Mr. David Santiago is a native of Columbia, South Carolina, where he graduated from Irmo High School in 1981. He received his Bachelor of Music Education in 1985 from the University of South Carolina in Columbia and received his Master of Music Education in 1986 from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Mr. Santiago is currently doing post-graduate work in order to complete his thirty hours above his Master’s Degree.
Mr. Santiago has served as Assistant Band Director for the Chapin School since 1986, demonstrating dedication and loyalty to his school and community. In 1991, Chapin Middle School was opened, and Mr. Santiago has served as Band Director for CMS for the past 27 years while still assisting with all facets of the entire band program, 6th-12th grades. Under Mr. Santiago’s direction, the CMS Bands have received consistently Superior ratings at Concert Festivals and Contests throughout the Southeast.
The CMS Bands have been awarded 29 consecutive “Outstanding Performance Awards” given annually by the South Carolina Band Director’s Association. The CMS band consistently places students in the SC All-State Band as well as Regional and District Honor Bands and has numerous students make Superior ratings at the SC Solo and Ensemble Festival every year. In his first year at Chapin, Mr. Santiago started the Chapin High School Jazz Band. Under his direction, the Jazz Band has received consistently Superior ratings at State, Regional, and National Jazz Festivals from 1986-2012.
Mr. Santiago is active as a clinician/adjudicator and has served as a guest clinician throughout the state of South Carolina. He also served as Director of Winds and Percussion for the Tri-District Arts Consortium for seven years. Mr. Santiago was awarded the American School Band Director’s Association’s “South Carolina Middle School Band Director of the Year Award” in 1997 and was also awarded the Chapin Middle School “Teacher of the Year” in 1993-94. He was awarded both the Citation of Excellence and the Outstanding Jazz Educator Award from the National Band Association in 2013. Mr. Santiago received the 2014 South Carolina Bandmaster of the Year Award given by the Phi Beta Mu national band fraternity and was inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame in 2018. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Mr. Santiago performs regularly as a professional trumpeter for special services and events throughout South Carolina.
Mr. Santiago has recently been appointed Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Band Director at Newberry College in Newberry, SC. He will serve as the director of the Scarlet Spirit Marching Band and assist with recruiting prospective students to Newbery College and the Music Department. He looks forward to this new opportunity and wants to continue to shape students through his passion for music and education.
Mr. Santiago currently holds MENC, NBA, SCMEA, SCBDA, IAJE, Phi Mu Alpha, and Phi Beta Mu National Band Fraternity memberships. Mr. Santiago served a three-year term (2006-2009) on the Board of Directors for the National Band Directors Association as one of four Middle School/Junior High School representatives on this prestigious Board.
Mr. Santiago lives in Chapin, South Carolina, with his wife Kimberly and their three children: Christian, Colin, and Nicole.