Ladd’s enthusiasm for teaching makes me want to go to band,” Lissie Crichton-Sapp, a junior in the College of Communication, said in an e-mail. “He always makes quirky analogies about music, and they’re somehow always related to food. I should start writing them down because they belong in quote books.”

Rumor has it that such a quote book has been created, but details of its size and contents are not yet known. Ladd said he uses analogies to try “to get people (thinking about) experiences that they’ve had in common.”

Ladd said the ability to work with students to achieve success is what drives him most as a director.

“The most important thing is the quality of the experience,” he said. “The people in the groups, and trying to get them to play the best music that they possibly can.”