Biography

 

Cody Ortz is a conductor, composer, trumpet player, music educator, and the founder of Silverling Music Company. For more than a decade, his career has spanned public-school and collegiate teaching, professional performance, conducting, composition, orchestration, music production, and publishing. Cody graduated summa cum laude from Westminster College, where he studied composition, trumpet performance, and conducting. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Chichester in the United Kingdom, focusing on composition and orchestration for film, television, and other media.

As an educator, Cody has taught musicians at the secondary and collegiate levels in subjects ranging from beginning instrumental music and ensemble performance to conducting, composition, orchestration, and music technology. He currently serves as Director of Bands at Geneva College, where he directs the marching, symphonic, and jazz bands and teaches courses in instrumental and elementary music education. Cody has conducted ensembles throughout the United States and abroad, including the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, the Legacy Scoring Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Recife, the Westminster Wind Ensemble, the Quaker City Band, the South Western Symphony Orchestra, and the Youngstown Brass Ensemble. As a trumpet player, he has performed with professional and honors ensembles across the United States, including the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, where he appeared as a featured performer; the Youngstown, Wheeling, and Greenville Symphony Orchestras; and numerous jazz and chamber ensembles. He has served as Principal Trumpet of both the CBDNA and PMEA Intercollegiate Bands, appeared as a recording artist on commercial albums, and received recognition in numerous solo competitions.

In 2017, Cody founded Silverling Music Company, a music-production and publishing company serving composers, filmmakers, performers, educators, churches, and creative organizations around the world. Through Silverling, he oversees a wide range of work, including composition, orchestration, arranging, engraving, score preparation, mockup production, recording, mixing, mastering, printing, and publication. 

Cody is a baptized Christian who understands music as a gift from God and believes that artistic excellence carries both responsibility and purpose. His faith shapes his work as a teacher, musician, and creator, reinforcing the conviction that music should communicate truthfully, serve others meaningfully, and reflect both discipline and care. Whether working with a beginning student, conducting an ensemble, preparing a professional score, or developing a new educational resource, he approaches the work with the same expectation: learn carefully, work honestly, and refuse to settle for less than one's best.

Education

• Westminster College (B.M. Music Education)
• University of Chichester, U.K. (M.F.A. Composition & Orchestration)

Disciplines/Field of Instruction

• Music Education, Instrumental Music, Music Composition

Courses Taught

• MUS 350 - Elementary School Music

• MUS 351 - Secondary School Music

• MUA 153 - Class Percussion 

• MUA 154 - Class Strings 

• MUA 155 - Class Brass

• MUA 157 - Class Woodwinds 

• MUS 335 - Advanced Instrumental Conducting

• MUS 212 - Marching Band

• MUS 213 - Symphonic Band

• MUS 214 - Jazz Band

• MUS 121 - Applied Composition Lessons

Publications/Presentations

Music Publications:

• Masks and Mayhem, 2026
• Valhalla Awaits, 2025
• Skallelujah, 2025
• Help Me Find My Way, 2024
• Concert March For Orchestra, August 2024
• March And Reverie, August 2024
• Do Not Be Afraid, August 2024
• The Deception Of Elysium, June 2024
• Canto De Macario, May 2024
• Piet, March 2024
• Reflections, March 2024
• The Valley Of Shadows, April 2023
• Within A Dream, September 2022, 2025
• "Flower Duet" From Lakme, December 2021
• ...and streetlights will fade, December 2021
• Children's March, December 2021
• Der Wechselbalg, December 2021
• Elegy For Six Clarinets, December 2021
• Mystique, December 2021
• Remnants Of Things Forgotten, December 2021
• Resurgence, December 2021
• Chateau de Sable, December 2021

Presentations/Sermons

• "The Edge of the Word" Podcast, Season 1, 2026
• The Guild Method for Band ^TM 2026
• "Sounding the Myth: Music, Folklore, and the Vampire" 2025
• “As Christ Loved,” (Ephesians 5:25) – Williamsport Chapel, November 2024
• “The Young Composer,” – South Western High School, 2022
• “The Teaching Professional Musician,” – Westminster College, 2018

Current Projects

Music Publications/Releases:

• Valhalla Awaits - Concert Band Consortium, Composer
• The Throne of Ao - Cinematic Audiobook, Composer
• H.M.F.M.W. (“Help Me Find My Way”) – Original Album Release, Composer/Producer 

Presentations/Sermons:

• “In Good Faith: Seeking the Lord with all your heart,” – Williamsport Chapel, 2025

Affiliations

• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) 

• PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) 

• SCI (The Society of Composers, Inc.) 

• Mu Phi Epsilon

• The International Composers Network

• Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers

• Silverling Music Company, LLC (owner)