David Rafferty is an associate professor of practice and director of the music program at The American University in Cairo (AUC). He graduated from Mount Allison University with a BA in philosophy.

Rafferty developed a passion for music composition and pursued a Master of Music in advanced composition at the Royal College of Music (RCM) (2009–2010). While at RCM, he received the Cobbett and Hurlstone Prize for composition. He completed a PhD in music at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University (2013–2018), where he received a Graduate Excellence Fellowship.

During his time at McGill, he was an instructor in digital composition, advanced digital composition and video production. He also assisted his colleague George Massenburg, sound engineer, in developing and managing the Schulich School of Music video production area.

Rafferty studied composition with Jonathan Cole (RCM) and Brian Cherney (McGill) and audio/video production strategies with George Massenburg (McGill). He has worked in many mediums of music composition and is presently focused on the relationship between technology and music practices.