David Ratliff is in demand throughout the United States and Europe as a percussion instructor, arranger, clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor. He has retired from a 30-year band directing career in central Kentucky. Additionally, Mr. Ratliff serves as the KMEA All-State Bands and Orchestra Percussion Coordinator. He is proud to have help create the formation of the KMEA All State Percussion Ensemble, one of the first officially MEA sanctioned high school All State Percussion Ensembles in the United States.
Mr. Ratliff is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. He received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education (1994) and his Master of Music Degree (1998) while studying with James B. Campbell. He also holds a Rank I Certification in Music from Eastern Kentucky University (2003) where he studied with Dr. Joe Allison.
Mr. Ratliff was a member of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps (front ensemble) and The Cavaliers (both front ensemble and batterie) and the percussion staff of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. He has been a member of the faculty of the Bands of America Summer Symposium and numerous Yamaha Sounds of Summer clinic/camps. He has also presented or assisted clinics as part of numerous KMEA State In-Service Conferences and at the MidWest Band and Orchestra Clinic.
Mr. Ratliff is published in the Percussive Arts Society’s international publication Percussive Notes, the KMEA publication Bluegrass Music News, as well as The Instrumentalist. He has published study guides in Teaching Music through Performance in Band, Volume V and Volume VI, as well as Teaching Music through Performance in Beginning Band, Volume II. He has published musical compositions and arrangements with Advantage Network, Marching Show Concepts, multiple books through Tapspace Publications and as part of the 2006 Yamaha Sounds of Summer instructional booklet.
Mr. Ratliff is a proud clinician for the Yamaha Corporation of America, Innovative Percussion Drum Sticks and Mallets, and Evans Drumheads. Professionally, Mr. Ratliff is a member of the Kentucky Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, Phi Beta Mu, the American Society of Composers, Authors and publishers (ASCAP) and the Percussive Arts Society.