Meet Our Members

Our band has members of all ages, from highschoolers to 70+ years old and all playing levels, from amatuer to professional.  Here is interesting information about some of our valued members.

Lois Hofmann is the conductor of the Clarke County Community Band.  She has been a music educator in Virginia since 1983.  She graduated magna cum laude from Shenandoah University with degrees in Music Education and Music Therapy.  She has taught on the elementary and middle school levels, and she served as the band director at Frederick County Middle School for over 33 years.  She retired from that position in November 2019.  

In addition to conducting the Community Band, Lois sings with Winchester Musica Viva and the Arts Chorale of Winchester.  She teaches private music lessons to middle school and high school band students at the Treehouse Music and Arts Studio in Winchester, as well as giving lessons at home via Zoom.  She and her friend Melinda Russell volunteer their time at a local nursing home several times each month, helping to bring music to the residents there through Hymn Sings and playing jazz standards as a clarinet and piano duo.   

Lynnette Mergler is the announcer at our concerts. She researches and gives the audience interesting facts about each song as the band gets ready for the next song. Lynnette played flute at Loudoun Valley High School. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 1980 and played flute in the marching band while there. She received her Masters Degree from George Mason University. She worked for Loudoun County Public Schools as an Elementary School teacher except for the four  years she served as Active in the United States Army (as well as eight years in the Army Reserves).

 John Hudson is our vocalist. He is the Director of Music at Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church in Berryville Virginia.

Sara Boppe plays the flute and piccolo. She has been playing flute since 5th grade, all the way back in 1999. In her youth she attended John Handley High School and later West Virginia University, where she was in the Pride of West Virginia for 6 years, as well as in the concert and symphonic bands, and was a member of Kappa Kappa Psi. She has a bachelors and two masters degrees from WVU. Outside of band, she is an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). .

 Adele McGeachy plays flute.

(No Photo Available)   Rick Pennington plays flute.

Diane Shipe plays flute.

Kristy Kulha plays flute.

(No Photo Available)  Abby Lennon plays flute.

 Jennifer Curtis plays oboe.

 Julie Staggers plays clarinet.  She is the owner of Julie Staggers Orthodontics and is the band's treasurer.  She is the longest standing member of the band.

 Ryan Himelright plays clarinet.

 Sheila Weissenberger plays clarinet.  She started playing clarinet in fifth grade and was lucky enough to have lessons all through school. Sheila had lots of fun and friends in the Handley High School band and dance band. She graduated from Duke University with a BS in nursing and from UNC Chapel Hill with a Master of Public Health. She worked for 33 years at Martinsburg VA plus some other places. Sheila didn't play clarinet again  until the early 1990s when she joined Front Royal community band. She also played piano in a swing band orchestra for about 20 years. Her husband (John - baritone player in our band) and her share musical interests.

Kathleen Fonda plays clarinet.

Richard Robertson plays clarinet.  He is a retired Frederick County band director.

(No Photo Available) Amanda Morris plays clarinet. She is a Winchester, VA native. She started playing clarinet in the 6th grade, and by 8th grade was also playing the tenor saxophone in the jazz band. Music has always been an integral part of her life, as she played through high school and was involved in numerous musical numbers as a part of the pit orchestra. She was also a Marching Royal Duke when she played in JMU’s marching band her freshman and sophomore year. Amanda moved to Boston a few years later to go to optometry school, and after her residency moved back to Virginia. She took a few years off from music while finishing school, and is now excited to be back in the musical community and a part of this amazing band!

  Julie Elrick plays clarinet.  She is the Director of Pharmacy for Valley Health.

 Lindsey Bootz plays bassoon.

Natalie McGeachy currently plays bass clarinet.  She has also played clarinet and flute in our band.  She is a Music Education major from Shepherd University and currently teaches at Romney Middle School.

 Michael Stewart plays bass clarinet.  He is the Band/Choral Director at Capon Bridge Middle School.

 Jeffery Elrick plays alto saxophone. He has also played clarinet and bass clarinet in our band. He has a music degree from Ithica College.

Hannah Roth plays alto saxophone.

(No Photo Available) Stephanie O'Rouke plays alto saxophone.  She is also in charge of our facebook page and announcements.

Gary Jones plays alto sax.  He has also played tenor and baritone sax in our band.

(No Photo Available) Tom Rosengarth plays tenor sax.  He also serves as the Band Secretary.

 David Compton plays trumpet.  He is the Director of  Senior Ministries at Bible Fellowship Church.

Rob Bennsky plays trumpet.

Steve Holsinger plays trumpet.

Peter Hetzel plays trumpet.

Randy Rolin plays trumpet.  He started at 8 in grade school. Randy studied at 19 through 22 privately with Vince Penzarella, NYC Metropolitan Opara and Ray Crisara, NYC Philharmonic,  Lou Solof Blood Sweat and Tears, Roy Steven's. He played professionally in studio recordings in NYC for 18 years. Randy still writes and produces professionally. His major passion has been a lifetime of music.

Thomas Jones plays trumpet.

Nick Smith plays trumpet.

(No Photo Available) Anthony Gangai plays trumpet.

(No Photo Available) Matthew Abell plays trumpet.

 Kari Pennington plays french horn.  She graduated from Shenandoah Univesity with a degree in Music Education.

Susan Judy plays french horn.

David Worthington plays trombone.  He is a retired engineer from the US Army Corp of Engineers and is currently the president of the band.  

Jonah White plays trombone. He is currently in the 249th Army Band which is a unit of the West Virginia National Guard.

 Heidi Harper plays trombone.  She is the band's librarian. She played trombone at Loudoun Valley High School.  She graduated from James Madison University in 1980 with a degree in Education.  She taught middle school and high school in Loudoun County for six years.  She then became a Computer Based Instructor Specialist for the training department at the FAA facility in Leesburg.  She earned a Masters in Computers in Education from Shenandoah University during this time.  She retired as a Software Engineer from Northrop Grumman.  She has enjoyed playing trombone in this band for almost 20 years - once a band geek, always a band geek.

 Don Walden plays trombone.  Don Walden began conducting at the age of 8 years, conducting a 40-piece orchestra in a spirited rendition of The Stars And Stripes Forever, by John Philip Souza. Two years later, he began playing the trombone.  At 17, he placed 2nd in the state of Oregon solo contest; at 18, he placed first in the state.  At 19 he began conducting a youth Orchestra weekly, with monthly performances.

 Chris Shipe plays trumpet.  He is the CEO of Loudoun Mutual Insurance Company and is the Vice-President of the band. 

 John Weissenberger plays baritone.  He has also played trumpet.

Sean Gallagher plays baritone.

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00000Joel Evans plays baritone.

(No Photo Available) Warren Cordes plays baritone.

 Andy Tucker plays tuba.

  Dick Fonda plays tuba.

Terry Whitmire plays percussion.  He owns Winchester Electric.

  Kyle Wilcox plays percussion.

 Don Bryden plays percussion.

Rachel Stewart plays percussion.

Doug Thompson plays percussion.  He has also played trombone, baritone, tuba, and trumpet in our band.