Oboe & English Horn

BENNIE COTTONE

Principal

Bennie Cottone has performed as principal oboist with the Santa Cruz Symphony since 2005, with the Monterey Symphony as principal oboist since 1988, and as English Hornist with the Berkeley Symphony since 1982.

A “charter member” of the Freeway Philharmonic, Mr. Cottone has performed with most groups located within driving range of San Francisco. This includes ten years as English Hornist and second oboist with the Santa Rosa Symphony. He has served as English Hornist for the 1994 San Francisco Symphony Pops and the 1992-93 season of the San Francisco Ballet, as well as English Horn and Oboe d’Amore soloist for the SF Ballet Orchestra’s CD, “Debussy Rediscovered’, on the Arabesque label. With the SF Concerto Orchestra he has been a soloist in works of Bach, Mozart, Copland and Honegger.

A San Francisco native, he attended the SF public schools, Lowell High School and SF State University. His instructors have included Marc Lifschey, Raymond Duste, John deLancie and Laszlo Varga. An amateur mycologist, Mr. Cottone is a member of the Mycological Society of San Francisco, and has served on the MSSF council and as co-chair of the MSSF’s culinary division.
Mr. Cottone resides in San Francisco with his Dachshund, Koko.

Diane Machado-wyant

Diane Wyant grew up in the Santa Clara Valley of California and attended college at San Jose State University. After obtaining her Bachelor of Arts degree in oboe and English horn performance (1989) she went on to earn her California state teaching credential in music.

Since 1990, Ms. Wyant has held directorships at Valley Christian Middle School, Sierramont Middle School, Leigh High School, Cupertino High School, and is presently one of the directors of Music at Bellarmine College Preparatory and is the Director of Bands at Branham High School, both located in San Jose, CA. In addition, she maintains the position of conductor of wind bands for the San Jose Youth Symphony.

Along with teaching in both public and private schools, Ms. Wyant is an active adjudicator for Drum Corps International (DCI), and various other state band associations. Over the past 21 years, Ms. Wyant has been a member of the Music Educator’s National Conference (MENC), California Music Educator’s Association (CMEA), and the California Band Director’s Association (CBDA).

As a performer, Ms. Wyant holds the English horn position with Santa Cruz Symphony and has performed with the San Jose Symphony, Opera San Jose, Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, Monterey Symphony, and Ensemble Monterey.