Meet our Directors
Bill Centera
High School Director
Bill Centera began his teaching career in 1983. During his career he has served as Director of Bands at Waxahachie High School, Newman Smith High School, Centennial High School, and most recently at the Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy in Grand Prairie, TX. Under his direction, the GPFAA Jazz Program has grown to over 80 students in 5 ensembles. Groups from GPFAA have performed and hosted various professional artists and ensembles, as well as sponsoring the GPFAA Jazz Invitational. Mr. Centera is highly active as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the state of Texas and abroad. Recently, he became the director of the Texins Jazz Band, a group of outstanding STEM-focused jazz musicians who perform regularly around the DFW Metroplex and abroad. Finally, Mr. Centera is also the owner of Music Adventures International which sponsors ‘The Sound of Texas’, a tour group of student choral and band musicians from the DFW area who perform a 16 day, 6 country musical tour of Europe every two years.
- His programs were consistent UIL Sweepstakes winners
- Marching Bands, under his direction, were consistent finalists at DFW regional festivals and advanced to the Texas State Marching three times
- The Newman Smith Trojan Band was named a Finalist
- The Centennial Titan Band won the bronze medal
- The Newman Smith Wind Symphony performed by Invitation at the Bands of America National Concert Festival and was named as a finalist in the TMEA Honor Band Competition
- Under Mr. Centera’s co-direction, the Newman Smith Symphony Orchestra was named a finalist in the TMEA Honor Orchestra competition
- The Centennial Wind Symphony was regarded as among the best in the state and placed record numbers of students in the TMEA All-Region and All-State Bands
- GPFAA Jazz Ensembles have been recognized in the TMEA All-Region and All-State Jazz Ensembles.
- GPFAA Jazz Ensemble 1 was the 3-time consecutive champion of the Plano Jazz Invitational and was slated to be the featured high school ensemble at the UTA Jazz Festival
Mark De Hertogh
Middle School Director
Mark De Hertogh, a native of Pascagoula, Mississippi, is an Associate Director of the Jazz Program and MS Jazz Coordinator at the Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy. Prior to GPFAA, Mark served in the same capacity at Plano Senior High School and Paschal High School. Mr. De Hertogh earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from The University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas. Mark served as a Graduate Teaching Fellow in Jazz Saxophone and Jazz Chamber Music as well as touring the U.S. and Europe as a member of the six-time GRAMMY-nominated UNT One O'Clock LabBand. In addition, Mark has performed with numerous artists and entertainers including: John Mosca, Denis DiBlasio, Lyle Mays, Wayne Bergeron, Tim Ries, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Darcy James Argue, Ravi Coltrane, Bob Curnow, George Colligan, Justin Stanton, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Mark's recordings include the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band's Lab 2010 and Lab 2011, The UNT Zebra's Flamenco Jazz Project (DownBeat Award Winner), and The Sax Chamber Orchestra's America Remembers. De Hertogh has twice presented clinics on jazz pedagogy and advocacy at TMEA and is the President of the Texas Jazz Educators Association. In addition to his teaching duties, Mark created the Plano Jazz Invitational which has become a premier jazz festival in North Texas.
- The Paschal Jazz Ensemble, under De Hertogh’s direction, performed by invitation at the prestigious 2015 Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, The Jazz Educators Network Conference as well as performing live on FOX 4’s Good Day program.