Lara Wickes

Principal Oboe

Lara Wickes has been playing principal oboe with the New West Symphony since 2009.  She is also the principal oboist of the Santa Barbara Symphony. She performs regularly with many orchestras in Southern California, including the Pasadena Symphony, Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California, a Master of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Oregon. Lara works frequently as a recording musician, and can be heard playing oboe and English horn on many motion picture soundtracks. Her appearances at music festivals have included the Lucerne Music Festival under the direction of Pierre Boulez, as well as the Spoleto Festival USA, the Henry Mancini Institute, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and solo performances at the Chintimini Festival in Oregon.  She has appeared on television with several legendary singers, including Prince, Mariah Carey, and Andrea Bocelli.  In addition to oboe, Lara also plays theremin.  She has performed in Carnegie hall and Disney Hall on both oboe and theremin.  Originally from Corvallis, Oregon, Lara currently resides in North Hollywood with her husband, Ben and her baby son, Cyrus.