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Steamboat Springs — When Mark and Katie Rasmussen moved to Steamboat Springs from California a few years ago, they immediately started looking for chances to play music.

They took the opportunity to play in the Steamboat Springs Orchestra — Mark on trumpet, Katie on flute — but the town was missing something the increasingly professional orchestra couldn’t provide.

At the beginning of October, Mark Rasmussen conducted the first rehearsal of the Yampa Valley Community Band. About a month in, the all-inclusive concert band has about 20 members, Mark Rasmussen said Friday afternoon.

The group includes middle- and high-school students, amateur players, people returning to music and several Steamboat Springs Orchestra wind players.

“I love playing in the orchestra, but it leaves a lot of people out in the cold. … I’ve never lived in a town that didn’t have a community band, and in this town, being so arts-positive, it seemed like a big hole,” Rasmussen said.

The group rehearses from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday in the music room at Steamboat Springs Middle School.

Rehearsals are open to anyone who plays a woodwind, brass or percussion instrument, Rasmussen said.

Bonnie Murray, who plays violin in the Steamboat Springs Orchestra and conducts the organization’s youth program, plays flute in the community band. She grew up playing in the band, taking the flute through high school and part of college.

“I love playing the flute and I love the music, and I’m so happy that Katie and Mark have put this band together, because there are a lot of people out there like me who would like to play their band instrument,” Murray said.

The group plays music from the Steamboat Springs Middle School and Steamboat Springs High School band libraries. Holiday tunes will be the focus of the first Yampa Valley Community Band concert, scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Depot Art Center.

James Knapp, who conducts the middle- and high-school bands and plans to play trombone in the new group, said the community band offers a new outlet for his students.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to perform with community members and develop musical relationships in the community, not just in the school,” Knapp said. “It helps them to break out of the curricular area, and they do it more for the music making and more for the fun.”

About half a dozen students from sixth through 12th grades have attended community band rehearsals so far, Knapp said.

Mark Rasmu­ssen hopes to see the band grow to about 40 members, play a few public concerts a year and possibly work its way into parades or festivals, he said. For now, he’s interested in bringing as many music lovers out of the woodwork as possible.

“The people that we really want are the people who are amateur players and the people who haven’t played in a while. That’s the target, and they are the people who are probably the most nervous,” Rasmussen said.