Richard Kearns is an educator, designer, and choreographer for ensembles across the country. Most recently, Richard has served as the Percussion Director at Burleson Centennial High School in Burleson, Texas from 2015-2026, and is the newly appointed Percussion Director at Azle High School (TX). As both an educator and designer, Richard’s ensembles have earned numerous distinctions, including High Percussion captions at the Texas State Marching Contest, Texas UIL State Marching Band Finalist, NTCA and TCGC Class Championships, WGI A, Open, and World Class Finalist placements, and four WGI World Championship Gold Medals.

Under his leadership, the Burleson Centennial Percussion Program established itself as one of the premier World Class ensembles in the nation, earning multiple Top 5 World Class Finalist appearances at the WGI World Championships and capturing the 2017 WGI Percussion Scholastic Open World Championship.

Prior to his time at Centennial, Richard served as the Percussion Director at Azle High School (TX), where his ensembles earned multiple NTCA and TCGC Circuit Championships, as well as multiple successful appearances at the WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio.

From 2008 to 2011, Richard served as the Percussion Director at Palestine High School as well as the Battery Coordinator at Tyler Junior College. During this time, his instructional contributions helped lead the Tyler Junior College Indoor Drumline to the 2008 WGI Percussion Independent Open World Championship, promotion to WGI World Class, and consecutive finalist appearances at the WGI World Championships.

Richard serves on the WGI Advisory Board, as well as the NTCA (North Texas Colorguard Association) Executive Board, and was the 2026 Inductee to the NTCA Hall of Fame. Richard was selected by WGI in 2019 as one of the top designers from around the world to be part of WGI's 1on1 consultation program, and has been featured in WGI’s educational webinar series to assist groups in developing their programs and productions. 

Richard currently resides in Burleson, Texas with his wife Stacie and Daughters Sam & Lennon. He is a proud endorser of Innovative Percussion, Pearl/Adams, Remo Drumheads, and Zildjian Cymbals.