Ryan Kelly

Ryan Kelly is associate dean for academic affairs and student success and associate professor of music in bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

A wind conductor, Kelly was previously associate director of the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin, where he also served as associate director of bands and associate professor of practice in conducting. Prior to joining the Butler faculty, he was associate director of bands and director of athletic bands at the University of Central Florida, where he served as director of the Marching Knights, conducted the Symphonic Band, and taught courses in music education.

As an arranger, he has collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts and Grammy-nominated composer Adam Schoenberg to transcribe, premiere, and publish their music for wind ensemble.

Kelly conducts all-state and regional honor bands throughout the United States, and during the summers, he teaches on the faculty of the World Youth Wind Orchestra Project as part of the Mid-Europe Festival in Schladming, Austria.

As a researcher and author, he has published articles in Research Perspectives in Music Education, Florida Music Director, and Southwestern Musician. He has presented at the state music conferences of Texas, Florida, and Ohio, the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Biennial National Conference, and the CBDNA Athletic Band Symposium.

Hailing from northern Virginia, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from Florida State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from The University of Texas at Austin. Before teaching at the university level, he was a high school band director in Lakeland and Tallahassee, Florida.

Kelly previously served as chair of the Social Media Committee for the CBDNA, secretary for the Big 12 Band Directors Association, and a member of the board of directors for the Florida Music Educators Association.