The accomplished oboe and theremin player makes a living regularly recording for television shows and films that require a musician of her caliber. “Sight-reading theremin is always a nightmare,” she says with a laugh, adding that most of the time she doesn’t read over the music until she’s in the studio. “It does not get boring. It’s always feast or famine.”
She recalls her previous work on The Simpsons and how the show's creator, Matt Groening, preferred to have a live thereminist instead of a digitally replicated one. “They used to use synthesizers, and apparently Matt Groening said it didn’t sound realistic enough — that it sounded too perfect,” Wickes recalls. “Then they started using real players. It’s like, ‘Well, if he wants it out of tune, we can definitely do that.’”
The classically trained Wickes fell into the business after a handful of longtime oboists retired, so “there was a need,” she says. “In Los Angeles, if you’re working as a freelancer, if you’re playing enough and your name gets out, often you do get called to play on something,” she continues. “It is niche in the world except for L.A., New York and maybe Nashville.”
Given her background, Wickes is also the principal oboist of the Pasadena, Santa Barbara and New West symphonies and regularly performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra. She picked up the theremin in high school and eventually started playing it more in a chamber setting.
Straddling the line of the two different musical worlds is definitely unique, but Wickes finds it refreshing to do both. “Recording is a bit of a different skill, so I like to keep up with my orchestra work because I think it makes me a better player,” she says. “But I really do enjoy the film and TV work. It’s very new and fresh.”
Plus, “you don’t have to dress up for it. You can just go,” she jokes.
“It’s just fun to go to a movie and hear yourself play,” Wickes continues. “It is stressful and it can be a tough business, but I do like to have a balance.”
Local nonprofit Front Range Chamber Players is bringing more classical music to Denver and Fort Collins.
Courtesy Front Range Chamber Players
The first concert is on Saturday, April 13, at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church’s Miller Center in Denver, with the second at Fort Collins High School’s McNeil Auditorium on Tuesday, April 16. There is a young musicians' prelude concert each night, as well. Admission for students of all ages is free. The appearance was made possible by the Dr. & Mrs. Gerald Rainer Endowment.
Cathy Peterson, a flutist herself with the Colorado Symphony and chair of the nonprofit’s board of directors, is excited to have Wickes showcase her skills on an instrument that many people might not know has such a classical background.
“It’s an amazing piece and so unique,” she says. “In all of the years that I’ve been a professional musician here in Denver, I’ve never been to a theremin concert.”
While the theremin has become synonymous with spooky sound effects and prog rock over the years, the electronic device was first introduced in 1920, before inventor Leon Theremin patented it in 1928. Even back then, the theremin looked futuristic, especially since the person playing it does not have to physically touch it at all. It’s as if the notes are invisible to everyone except the thereminist.
Peterson, who has seen Wickes work her magic before, is in awe of such talent.
“It’s amazing what she does with it and how she has such an amazing sense of pitch to be able to just pull the notes out of nowhere,” she says. “Literally, it looks like she’s pulling the notes out of the air.”
That’s why Peterson calls the upcoming concert “a visual event, as well as auditory.”
“You can go to any of our other classical music concerts, close your eyes and enjoy the experience completely, but I feel like this theremin concert will be so unique,” she adds.
Wickes credits the oboe, a woodwind instrument, for helping her improve her theremin chops, particularly when it comes to controlling the rise and reach of the notes. “It’s got a big range in terms of pitch, but it’s a little bit limited in its articulation,” she says of the theremin. “It’s about not letting the vibrato become too overwhelming. It’s really easy to let that get in the way.”
Wickes has played Colorado before and knows that the altitude, or something, messes with the reeds of her oboe. But the Front Range Chamber Players shows will be her first time bringing the theremin to such heights.
“Reeds don’t work for oboe at altitude for some reason, or they never work the same way,” she says. "I have not actually played theremin at altitude, so I’m hoping there are no surprises there.”
Theremin: Hollywood to Colorado, 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 1980 Dahlia Street, and 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, Fort Collins High School, 3400 Lambkin Way, Fort Collins. Tickets are $25.
