Dr. Rob Parks died of cancer on June 12, 2022.

Dr. Parks was the Director of Percussion Studies at Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, Texas. He also taught the percussion students in the Lebanon Trail Cluster at Fowler Middle School and Clark Middle School, and served as the conductor and director of the Fowler Percussion Ensemble, who performed at PASIC 2015. In addition, Dr. Parks assisted the percussion section of the Liberty High School Full Orchestra in preparation for their performance at the 2015 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Prior to his appointment at Lebanon Trail, Dr. Parks served as Director of Percussion at Liberty High School in Frisco and Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas. During his time at Smith, the Newman Smith Trojan Marching Band qualified for the Texas State Marching Band Contest in 2009 and 2011. Dr. Parks’ students successfully auditioned for placement in the TMEA All State Bands and TMEA Region 24 All-Region Bands and Jazz Bands, and performed with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. His students also performed with such drum corps as The Cavaliers, Blue Knights, Crossmen, Madison Scouts, and Southwind.

Dr. Parks served on the percussion faculty at the Bands of America/Music For All Summer Symposium and Yamaha Sounds of Summer Camps, and he taught and arranged for high schools throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Japan. He was a founding member of the UK Percussion Quartet, which 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 Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps, and he served as a percussion consultant for Southwind Drum & Bugle Corps.

Dr. Parks was a contributing composer for a multiple-percussion book entitled Multitudes, published by Innovative Percussion, as well as contributing composer and assistant editor for a collection of rudimental solos titled The Blue Book, published by Tapspace Publications.

Dr. Parks received his bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Austin Peay State University, where he studied percussion with David Steinquest. He earned a master’s degree in Percussion Performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, both from the University of Kentucky, under the direction of Professor James Campbell.