Anne Reese is a lifelong music educator and supporter of the arts. She taught instrumental, choral, and elementary music for 34 years in North and South Carolina before retiring in 2014. A member of NCMEA and NCBA, Mrs. Reese continues to serve our community as the Executive Administrator for the North Carolina Marching Band Committee.

Mrs. Reese has served as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the Southeast and during her career was a National Board-Certified teacher. She holds degrees in Music Education from Mars Hill University and a Master of Arts in Middle Grades Education from Belmont Abbey College. She currently remains active as a musician with her church family in Belmont NC.

Sean Smith is in his third year as the Director of Bands at Rugby Middle School in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Smith is a native of Hendersonville, and was a graduate of West Henderson High School. After high school, Smith earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Mars Hill College in 1997. Mr. Smith began his teaching career at J.F. Webb High School in Oxford, N.C. where he taught for two years and then became the Director of Bands at East Henderson High School in East Flat Rock, N.C. for twelve years. He has spent ten years at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, NC. In 2002, Mr. Smith received his Masters of Music Education with a concentration in band directing from Appalachian State University.

Ensembles offered at Rugby Middle School include the 6th, 7th and 8th grade bands, Jazz Band, and various small ensembles. These ensembles have performed numerous concerts and have participated in festivals throughout North Carolina earning only excellent and superior ratings in adjudicated festivals.

Mr. Smith’s band students have been participants in the Western District All-District Bands, the North Carolina Honors Band, the Army All-American Marching Band and many different Honor bands throughout the United States. Graduates of his band programs are currently furthering their musical careers at various colleges and universities around the country. Some graduates have gone on to music careers in teaching, performance, and even the recording industry. 

Mr. Smith has served as a department chair for the Fine Arts department. He has been contest site host for the Western Region Orchestra Festival and the Buncombe County All-County Band Clinic.  Mr Smith is active as a clinician and guest conductor. Mr. Smith holds professional memberships in the Music Educators National Conference, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Pi Kappa Lambda. He was named Teacher of the Year for East Henderson High School during the 2006-2007 school year, and has been nominated for "Who's Who Among American Teachers'' for the past seven years. In 2007, Smith was awarded the Western North Carolina Bandmasters Associations Award of Excellence. In 2009, Smith was inducted into the American School Band Directors Association. In 2018, Smith was selected for the Army All-American bowl's band director academy. In 2019, Smith was selected as one of the top ten in the nation for the “Champions for Music Education'' by the Music and Arts Music Corporation. Smith has been happily married to his wife Kim for twenty six years, and they are the proud parents of their daughter Ella and son Alex.

I have always believed in my student’s ability. I faked my way through band class through my ninth grade year, and at that point one of my teachers really took an interest in my success. Therefore, I will always believe and work with a student that has the desire to become a better musician. I hope that when my students graduate they take with them a lifelong love of music.

Robert Johnston is the Director of Bands at Reagan High School.  Mr. Johnston began teaching in 2005 at Table Rock Middle School, and in 2011, was named as the Director of Bands at Freedom High School, his alma mater.  Mr. Johnston began teaching at Reagan High School in the fall of 2017. He is a graduate of Western Carolina University and an alumni of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. Mr. Johnston's ensemble have earned more than thirty Superior ratings at NCBA MPA. He has had ensembles perform at the NCMEA State Convention, the National Pearl Harbor Parade, the National Independance Day Parade in Washington, DC, Chicago Symphony Hall, and at Carnegie Hall. His marching band regularly enjoys Grand Champion awards at local and regional competitions. Mr. Johnston was awarded of the Award of Excellence in 2021 from the NCBA Northwest District and from the NCMEA Western Region Jazz Section in 2023.

In addition to teaching band, Mr. Johnston is an active drill designer for marching bands throughout western North Carolina and is a clinician and adjudicator for concert, jazz, and marching bands.  His professional affiliations include the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honors Society. While away from the band activity Mr. Johnston enjoys riding motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway and supporting his favorite NFL team, the Carolina Panthers.

A native of Burlington, NC, Joshua K Potter is currently an Educational Sales Representative for Music and Arts. Prior to his position with Music and Arts he was the first Director of Bands at Palisades High School in Charlotte, NC. Previously, Mr. Potter was the Director of Bands at Raleigh’s Wakefield High School for eleven years – beginning with its opening in 2000. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed a Masters in Wind Band Conducting at East Carolina University. Prior to his appointment at WHS, Mr. Potter served as the Director of Bands at West Rowan High School where he introduced full season competitive marching band and the band earned the first recorded superior rating at state band festival in the school's 50+ year history. In addition, Mr. Potter served as the Director of Bands at Charlotte Catholic High School for the 2011-2012 school year.

During his time at Wakefield, the band program grew from a mere 40 students to more than 200. The Wakefield Band program developed into a comprehensive music education program that featured three concert ensembles, two jazz bands, a percussion ensemble studio and a winter percussion ensemble, four winter guards, a chamber music program, and a music theory and AP Music Theory program. The bands consistently earned top marks at all marching and concert band festivals and competitions. The marching band performed regularly across NC and the eastern USA and was a Bands of America Regional Championship Finalist on multiple occasions and Class Champion of the Massillon, Ohio Regional. The Maroon Winter Guard was a four-time Winter Guard International World Championships finalist and was promoted to Open Class after its fourth place finish in 2008. The Silver Winter Guard was a WGI Regional Championship finalist and Atlantic Indoor Association Scholastic A class Gold Medalist. The Wind Ensemble and Concert Bands earned consistent superior ratings at state Music Performance Adjudication events. The Wakefield band program was featured twice at the NC Music Educator’s Conference-a concert performance in 2005 and a presentation and performance by the Chamber Winds in 2011.

From 2012-2022,  Mr. Potter served as the Director of Bands at Providence High School in Charlotte, NC.   During his time at Providence, Mr. Potter worked to continue the legacy of outstanding music education that has been a consistent part of the school’s 30+ year history. As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration, the Providence High School Wind Ensemble was a featured ensemble at the 2013 NC Music Educator’s Conference. In addition, the Pride of Providence Marching Band was a finalist at the 2013 Bands of America Winston-Salem Super Regional, the first band from Charlotte to earn this honor. The Wind Ensemble has shared concerts with the Carolinas Wind Orchestra and the UNC-Greensboro Wind Ensemble.  It was also selected for a performance at the 2017 Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival in Atlanta, GA.  

Mr. Potter has been recognized by the NC Bandmasters as the 2007 Central District Band Director of the Year and with the 2008 Award of Excellence. He completed two different terms on the NCBA State Marching Band Committee where he served as chair for two years. 

Mr. Potter is a member of the American School Band Director’s Association, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the NC South Central District Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (Alpha Rho chapter). He is active as an adjudicator and clinician for marching and concert bands throughout North and South Carolina. He enjoys doing drill design and consultation for marching bands also.  In addition, he serves as a Winter Guard General Effect judge for the Atlantic Indoor Association and other circuits throughout the country.  He is listed as a Circuit Certified Judge with Winter Guard International.

Mr. Potter served as the chair of the NC South Central District Bandmasters Association from 2020-2022.

Mr. Potter currently resides in Matthews, North Carolina with his wife Caren, an elementary school counselor as well as a color guard instructor and adjudicator. They welcomed their daughter, Carrington, in September of 2014.

Brandon Thomas is a native of Henderson, North Carolina, and a graduate of Bunn High School. During high school, he discovered a passion for leadership and the marching arts, which led him to pursue a degree in Music Education at Gardner-Webb University. While at Gardner-Webb, he served as Principal Clarinetist for both the Orchestra and Symphonic Band and was named Drum Major of the Gardner-Webb Marching Bulldogs in 2015. He also held leadership roles in the university’s NAfME chapter and founded the Campus Civitan Club.

From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Thomas served as the Woodwind Instructor at CHASE High School in Forest City, NC. During his time at CHASE, the band performed and competed throughout the southeastern United States, earning numerous awards and accolades.

Mr. Thomas now resides in Charlotte, NC, where he serves as Branch Manager at Nova Credit Union. He is a certified Financial Counselor and is set to graduate in December from the Leadership Development Institute, run by the Carolinas Credit Union League.

Amber Ammons joined the Appalachian Adjudicators Association as a judge in 2007 and has served as a judge for both field and winterguard contests on a national basis, specifically for Winterguard International with CIPA, OIPA, SEWA, ETPAA, SCGC, and WGASC in the Southeast and Southern California.

Amber's experience with colorguard started at Tuscola Senior High in 1986. She then went on to perform with the Pride of the Southlands Band and Winterguard at the University of Tennessee in 1990 as well as the Spirit of Atlanta, Star of Indiana, and Chimeras Winterguard. From 1990-1992 she was the instructor and choreographer of the UT Colorguard. In addition to her colorguard experiences she also graduated from UT fulfilling the requirements for a minor in dance with two years of performing experience with the University Dance Ensemble.

After spending 14 years judging in the DC area and 7 years in Las Vegas, her love of colorguard, visual arts, equipment and movement through adjudication has no better fit than in the mountains of North Carolina.