David Kehler serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the Kennesaw State University Bobbie Bailey School of Music where he is Music Director and Conductor of the KSU Wind Ensemble. In addition, he supervises and guides all aspects of the KSU Band program, which now enrolls over 700 students. Dr. Kehler also teaches courses in instrumental conducting, symphonic repertoire, and twentieth century music. Professor Kehler is the recipient of several awards including the Kennesaw State University College of Arts 2020 Teaching Award, and the 2021 Research and Creative Activity Award and the 2024 Service Award. An advocate of new music, Dr. Kehler has commissioned more than two-dozen composers, including several Pulitzer Prize winners to write new compositions for wind ensemble.
Along with his university responsibilities, David Kehler serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Wind Symphony, a position he has held since 2017. Under his leadership, the AWS is now considered one of the top adult bands in the United States today and has been a featured ensemble at the 2020 and 2025 Georgia Music Educators Conference, and the 2021 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. In addition, the Atlanta Wind Symphony can be heard online as the reference recordings for several composer’s new music, including Tyler S. Grant.
Previously, David Kehler served as Associate Conductor of the Dallas Winds and served as Founder and Conductor of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony. Previous academic appointments were at Southern Methodist University, the University of Rhode Island, and Bay City Western High School, in Bay City, Michigan. Growing up in Michigan, Dr. Kehler received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Conducting degrees from Michigan State University, followed by his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Texas at Austin.