Dr. James Daughters

Conductor, Fillmore Wind Band

Dr. Jim Daughters is the Associate Director of Bands and Music Education Coordinator at Arkansas Tech University. Jim also serves as the conductor and artistic director of the Fillmore Wind Band, Cincinnati’s professional wind ensemble. Daughters was previously the music director and adjunct faculty of the Cincinnati Junior Youth Wind Ensemble at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, visiting professor and Director of Bands at Xavier University (OH), and he taught for fifteen years as a Director of Bands in the Henderson County, Boone County, and the Kenton County public schools in Kentucky. Dr. Daughters holds graduate degrees from the University of Kentucky and was a conducting student of Richard Clary and Cody Birdwell.

Ensembles under Dr. Daughters’ direction have been recognized regionally and nationally with invited performances to The Midwest Clinic, Music for All National Concert Band Festival, American Music Celebration at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, International Jazz Educators Network Conference, numerous Kentucky and Ohio Music Educators Association State Music Conferences, National Middle School Conferene, and the International Women’s Brass Conference. Dr. Daughters has twice been nominated and selected as a national semi-finalist for the GRAMMY® Awards National Music Educator of the Year, and he is a multiple recipient of the National Band Association Citation of Excellence. Daughters has received “Teacher of the Year” honors from the Kentucky Music Educators Association District 6 and Conner Middle School, and he was recognized twice as a Teacher Who Made a Difference by the University of Kentucky. Jim was inducted into the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels in 2005. He has been a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator with middle school, high school, and university bands, regional and state honor bands, and has presented clinics and demonstrations at The Midwest Clinic and several state music conferences. Dr. Daughters has published articles on band pedagogy and march performance practice in music journals, and he is currently a committee chair for the National Band Association Repertoire Committee. His discography includes several recorded albums with the Fillmore Wind Band that can be heard on Spotify and iTunes.

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 Reed Hashimoto and the Fillmore Wind Band at WindFest in Cincinnati Music Hall. Dr. Daughters’ has written and arranged music for some of the nation’s elite high school marching bands, with bands and show designs winning numerous circuit and state championships, in addition to medaling at Bands of America Regional and Grand National Championships.