Flute/Piccolo:

Saxophone:

Trombone:

French Horns:

Euphonium:

String Bass:

Clarinet:

Trumpet:

Tuba:

Percussion:

Rob Benson

Bob plays the Euphonium. He has been a member of the Healdsburg Community Band for 15+ years. Bob first learned trombone when in elementary school and played both trombone and baritone horn in high school. He then served in the US Navy and played in the Drum & Bugle Corps when at basic training. Bob was a Sonarman aboard Destroyers during his Navy years. He then worked at the Marin Independent Journal in San Rafael while attending Marin JC and Sonoma State University. He received his BA degree in Business Management and started a long career with Farmers Insurance Group managing the North Bay claims department. Today he is retired and enjoys travel, gardening, hiking, and of course playing music.

Dianne Miller

Dianne grew up in the Chicago suburb Crystal Lake, IL (no, not the Crystal Lake from the Friday the 13th movies - that one is in Minnesota!). Her musical career began in 3rd grade when her mom insisted on piano lessons. Sidenote - most memorable "practice" was when she went downstairs after dinner to find a DUCK flying around the room. Cue screaming and running upstairs, followed by a comedy of errors trying to keep the dog away and chase the duck back outside (it had been stuck in the chimney and got out by flying down into the family room instead of up and out). In 5th grade when it was time to select instruments, the bells won because they were close to piano. However, in 9th grade, Dianne got tired of percussionists and their attitudes (sorry percussion friends!), switched to flute, and never looked back. Piccolo was added to her repertoire junior year. Dianne played in symphonic band, marching band, and pep band through college, and in grad school, joined her first community band. Aside from the first year she lived in California in 2001 and couldn't find a band right away, she has played flute continuously from 1993 to present!

Outside of band, Dianne started her career as a meteorologist at an air quality consulting firm, then transitioned into SQL database development at a bank. In 2022, she found the perfect blend of both skills as a technical product manager at a non-profit conservation company in Petaluma. She also enjoys figure skating, and is a regular on the adult competition circuit each year.

David Brandt

David Brandt grew up in the East Bay town of San Lorenzo. He played trumpet throughout Elementary school into college and actually abandoned his trumpet in 1975. Married to a fellow educator he met in the Cal State Hayward Teacher Credential Program they raised 3 lovely daughters. He made his career in teaching at the elementary school level, first in San Lucas, CA for 5 years and eventually finishing with Santa Rosa City Schools at Biella Elementary -from which he retired in 2016. In 2010 he joined the Healdsburg Community band and slowly regained his ability to play. Eventually he also joined the big band the Windsor Jazz Ensemble and its smaller combo Life After Forte. Dave also likes to paint, golf, brew beer, travel, cook, work in the yard, and enjoy his growing family.

Ralph Cohen

Ralph Cohen and his wife Susan moved to Santa Rosa in the Spring of 2016, after having lived in Palo Alto for nearly 40 years.   After the Tubbs fire  Ralph and Susan moved to Alexander Valley, where they are currently living while they  rebuild their house in Santa Rosa.   Ralph spent his career  on the faculty at Stanford University, where he was a  Mathematics professor. He has played the saxophone since he was 10 years old.  He played in concert/symphonic bands at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago.  He played in stage/jazz bands at the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, and Stanford University.  During the last 25 years he played mostly with small jazz combos in Palo Alto,    playing occasionally at coffee shops, wineries, and office holiday parties on the peninsula.  He was thrilled to join the Healdsburg Community Band in the Spring of 2018.  In addition to the HCB, Ralph also plays with the Windsor Jazz Ensemble. 

Quinten T. Cohen

Quinten T Cohen has played over 60 musicals in the Bay Area over the last ten years. Some of his past productions include Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Boxcar Theatre), The Rocky Horror Show (Ray of Light Theatre), Next to Normal (Spreckels Performing Arts Center), Hands on a Hardbody (Lucky Penny Community Arts Center) and West Side Story (Summer Repertory Theatre). Aside from theatre, he is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, playing with various ensembles as well as producing solo work such as albums, film scores and video game music. You can hear his music online at QuintenTCohen.Bandcamp.com.

David Poe

David Poe started his musical life on piano at age 7, then moved to trumpet until middle school when he moved over to French Horn. He played horn through his undergraduate (university of Idaho) and graduate school (Northwestern University) days, then put it away for most of his business career in the Bay Area and in the UK. For the past 20 years, he has played in various orchestras and symphonic wind ensembles throughout the Bay Area. He is also an avid chamber musician, playing in a brass quintet, woodwind octet, and woodwind quintet. David recently joined the Healdsburg Community Band.

Jim DeMartini

Thirty years ago, or maybe a couple more, Gary Johnson suggested that I join the Healdsburg Community Band because I could get more gigs that way “Everybody needs a bass player Jim”.  Back then Lew Sbrana was the musical director, Karl Elsee was the board president, and Larry and Judy Price were about to start their run as band leaders.  The highlight of those years, next to the annual Sousa Concerts, was when we played the 1812 Overture  (with cannon!) at the (then) Wells Fargo Performing Center to 1534 paid attendees.  As I was then, I’m still practicing law, hunting, fishing, and playing in several bands.

Jim

Ken Collins

This is me at age 30 in 1985. Doesn’t it just scream “BAND GEEK”? I was teaching band in Rialto, CA to 5th and 6th graders and trying to make it sound like BAND was the coolest thing any kid could ever want to do before puberty sets in. Reagan was president and his wife Nancy was telling kids to “Just say NO!” …go figure…

Joseph Duri

Born and raised in California… I began my musical ‘career’ in Woodland, playing coronet, in elementary and jr. high schools.  When my family moved to Lake County, Lower Lake High needed Low Brass help, so I picked up baritone horn, transitioned to bass clef, and graduated into trombone.  I enjoyed playing in a small dixie/big-band, as well as marching, jazz ensembles, concert bands, and musicals.

I went on to pursue music at Santa Rosa Junior College, graduating with a business degree. At Sonoma State University, I put my horn away to focus on my true career. My horn stayed in the closet for 25 years, as I ‘didn’t have time’ for music. I was persuaded to join the Healdsburg Community band, and learned to ‘Make Time’ for music. 

I love playing with this talented group, and look forward to our weekly rehearsals. I’m currently Tubist with HCB, as well as Trombonist with the Windsor Jazz Ensemble. I encourage anyone who played in high school, and/or college, to dust off that instrument, and make time for music. Come join the Healdsburg Community Band… It adds fulfilling balance to your life.  

Stu Matlow

Stu Matlow joined the HCB trumpet section in 2016, when he and his wife Denise moved to Healdsburg from San Francisco. He was an avid musician in his teens and 20’s, including study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He stopped playing for 40 years to pursue a career in journalism, public relations and advertising, mainly in the biotechnology and analytical instrument industries. He found the HCB the perfect environment to rebuild music skills after such a long layoff.

Linda Schmidt

Linda is a retired Florida attorney who splits her time between Tallahassee, FL and Santa Rosa, CA.  In Florida she plays with the Big Bend Community Orchestra and the Tallahassee Winds.  She very much enjoys playing with the Healdsburg Community Band when in California.

Donna Cambra

I play flute and Piccolo. I joined the Healdsburg Community Band in 2004. I had not played in in a group for 27 years. I attended several Healdsburg Community Band performances and talked to several of the band members who encouraged me to join. I came to a rehearsal to see what this group was all about, leaving my flute in the car, too scared to make a fool of myself. My section leader told me to just play the first note in each measure and you'll catch on. This approach took a lot of my stress away, that and getting to go home with a couple pieces to practice. I had to go to the Internet and look up basic words like Adagio, Andante, Largo and pull out my old fingering chart. After about 16 yrs with the band I can now get most of the notes. I am 63 years old, a former Army Nurse, RN, and I have a counseling degree. I have a son and a daughter-in-law plus two grandchildren, one 61/2yo and one 31/2 yo. I love the "big kids" but I am "in love" with these beautiful grandkids. I am a Veteran and American Legion member. I am a quilter and part of a guild as well as a smaller group in Cloverdale, CA. The best part of HCB is the membership! The people who join are just nice, kind and caring people. I may come in tired or irritated from the day and I leave lighter of heart and with a smile on my face (even if I messed up my part! Which means more practice time!). This is because of the music and the people. The great things about being an older musician is you don't have to play broken-down school instruments and you aren't being forced to practice by parents. You want to practice and improve for you and for the group. This experience has been so good for my soul. I did not know what I was missing before HCB and now would not want to do without it. Consider joining us on our adventures as a community band. I am sure glad I took the risk.

Peggy C. Buzanski

I was born in Denver, Colorado and played flute from fourth grade until the end of high school. During high school, I was in the All City Parochial Band and my local high school band. I always looked forward to Band with Mr. Delgado, it was the best part of my day. Fast forward: College, taught school, square danced, fell in love and got married, moved to California, raised four children and continued teaching for 43 years. After 57 years I had my flute refurbished and started playing again in May of 2023. After playing in a quartet with my husband on cello, two violins and myself for Christmas I decided to look into a music group I could join. I have been with the Healdsburg Community Band for a short time and look forward to many more years of playing with this delightful group of people.