Office Phone
(859) 986-7478
Marching Concert Gallery Boosters Pep Band Links Forms Home

Mr. David Ratliff is in his third year as the Director of Bands at Madison Southern High School and in his fourteenth year of teaching overall. Prior to coming to Madison Southern he held the position of Associate Director of Bands and the Director of Percussion Studies at Madison Central High School as well as Band Director with the Nelson County and Russell County school systems both also in Kentucky.

Mr. Ratliff, a native of Elkhorn City, Kentucky, received his Bachelor Degree in Music Education in 1994 and Masters of Music Education degree from University of Kentucky in 1998. While pursuing his Masters Degree, he served as a Teaching Assistant with the band department. In 2003 he received his Rank I in Music from Eastern Kentucky University.


Mr. Ratliff is in demand throughout the country as a percussion instructor, arranger, clinician, adjudicator and guest wind/percussion conductor. He has worked with numerous solo performers and middle school, high school and university level groups including State Marching Band Champions, Bands of America Marching Band Grand National Finalists, Winter Guard International Indoor Percussion World Finalists from around the country including Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. He has experience instructing and/or performing with the Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment and the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps. He was a member of the faculty of the Bands of America Summer Symposium's World Percussion Symposium held at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois every summer from 2003 through 2006, as well as having taught dozens of Yamaha Sounds of Summer marching percussion clinic/camps since 1992. He has also served as a marching percussion adjudicator with the Northern Ohio Indoor Percussion Circuit, the Tri-State Circuit and the Southern Color Guard Circuit Indoor Percussion Divisions. He presented a concert percussion clinic as part of the 2006 KMEA State In-Service Conference, a jazz drumming clinic as part of the 2007 KMEA State In-Service Conference and is scheduled to again present a concert percussion clinic as part of the 2009 KMEA State In-Service conference. Additionally, he has worked as a guest conductor for All District and All County bands and percussion ensembles throughout Kentucky.

Mr. Ratliff has served as the Secretary for the Kentucky Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society since 2001 and also the Webmaster from 2001 to 2007. He is also a member of the KY PAS All-State Committee. He served on the planning committee for the 2004 Percussive Arts Society International Convention held in Louisville. Currently, Mr. Ratliff is the KMEA District 7/11 President and a member of the Board of Directors of KMEA, has also served as the KMEA District 11 High School Band Chair and was selected as the 2003 KMEA District 11 Middle School Music Teacher of the Year. Additionally, he has served as the KMEA All-State Bands and Orchestra Percussion Coordinator since 2003. Mr. Ratliff was also the State Chairman for the National Band Association in 2007.  Most recently, he was a staff member of the Kentucky Ambassadors of Music on their 2008 summer European tour coaching the concert percussion section as well as a percussion ensemble on a tour that included travel and or performances in England, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy and Germany.

Groups under Mr. Ratliff's direction have consistently received Distinguished ratings at district, state and national levels. He has worked with 16 different State Finalist or State Champion Marching Bands from 3 different states as either an arranger or instructional staff/Director. Mr. Ratliff has conducted concert groups at the KMEA In-Service Conference three times including the Madison Central High School Symphonic Band in 2000, the Madison Central High School Percussion Ensemble in 2002 and the Madison Central High School Symphonic Band in 2003. He also conducted the Madison Middle Band to straight Superior ratings, Outstanding Percussion Section and Outstanding Soloist in the 2005 National Adjudicator's Invitational Concert Band Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. In the spring of 2006, he conducted the Madison Central High School Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble in the prestigious Bands of America National Concert Band and National Percussion Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mr. Ratliff has had an articles published in the Percussive Arts Society's international publication Percussive Notes as well as the Kentucky Music Educators Association's publication Bluegrass Music News. He has published study guides in the GIA music reference text series 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 both marching and concert percussion musical compositions as a member of the percussion arranging staff for Advantage Network of Chicago, IL, Marching Show Concepts of Ft. Wayne, IN, Superior Show Designs of Henderson, KY and Mt. Tabor Productions of Richmond, KY. He also had a musical composition published as part of the 2006 Yamaha Sounds of Summer instructional booklet. He is a Performing Artist/Clinician for the Yamaha Corporation of America, an Artist/Clinician for Innovative Percussion Drum Sticks and Mallets of Nashville, TN, an Artist/Clinician for Evans Drumheads of Farmingdale, New York and is also an Education Artist/Clinician for Tapspace Publications of Portland, Oregon. In 1998, 2004 and 2005, he was selected by a former student to the Who's Who Among America's Teachers. He is listed in the Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who Education, as well as in Who's Who Among Emerging Leaders.  In both 2004 and 2008, he was recommended separately by former students to be named as a Teacher Who Made a Difference by the University of Kentucky's College of Education. In 2006, he received a Citation of Excellence from the Percussive Arts Society. Professionally, Mr. Ratliff is a member of the Kentucky Music Educators Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the National Education Association, the National Band Association, Phi Beta Mu and the Percussive Arts Society.

Mr. Ratliff and his lovely wife Susan have two children, Holly who is 7 and Katie who is 4 years old. They reside in Richmond, where they are active members of the First United Methodist Church where he regularly performs in the Sunday morning Praise and Worship Band.

return to staff