Eric Ladish

Graduate Teaching Fellow
University of North Texas
Republic, MO

Eric Ladish is a dynamic composer, arranger, and trombonist born in Springfield, Missouri. As a composer, he seeks to inspire the full range of human emotion through the creation of new works, and as an arranger he seeks to give new life to innovate on preexisting music by applying jazz arranging skills and techniques to music from outside of the jazz canon. Eric is performs in, writes for, and is the creative director of Split Screen, a jazz fusion ensemble that performs new and innovative arrangements of music from video games. In 2024, Split Screen was a finalist for "Best Vocal Remix" in the VGM Con Game Remix Awards for their performance of "Live and Learn (from 'Sonic Adventure 2')" featuring Charles Ritz.

As a composer and arranger, Eric has had many works premiered by various ensembles throughout the US and Canada, including the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band, the UNT Jazz & Commercial Strings Ensemble, Missouri State University's Jazz Studies Ensembles, the Jazz'n Geek Orchestra, and various band programs in the US. In 2019, Eric won the award for "Best Electronic/Hybrid Remix" in the MAGFest Game Audio Network Guild Remix Competition for his jazz arrangement of “Secret of the Forest (from 'Chrono Trigger')." Acting as composer, performer, producer, and mixing/mastering engineer, Eric released his first original album, "Songs from in Between" in July 2024.

Eric is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Jazz Composition & Arranging at the University of North Texas, where he studies with Professor Rich DeRosa, Dr. Kimberly Teal, and Professor Alan Baylock. There, he currently directs the Seven O'Clock Lab Band and co-teaches courses in Jazz Arranging under Prof. DeRosa's guidance. Eric holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from Missouri State University, where he primarily studied with Professors Kyle Aho, Randy Hamm, Marty Morrison, and Dr. Jason Hausback. Eric also completed a minor in Music Composition at MSU, during which he studied with Drs. Michael F. Murray and John Prescott. While at MSU, Eric performed in the university's premier jazz ensembles, as well as the wind ensemble, various trombone ensembles, the marching band, and the symphony orchestra. Before pursuing his master's degree, Eric also worked as a part-time band instructor in Springfield.

In addition to his own projects, Eric frequently works for and collaborates with other artists and their projects. Previously, Eric has done arranging and transcription work for artists including Chad LB/Jazz Lesson Videos, Carlos "insaneintherainmusic" Eiene, Jazz'n Geek Productions, Daniel Jamieson, and re:TYE. Eric has also been heard as a performer with The Game Brass, Carlos Eiene, 8-bit & The Single Players, and Ruscel Torres' "Crash Course VGM Fusion Band." Eric has presented and performed at conventions and festivals such as the Music and Gaming Festival (National Harbor, MD), Video Game Music Convention (Minneapolis, MN), and the Missouri Music Educators Association (Osage Beach, MO).

Disclosure information not submitted.

Presentation(s):

• Split Screen

  Friday, January 9, 2026
  6:00 PM - 6:50 PM CST