Chico Community Concert Band

🎶 Small towns, big sound! 🎺

Join the Chico Community Band as we team up with Willows High School for a night of music you won’t want to miss!

📅 Wednesday, May 27
⏰ 6 PM
📍Veterans Memorial Hall, Willows CA
💲Free to attend!

Bring your friends, your family, and your love for live music!🎵✨

Member Spotlight Monday with Theodore! 🪈 🎷 🎶

Alto Saxophone, flute, and elementary clarinet.
How long have you been in the community band?

~5 years
What got you interested in music?

Uncle who played saxophone in swing bands of the 40’s.
Favorite musical genre?

All genres, especially classic jazz. Oscar Peterson is a special talent.
Has anyone inspired you in your music career?

Charles Ives.
Any hobbies?

Many over the years… antique lamps & Glass and 1st edition books (modern American fiction). Was a music critic in Los Angeles, and now write program notes for the North State Symphony.

What’s your favorite musical/movie?

Sound of Music
Why did you join the Chico Community band?

To improve my flute chops.
If you could play any other instrument, what would it be?

Piano - I’ve tried and tried….
Fun Fact about yourself:

I shook hands with Colonel Sanders on his 90th birthday.

Played My old Ky Home at the Ky Derby.

And played on stage with Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Jose Feliciano, and the Temptations.
… And a few shows with the Ringling Bros Circus.

I was a professor at UCLA department of Surgery working on many projects including cochlear implants.

All of those jobs prepared me for my career as Professor and Chair of Psychology and Speech and Hearing departments at Cal State LA. When I retired I moved to Chico, following my wife, Judy Hennessey, Dean of the College of Business, and continued to teach part time until COVID.

Optional - What section do you have the most beef with?

The ones that play out of tune.

Member Spotlight Monday with Jimmy!

I am Jimmy Sanchez, I play alto saxophone with the community band but mainly play tenor. I have played saxophone for about 6 years now, and got interested in music at a very young age when hearing my grandma play the piano, I thought it was so cool that someone could make music all by themselves. My favorite genre of music is 80’s rock, and big band jazz comes in second. I’ve really just been inspired by all of my peers who i’ve seen develop into amazing musicians, and I strive to play at a higher level like they had. Outside of band, I enjoy backpacking, playing volleyball, and rock climbing. I love Star Wars, and is by far my favorite franchise.  I joined the Chico Community band because I had some friends in it who had told me about it and I figured I’d join because why not play more music! If I could play any other instrument, it would probably be percussion.
A fun fact about me is that last summer I completed a 30 mile backpacking trip with my scout troop on the beach!

📣 Member Spotlight Monday with Chase, who had an incredible solo at our concert yesterday afternoon 🎶

1. I play the bass clarinet, trumpet, and percussion. I played bass clarinet with the California All State ensembles for two years.

2. I’ve been in the community band for 1 years

3. I’ve played music for 8 years of my life (Since I was 10)

4. My favorite genre is symphonic and classical music

5. I joined the community band because some of my friends were already in it and invited me

Fun Fact about me: My three favorite animals are snails, frogs and spiders.

Thanks ChicoER for this feature about us and our Spring Concert this Sunday at 3 p.m. 🎶

Community Band brings tradition, diverse new generation to Spring Concert The Chico Community Band is putting on its Spring Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Chico Masonic Family Center to celebrate a “season of growth, energy, and unforgettable sound.”

🎹 Meet Terran! 🎶

What instrument(s) do you play: 
I play piano, tuba, and trombone.
How long have you been in the community band? 
I’ve been in the community band for around one year.
How long have you played?
I’ve been playing piano for three years, tuba for a year and a half, and trombone since last summer. 
What got you interested in music? 
My parents got me a cheap electric keyboard as a Christmas present. Playing around with it quickly turned into a serious hobby, and once I started formal lessons that hobby became a deep hunger for achievement and improvement. 
Favorite musical genre? 
Classical music, ambient music, and folk.
Has anyone inspired you in your music career? 
The wonderful mentorship of my band director and my piano teacher, who pushed me to work hard and achieve great things. Thanks to them, I auditioned for a degree in Music Education over the winter, was accepted to all six colleges I applied to, and will begin the journey to become a music educator this Fall.
Any hobbies? 
Language learning, calligraphy, journaling, and writing. Last Summer I published my very own collection of poetry!
What’s your favorite musical/movie? 
I have watched the Moulin Rouge over a dozen times, it makes me deeply emotional in all the best ways. 
Why did you join the Chico Community band? 
If you could play any other instrument, what would it be? 
My piano teacher, Susan Crane, encouraged me to come to a rehearsal last year. The warm community and challenging music kept me coming back for more! If I could play any other instrument I’d play the bassoon.
Fun Fact about yourself: 
I can cook a mean Chicken Parm. 
Optional - What section do you have the most beef with? 
Flutes! Sure, you get to play beautiful melodies, but have you ever felt the raw power of your instrument reverberating inside your chest? I didn’t think so. Low brass rules!

One week until the music comes to life 🌸🎶

Join us for our Spring Concert as we celebrate a season of growth, energy, and unforgettable sound. From powerful harmonies to vibrant performances, it’s an afternoon you won’t want to miss!

🗓 Sunday April 26th
📍 Chico Masonic Family Center
⏰ 3 p.m.

Bring your friends, feel the music, and welcome spring with us 💐✨

🎶 Chico Community Band Spring Concert 🌸

Join us for an afternoon of music and community as the Chico Community Bands present their annual Spring Concert!

📅 Sunday, April 26, 2026
🕒 3:00 PM
📍 Chico Family Masonic Center

Celebrate the season with a lively program featuring a variety of concert band favorites. This performance brings together talented local musicians of all ages, sharing their passion for music with the Chico community.

Bring your friends and family, and enjoy a welcoming, family-friendly event filled with inspiring music and community spirit.

🎵 We look forward to seeing you there!

Member Spotlight Monday with Susan!

I have been playing with this band since 1987! But I did take a 20 year break to raise my kids! Besides the Euphonium (also known as a baritone), I play and teach piano and harp. I started piano lessons when I was 8 and baritone in the 5th grade band.

Music has always been a part of my life but in 2nd and 3rd grade we got to try all the instruments every Friday. That really inspired me to join the band! I wanted to be a teacher before I got serious with music. I am very lucky I get to combine both loves! It was my elementary music and high school piano teachers who really inspired me and later several Celtic Harpers inspired my current passion for playing and arranging for the harp.

I like many different genres of music but specifically classical, 70’s rock and Celtic music. I also love marches but I’m not a big fan of jazz. My favorite musicals are the old school ones, especially The Music Man and My Fair Lady. My main hobby is fiber arts which started when I began raising alpacas.

I joined this band because I really wanted to continue playing my euphonium and there were not many other options to do so. I have always wanted to play the oboe and I did get to play around with it a bit while I was teaching band in Wyoming. Fun fact; I originally wanted to play the flute but my parents wouldn’t rent one because I wasn’t practicing my piano well, so I started on the baritone. Ironically I majored in both piano and euphonium in college!

I really love playing in band and euphonium is especially fun because we get to double parts with many different instruments and have extra fun parts in marches!

Meet Laurajean! 🪈 🎼

What instrument(s) do you play: 
​
Flute 

How long have you been in the community band? 
Almost 3 years

How long have you played?
5th-12th grade, 2 years in college & now 3 years. So 13 over my life pieced together. Not very long! 

What got you interested in music
​
My mom. I grew up with her playing jazz piano into the night - she got her master’s in that so.music was just always around
 
Any hobbies? 
Crocheting, playing sports, reading, cooking, 
 
 
Why did you join the Chico Community band? 
 
​
Playing your instrument alongside others is magical and there is not like it. I started while pregnant with my 3rd child because I wanted to do one last hoorah before having 3 kids and then found myself drawn to come back shortly after she was born and here I still am a few years later. 

If you could play any other instrument, what would it be?
​
I would like to try trumpet or saxophone

Fun Fact about yourself: I’m the youngest of 7 kids and my niece is older than me.