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The Troopers are pleased to introduce our 2025 audio staff under the leadership of Caption Head, Justin Ratcliff.
"We’re excited to bring this team on board as they help to shape the musical program at the Troopers! Their hard work and dedication to their craft will translate to great things for the ensemble throughout the summer!"  -Mary Duerkop, Troopers Corps Director
Justin Ratcliff - Audio Caption Head
Mr. Ratcliff earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in 2007, National Board Certification in 2015, and a Master's in Educational Leadership at George Mason University in 2024, Mr. Ratcliff also completed course work in Curriculum and Instructional design at the University of Virginia.Â
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Mr. Ratcliff is the Director of bands at Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia and opened Rock Ridge HS in 2014. In 2022, Justin served as the interim caption supervisor for the audio team with the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps and as the Audio Caption head for the 2023 season. In 2024, Mr. Ratcliff served on the Audio team for Carolina Crown.
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Mr. Ratcliff is an active adjudicator, clinician, consultant, arranger, visual designer, program consultant/coordinator, music designer, and sound designer for high school and college programs across the United States. Mr. Ratcliff currently serves as the Virginia Band and Orchestra Association District 16 state marching representative and VBODA State Adjudicator. Mr. Ratcliff is a Member of VMEA, VBODA, and NAFME. Justin also served on the Virginia Music Educators Association conference planning committee for 17 years as the Exhibit Hall Business manager and coordinator.Â
Christian Good - Audio Consultant
Cristian Good is an educator, designer, consultant, and percussionist from northern Indiana. Cristian is a graduate of Goshen College earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music.
Throughout his time at Goshen College he was active in Symphonic Orchestra, Concert Band, Lavender Jazz, and Percussion Ensemble with additional appearances with the Maple City Chamber Orchestra. He has also assisted in several Brazilian drumming clinics and performances alongside Dr. Christopher Fashun.
Cristian has worked with a large variety of high school programs throughout northern Indiana as an arranger, educator, sound designer, and consultant in the marching arts. Many of the schools he has worked with have consistently earned spots in their respective finals both at the state and national level. He has also worked with various independent organizations throughout DCI and WGI such as Blue Knights, Carolina Crown, The Cavaliers, Madison Scouts, Troopers, and Veritas.
Cristian is a well known expert in the marching arts audio community. He has extensive knowledge of the audio concepts and techniques used in the marching arts at all levels. Cristian’s passion goes beyond the equipment and extends to the application, education, and responsibility about how to best incorporate it to enhance the core performance of the members of the ensemble. Cristian has presented several clinics for multiple organizations such as the Indiana Percussion Association as well as the Music for All Summer Symposium. Cristian resides in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with his wife and pets. He currently works as a sales engineer at Sweetwater Sound.
Tyler Hanson - Audio Consultant
Tyler is an audio engineer and percussionist based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Music Media from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2016. While attending ULL, he was a member of the Louisiana Stars Drum and Bugle Corps, having played snare in 2014 and drumset in 2015. He also played drumset for Voodoo Independent Percussion in 2013.
Tyler is currently an audio engineer for Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps. He is also a professional live sound and studio engineer, working freelance in the New Orleans area and around the country. Currently, he is the front-of-house engineer for The Iceman Special. He has also toured as a monitor engineer with Extreme and Jesse McCartney.
Branden Burris - Audio Team
Branden Burris is in his 10th year of teaching and is currently the Director of Bands for the Washington Community School Corporation. The Golden Pride Band program consists of 5th - 12th grades, and includes Music Exploration class, Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, Advanced Band, Symphonic Band, Golden Pride Marching Band, Washington Indoor Percussion, and Washington Winds. Under Branden, the Golden Pride has returned to Open Class competition, and was a 2024 Semi State Finalist for the first time in school history. Washington Winds has competed in Indiana Percussion Associations, Winds A division with multiple finishes in the Top 5 at State Finals, a three time WGI Winds Regional Finalist, and earned 12th place at WGI Winds A Class World Championships in 2024. Mr. Burris is a Conn Selmer V.I.P Educator, the recipient of the 2020 KRESA Excellence in Special Education Award, and a seven time honored educator by high school Distinguished Academic Scholars. Many of Branden’s former students are now music educators and professional musicians.Â
Mr. Burris received his degree from Western Michigan University. While at WMU he became a member of Phi Mu Alpha Fraternity, and studied saxophone under Trent Kynaston. Mr. Burris has performed and recorded pieces with the WMU Jazz Lab Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and WMU Bronco Marching Band, where he was the section leader, a solist, and drum major, basketball & hockey pep bands.Â
This will be Branden's first season with the Troopers, and is extremely honored to be a part of the audio team. He looks forward to supporting the corps as they continue to build upon the great legacy of the Troopers!
Zach Elgin - Audio Team
A percussionist from Ashburn, VA, Zach Elgin is proud to serve as Assistant Director of Bands and Percussion Director at Seymour High School. Zach is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, holding a bachelor’s degree in music education under the instruction of Dr. Andrew Bliss and Keith Brown. His responsibilities as assistant director include assisting the Marching Band and concert ensembles as well as leading the concert percussion ensemble and indoor percussion programs at Seymour High School.
Zach has performed with numerous ensembles since the start of his music career in 2014, including the Jersey Surf World Class Drum Corps (2016-17) and Music City Drum Corps (2019). Previously, he worked as the Percussion Director at Farragut High School in Knoxville, TN, while also assisting in a high capacity at Clinton High School and Oak Ridge High School as well as the Maryville City School System. He is excited to join the team at the Troopers for this summer!
Seth Lampert - Audio Team
The 2025 season marks Seth’s first year with the Troopers audio team. Previously, Seth taught The Cadets drumline from 2019-2023 and was a member of the quadline from 2016-2019. During his time at The Cadets, Seth performed under Colin McNutt and DCI Hall of Fame member Tom Aungst. Prior to his time at The Cadets, he spent his first season of drum corps (2014) playing cymbals and his second (2015) playing quads with The Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps.
Originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Seth discovered his passion for music at an early age and was given exposure to numerous performing opportunities. His early experiences led him to pursue a career in music.
Seth received his bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance in 2019 as well as a master’s degree in Music Education in 2021 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. As an active musician, he had the opportunity to teach, arrange, and perform with the UMass Percussion section, the UMass Marimba Bands/Ensembles and several other ensembles on and off campus. He served as a member of the marching band/percussion section leadership team for two years. To expand upon his classical training, he was chosen to perform at the McCormick Marimba Festival at the University of South Florida in 2019.
During grad school he served as teaching assistant of the marching band working closely with former Associate Director, Thom Hannum, and current Associate Director, Ian Hale. As teaching assistant, he had the privilege of working with the marching band’s percussion section, the Hoop/Ice Band, and the Marimba Bands/Ensembles. Prior to graduating in the spring of 2021, he took on the responsibility of coordinating and directing the UMass Marimba Band for the ’20-’21 school year.
Seth currently resides in Austin, TX. He is an active educator, percussion arranger, sound designer, and sound technician. He is currently the front ensemble arranger and sound designer for the 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. He previously served as Director of Percussion for the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in the Austin Independent School District and continues to serve as Assistant Director of Percussion for Glenn High School and Danielson Middle School in the Leander Independent School District. Seth is a proud member of the Vic Firth and Zildjian education teams.
Esme McDermott - Audio Team
Esme McDermott is currently a junior pursuing a B.S. in Audio Engineering and Sound Production at the Jacobs School of Music. In high school she fell in love with the marching arts and served two years as Drum Major for the Sumner High School Spartan Marching Band. At Indiana University she continued this love, marching incredible shows with the Marching Hundred. As a classical recording engineer she has worked with artists including Grammy-Award winning Pacifica Quartet, Indiana University's Chamber Orchestra, organist Janette Fishell, and composer Mike Post. Esme also works as a broadcast engineer for B1G+, mixing live broadcasts for everything from basketball to water polo. A lover of live music of all kinds, she can be found doing live sound work for IU's Opera & Ballet Department, local musical festivals such as Burning Couch, or a DIY house show. Her original sound design work can be heard on the stage of the University Players, including the 2024 production of The Laramie Project and 2025 production of Call Your Shot. She is thrilled to be joining the Troopers for the 2025 season!
Patrick O'Rourke - Audio Team
Patrick O'Rourke is a musician, educator, and composer from Northern Virginia, though he considers Cincinnati his home. Like many, he became involved in the marching arts at a young age, carrying that passion through higher education and into his professional life. He holds a degree in music education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he worked with and performed under the baton of some of the world's finest conductors and percussion educators. While he never marched in Drum Corps, he did spend one season with Rhythm X right out of high school.
Currently, Patrick serves as the Director of Percussion Studies at Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, VA. There, he founded and now directs a combined indoor drumline, bringing together students from two surrounding high schools. He began his career as an audio technician in the summer of 2023 with the Madison Scouts.
As a composer, his series of short rudimental percussion pieces have been performed by students across the country and around the world. He has a passion for the avant-garde, fancy pens, Reds baseball, and is internationally ranked in the sport of disc golf. Patrick believes that to create art, one must always use the highest quality tools and never save a good idea for later.
Jaelyn Sanvicente - Audio Team
Jaelyn is from Southern California and began her journey in Audio/Electronics in 2013 where she studied in Recording Arts.Â
She currently works for Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps, Broken City Percussion, and RCC Marching Band. Previously, she worked at the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps from 2022-2023.
Her marching arts performance background includes Blue Stars, Blue Knights, Mandarins, and RCC Indoor.
Whitney Farrior - Audio Intern
Whitney Farrior earned her bachelor's and master’s degrees in music education from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, completing them in 2010 and 2019, respectively. She currently instructs a range of music classes at Woodside High School in Newport News, VA, covering subjects such as music technology, theory, and piano. Since 2010, she has been a part of the marching band staff for the Woodside High School band program and is currently the assistant band director.
Learn more about the Troopers upcoming season
