Jim Martinez
Artistic Director: 2022-2023
Jim Martinez was selected as Artistic Director on January 10, 2022, by the Band’s Board of Directors to succeed Lia Poole. Jim had served as Assistant Director since August 2019. He was an integral part of our band’s leadership team throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and during the family health challenges that Lia Poole has had to face.
Jim has been the music director for numerous musicals in the community, at the Albany Civic Theater, the Majestic Theater, and for the Corvallis School District Theaters. He was also the Assistant Director of the US Coast Guard Band where he was responsible for organizing rehearsals and performances across the Western Unites States and Canada. Jim’s major instrument is the trombone, and besides his experience as a soloist with the US Coast Guard and Navy Band, he has played with the Heartland and Salem Big Bands, the Eugene Symphonic Band, and the Willamette Valley Symphony.
Jim also brings an expertise in management from his career in Executive Engineering Management with Hewlett-Packard. He served as Global Operations Manager, R&D Product Development Manager, and Global Customer Assurance Manager from 1987-2012. He has been active in the community, serving on the boards of the Corvallis Youth Symphony, the Benton County Cultural Coalition, United Way, and the Heartland Humane Society. He was selected as the Celebrate Corvallis Patron of the Arts in 2018.
Jim selected and conducted the Community Band’s Patriotic Concert, seen on YouTube in July 2021. This involved selecting the music, and bringing the group together to rehearse and record the concert. He has helped to keep the band active, despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic. He prepared a Holiday Concert for the Band for December of 2021, but we were not able to perform the concert because of pandemic restrictions. In addition, he has voluntarily done extensive work on our Band Library database, making it more relevant and user-friendly. The library contains over a thousand entries, so this was no small task!
Lia Poole
Artistic Director: 2019
Corvallis High School band director, Lia Poole, was selected as the Corvallis Community Band’s next artistic director. At the time, Lia was in her ninth year of teaching music, with a double degree in Music Performance and Education from the University of Oregon. She is a very talented, personable and enthusiastic individual and the band feels fortunate that she agreed to work with us.
Steve Matthes
Artistic Director: 1976-2019
Steve Matthes was the director of the Corvallis Community Band for over 40 years. An excellent solo clarinetist in his own right, during his tenure with the band he has reached legendary status. Steve has successfully led the band to the point where Summer Concerts in the Park are a venerable Corvallis tradition. The Band also performs quality musical entertainment during its annual Holiday Concert, at its formal Spring Concert at LaSells Stewart Center, as well as providing an educational concert for hundreds of Mid-Valley fourth graders each year. The 15 concerts a year is roughly three times the output of most community bands. Steve’s prowess and generosity have been recognized as one of President Bush the Senior’s “thousand points of light” and by the city of Corvallis as the Patron of the Arts of 2006.
Steve’s career highlights include experience as director of the OSU Jazz Ensemble and Pep-Band, assistant director of the OSU Symphonic and Marching Bands, principal clarinet with the OSU-Corvallis Symphony, member of the OSU Recorder Consort, a stint in the Armed Forces School of Music and the U.S. Army Infantry Center Band (Fort Benning, GA) and performances with Western Opera Theater, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the orchestra for the Red Skelton Show. Traditional jazz appearances include Stumptown Jazz, Hume Street, Dr. Jon’s, OSU alumni jazz bands (including Homer Welch and George Bruns) and the Opera House Saloon house band in Columbus, GA. One of Steve’s favorite memories is directing the combined UCLA-SU Marching Bands in “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Mirage Bowl in Tokyo Olympic Staduim before 80,000 fans and on Japanese national TV. Steve enjoys playing at traditional jazz festivals, and he notes his several appearances at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee (with different bands) are particularly memorable.
Steve was a chemist with the U.S. Department of Energy, Albany Research Center (formerly U.S. Bureau of Mines), for more than thirty years and is an expert in atomic spectroscopy and microwave assisted chemistry. He was awarded the prestigious ‘Points of Light’ award by President Bush for outstanding contributions to community service in science education and music. Steve is a member of the American Chemical Society, Society for Applied Spectroscopy, American Chemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science and Sigma Xi and is also one of the original inductees into the Microwave Assisted Chemistry Hall of Fame.
A single parent, Steve enjoys his children’s many activities, recitals and concerts. He proudly notes that all his kids have become accomplished musicians, dancers or artists. ‘Surfin’ the Net’, listening to any good music and enjoying the beautiful Oregon scenery are other favorite pastimes.
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