Dr. James Daughters

Dr. Jim Daughters is the Director of Bands at Southeast Missouri State University and serves as the conductor and artistic director of the Cincinnati Wind Band, the city’s professional wind ensemble. Jim’s primary responsibilities at Southeast Missouri State University include the direction and administration of the university band program and teaching courses in instrumental conducting and instrumental music education. Prior to his appointment at SEMO, he was the Associate Director of Bands and Music Education Coordinator at Arkansas Tech University. Jim has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and he enjoyed a successful 15-year career as a band director in Kentucky. Daughters holds graduate degrees from the University of Kentucky where he was a student of Richard Clary, Cody Birdwell, and George Boulden.

Ensembles under Daughters’ direction have been recognized with invited performances to The Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Music for All National Concert Band Festival, American Music Celebration at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Jazz Educators Network Conference, National Middle School Conference, International Women’s Brass Conference, Missouri Music Educators Association Conference, Kentucky Music Educators Association Conferences, Ohio Music Education Association Professional Development Conferences, and invited exhibition performances at Bands of America Marching Band Super Regionals in Indianapolis and St. Louis. 

Daughters has been a quarterfinalist for the GRAMMY® Awards National Music Educator of the Year, and he is a three-time recipient of the National Band Association Citation of Excellence. Jim has received Teacher of the Year honors from the Kentucky Music Educators Association, Conner Middle School, and he was twice recognized as a Teacher Who Made a Difference by the University of Kentucky. In 2024, Jim received the Provost Award from Southeast Missouri State University for Teaching Excellence and Student Recruiting. He was selected as a 2024 Southeast Missouri “Difference Maker” by B Magazine and the Southeast Missourian Newspaper. While at Arkansas Tech, Daughters was the first faculty member featured on the Human Core virtual series, and he received the ATU Human Resources Service Award in 2020. In 2005, Jim was inducted into the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, the highest honor bestowed by the Governor of Kentucky to a private citizen. He is also an elected member of Phi Beta Mu, the International Bandmasters’ Fraternity, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, Theta Epsilon chapter.

Daughters has served as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States and Europe. He has presented clinic sessions at The Midwest Clinic, several state music conferences, and was a member of the Conductor’s Lab in Aix en Provence, France, where he collaborated and conducted ensembles with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. Daughters has been a committee chair of the National Band Association Repertoire Committee, and he has commissioned over 30 new works for wind band, with two new pieces scheduled to premiere in June 2025 with the Cincinnati Wind Band in Carnegie Hall. His research interests include march performance practice, young band pedagogy and practice, and student leadership. Jim’s research on march performance practice has been published and presented at The Midwest Clinic.

Jim’s 275+ arrangements and transcriptions have been performed by a variety of artists and ensembles, including performances by world-renowned trumpeter, Arturo Sandoval. In 2019, Daughters transcribed the landmark timpani solo, Planet Damnation, by award-winning composer, John Psathas. The piece was given its premiere by Kae Hashimoto Reed and the Cincinnati Wind Band at WindFest in Cincinnati Music Hall. Daughters has written and arranged music for some of the nation’s elite high school marching bands, with bands and show designs winning several circuit and state championships, in addition to medaling at Bands of America Regional and Grand National Championships. Jim was also the head clinician for the Kentucky Band Camp (drum major and leadership academy for high school students) for eight years, and he served as a Drum Major of the University of Kentucky “Wildcat” Marching Band from 1997-1999.