Justin Daly

Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, Assistant Director of Athletic Bands

M.A., University of Connecticut
B.A., University of Connecticut
B.S., University of Connecticut

Justin Daly, originally from Newington, CT, is the Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Connecticut. In this role, Mr. Daly
assists with all facets of the UConn Athletic Band program, including the “Pride of Connecticut”
UConn Marching Band and the university’s basketball and hockey pep bands. His
responsibilities include supporting rehearsals, performances, game-day operations, student
leadership development, as well as the broader instructional and administrative work of the
UConn Band program.

Prior to his appointment at UConn, Mr. Daly served as Director of Bands at East Lyme
High School in East Lyme, CT. At East Lyme, he provided administrative and instructional
leadership for a comprehensive secondary band program, oversaw curricular and co-curricular
ensembles, coordinated staff and clinicians, mentored student leaders, and worked to expand
student access to music through diverse course offerings.

Mr. Daly has more than 15 years of experience in the marching arts and drum corps as a
performer, educator, consultant, and adjudicator. He was a five-year member of the UConn
Band program, serving as trumpet section leader, drum major, director intern, and spending
multiple summers working in the UConn Band Office. He performed as a lead trumpet player
and flugelhorn soloist with the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps in 2019, as well as performing
with the Bluecoats 50th Anniversary Alumni Corps in 2022. From 2022 to 2025, he was on the
brass staff of the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps of Sacramento, CA, contributing to a period
of historic growth and competitive success for the organization’s brass program. He has also
served as an instructional staff member or consultant for the 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle
Corps, the Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps, and the Connecticut Hurricanes Drum
and Bugle Corps. Additionally, he serves as a music adjudicator for US Bands/BD Performing
Arts.

Mr. Daly is active as a teacher-scholar, clinician, and presenter. He has been invited to
teach, lecture, and present at colleges and universities, conferences, clinics, and professional
development opportunities across New England and online. His professional interests include
equity in music education, instrumental music education, marching arts education, popular
music education, competition and collaboration, student and teacher self-efficacy, and advocacy
and policy in arts education.

Mr. Daly holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education, a Bachelor of Arts in Music,
and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Music Education from UConn.
He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Music Education at Boston University. He has
studied trumpet with Dr. Louis Hanzlik, Derek Gipson, Ricardo Brown, Andrew Sorg, and
Kenneth Bell. His instrumental conducting teachers include Harvey Felder and Dr. Vu Nguyen.
He has further developed his conducting through participation in wind band conducting
symposia and workshops throughout the United States, working with nationally recognized
conductors. Mr. Daly received the 2023 Outstanding Emerging Music Educator Award from the
Connecticut Music Educators Association and the 2024 Outstanding Potential Award from the
Connecticut Chapter of the American School Band Directors Association.