Directors

Benjamin Gerrard was recently appointed as Director of Bands at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. He completed his Master of Music degree from Baylor University, studying conducting with Dr. J. Eric Wilson. While at Baylor, he played with the Wind Ensemble, including performances at the Southwest Regional CBDNA and Midwest Clinic. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Florida State University, where he performed with the Marching Chiefs, Symphonic Band, and University Philharmonia. Before his studies at Baylor, Mr. Gerrard was the Director of Bands at Merritt Island High School in Brevard County, FL from 2014 to 2021. He is an FMEA Emerging Leader and was on the Brevard County Public Schools Music Leadership Team.

Don Zentz joined Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in 2015. He is the Director of Jazz Studies and serves on the instrumental music faculty. He has held music professorships at the University of North Florida, Valdosta State University, and Florida Community College at Jacksonville. His programs have earned superior ratings and championship recognition in all areas of band media – concert, marching and jazz. Don is very much in demand as a player, adjudicator, and clinician in both traditional and jazz idioms. He was a per service saxophonist with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for over twenty years and works many of the off-Broadway shows that travel into Florida. He has performed in concert with notables that include Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, The New York Voices, Natalie Cole, Nancy Wilson, Doc Severinsen, The Manhattan Transfer, and Diane Schuur.

Dr. Kenneth Williams, a native of Florida, is a member of the Music faculty of the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville, Florida, where he teaches conducting and literature, music theory, and is a co-conductor of the DA Symphonic Band. He holds a BA in music education and an MA in conducting from the University of South Florida and a Ph.D. in music education from the Florida State University. Dr. Williams is in his 48th year as a teacher of music, and he has conducted bands and orchestras at the middle school, high school, university, and professional levels. Dr. Williams is a past president of the Florida School Music Association (FSMA) and the Florida Music Education Association (FMEA). He presently serves as the artistic consultant to the First Coast Wind Symphony, Jacksonville, Florida. He is a member of the FMEA Government Relations Committee and is a longstanding member of the Florida Bandmasters Association’s (FBA) Concert Music Committee. 

Ted Shistle (Guest Conductor) is the Director of Bands at Jacksonville University. His responsibilities include directing the JU Wind Ensemble, coaching chamber groups, and teaching courses in wind band literature and analysis of popular music. He taught at Douglas Anderson School Arts from 2013 – 2023 where his bands performed at the Florida Music Educator’s Convention, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference (twice), and the International Music Festival in Carnegie Hall. Mr. Shistle is active as an adjudicator throughout the state of Florida, and he is an active bassoonist making frequent appearances with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Coastal Symphony Orchestra.

Click here for more information about the directors of the Discovery Youth Band!