Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Nowlin is the 29th Director of the United States Marine Band. He serves as the music adviser to the White House and has led the band at presidential inaugurations, state dinners, state funerals and other events of national importance under four presidential administrations. Entrusted with command of one of the nation’s most visible and historically significant ensembles, LtCol Nowlin is proud to continue a tradition of musical excellence dating to the band’s founding by an Act of Congress in 1798.
Prior to being appointed to his current position in 2023, LtCol Nowlin was named Assistant Director in 2014 and Associate Director/Executive Officer in 2018. Since his commissioning, he has conducted the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra in their dynamic schedule of public concerts on some of the nation’s most prominent stages, on international trips to Japan and Europe and on the band’s annual national concert tour—an initiative begun under its 17th Director, John Philip Sousa.
LtCol Nowlin first joined “The President’s Own” in 2010 as staff arranger. His arrangements, transcriptions and compositions have been featured on numerous Marine Band recordings as well as at many White House events and other high-profile performances in collaboration with such artists as Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, and John Williams.
As a producer for over 20 Marine Band albums, to include each annual release since 2014, LtCol Nowlin has contributed to such projects as the band’s definitive recordings of “The Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa” and the Emmy award-winning program “New England Triptych,” in partnership with the All-Star Orchestra featuring the United States Marine Band, conducted by Gerard Schwarz.
Hailing from Cleveland, LtCol Nowlin earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Prior to joining the Marine Band, he spent 10 years as a music educator, an experience that continues to inform his deep respect for and advocacy of music education and its role in our lives and culture. His ongoing commitment to young musicians is reflected in his work as a composer, arranger, and coauthor of notable educational materials, as well as in his frequent appearances as a guest conductor and clinician across the country and internationally. In recognition of his achievements, Bowling Green State University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Music Education degree in 2024.
Bringing the excellence and traditions of the United States Marine Band to students, teachers, veterans and audiences around the nation is among his most rewarding experiences.