2 performers in today’s concert in Medina with Albany Symphony have local connection
MEDINA – Two members of a local family will be performing with the Albany Symphony Orchestra in Medina’s Canal Basin tonight.
Dana Oakes, brother of Wendy Oakes Wilson and Darrel Oakes of Lyndonville, is a member of the orchestra with his wife Paula.
Attempts to reach the couple before tonight’s concert were unsuccessful, but information about both musicians was available online.
Dana Oakes is a trumpet player with the orchestra. A site for the Boston Landmarks Orchestra says Oakes began playing the trumpet at the age of 9. It says he came from a small town in upstate New York, undoubtedly, Lyndonville, where it was his junior high teacher who sparked his interest in a musical career.
He first experience in an orchestra was participating in the All-State competition as a junior. After that, he knew it was what he wanted to do, the article says.
He went on to study at the New England Conservatory, where he ended up in the top orchestra in his second year there.
He played at the opening of the JFK Library and after completing his studies, joined the Opera Company in Boston under director Sarah Caldewell. That was when he discovered his love of opera, he said. The story continues to say Oakes has done a wide array of work since then, from performances with international orchestras to gigs with Barnum and Bailey’s Circus.
He has also been part of a live performance with Pavarotti for a movie.
Information on the Albany Symphony’s website reported Oakes’ wife Paula has been a member of the Orchestra’s first violin section since 1986. In 2006, she was awarded a stationary position and has been a recipient of a Vanguard scholarship in 1987, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2004 and 2023.
Currently living in Boston, she performs regularly with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra, and is principal second of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.
An active chamber musician, Paula just completed an 18-year tenure with the Lavazza Chamber Ensemble and currently performs with the Landmarks Principles String Quartet. The Quartet has garnered a reputation in the greater Boston area for its Music and Memory initiative, performing especially designed programs that foster connections with the memory impaired at retirement communities and nursing home facilities.
When not performing, Paula devotes her time to her extensive flower gardens, which not include more than 200 different varieties of daylilies. She is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in political science at Southern New Hampshire University.
Tonight’s concert in the Canal Basin will begin at 8 p.m.
