Bill Centera is in his 12th year at Newman Smith and his 27th year of music education. His bands are consistent UIL Sweepstakes recipients and have been recognized as Best-In-Class at numerous regional and national festivals. The NSHS Trojan Marching Band has been named a finalist at marching festivals across the DFW metroplex and has qualified for the Texas State Marching Band Contest. Newman Smith also hosts one of the largest marching festivals in North Texas, the Tournament of Champions, each fall attracting thousands of students and spectators.

The NSHS Wind Symphony, under his direction, has performed by invitation at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana and has been named a finalist in the Texas State 4A Honor Band competition. Jazz Ensembles under Mr. Centera's direction have won the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Christian University Jazz Festivals multiple times and been recognized in the Music & Arts National Jazz Competition. His jazz ensembles have also been featured on WFAA's 'Good Morning Texas' television show and performed by invitation at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.

Mr. Centera was named "Teacher of the Year" in at Waxahachie High School and received an honorary PTA Life Membership at Newman Smith. He currently serves as NSHS Fine Arts Department Head and also as President for TMEA/UIL Region 24. Mr. Centera was recently named as the Director of the Texas 'Lone Star' Ambassadors of Music which tours Europe with several hundred band and choir students from across North Texas every two years.

Mr. Centera received a Bachelors Degree in Music from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1983 and a Master of Secondary Education from the University of North Texas in 1991.

Robert Parks is in his 5th year as Percussion Director at Newman Smith High School. Mr. Parks received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Austin Peay State University where he studied percussion with David Steinquest. Mr. Parks is working towards the completion of a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Kentucky where he studied with Professor James Campbell and received a Master's Degree in Percussion Performance. In addition, Rob has studied various hand drumming techniques with members of the acclaimed Hands 'On Semble, Michael Spiro, and N. Scott Robinson.

Robert has been on the percussion faculty at the Bands of America Summer Symposium since the summer of 2001, served on the faculty of Yamaha Sounds of Summer Camps, and has taught and arranged for high schools throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, and abroad in Japan. He is also a founding member of the UK Percussion Quartet, which has performed throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana, including a performance at the first annual Bands of America National Percussion Ensemble Festival. During the summer of 1999 he was a member of the Canton Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps and has served as a percussion consultant for Southwind Drum & Bugle Corps.

Mr. Parks is a Yamaha Performing Artist and an endorser of Innovative Percussion and Evans Drum Heads. Please visit Mr. Parks' teacher website at www.smithpercussion.com

Andy Rein is beginning his second year at Newman Smith High School as the Associate Director of Bands. He is entering his 6th year in Music Education and his 3rd year in the state of Texas. Mr. Rein spent his first three years teaching in Tennessee at Harpeth High School and Harpeth Middle School in Kingston Springs. While at those schools, the program consistently received superior ratings at concert festival and finished as high as 2nd in the Tennessee AA State Marching Band Competition for three consecutive years. Mr. Rein received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he studied Bass Trombone with Susan K. Smith of the Nashville Symphony. He then received his Masters in Music Performance from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where his primary teacher was Charles Vernon, bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His other teachers have included Tom Matta, Floyd Cooley, and Ed Kleinhammer. Mr. Rein has been a professional bass trombonist in Chicago, Nashville and now Dallas. He was also a member of the 1995 and 1998 Colts Drum and Bugle Corps.