Meet Trombonist Paul Wilkerson
At 45 years old, Paul Wilkerson reopened the musical chapter of his life. He had played violin in his high school orchestra and enjoyed music over the years, but it wasn’t until he helped found the Metro Parks Ensemble in 2001 that he really connected with music and took up playing the trombone.
“It has led to a whole renewal for me of a musical life,” says the now-63-year-old Copley resident. “Once this ensemble was going, it became a very important part of my life and who I am.”
Tuesday evenings throughout the summer, find him and his fellow Metro Parks Ensemble members playing music in parks across Summit County. Head to Munroe Falls Metro Park Aug. 6 to catch the group that’s believed to be the only all-volunteer music ensemble in the country affiliated with a park. The gigs give Wilkerson a chance to continue spending time in the parks after he retired in 2014 from his job as a Summit Metro Parks engineer following a 27-year tenure. Wilkerson chats with us about how music connects people, the joys of being a grandpa and staying active in your 60s.
Your father played with you in the ensemble until last year. How has music strengthened your relationship?
PW: My father never played an instrument his whole life. He dabbled a little bit with the ukulele, but that was it. When the ensemble started, he and I decided it was time to learn the trombone. I sat next to him for all those years, and he and I would compare notes. It was a really neat way to build a stronger bond with my dad.
Do you have a favorite park to play in?
PW: It always goes well at Munroe Falls. We play there once a month in the summer. That almost always gets a nice audience, and it’s a real nice setting by the lake.
Do you feel a connection to nature when you’re performing outdoors?
PW: It’s meaningful — the environment, the background of trees and the lake. We’re playing in the shade, you get a little breeze, you hear the birds. It’s a really cool place to be.
What do you like to do on a sunny summer day in Ohio?
PW: Yesterday would be a good example. I got on my bike and rode from Copley to Kent and then up into Hudson and back down to the valley. This morning too. I picked up my dad. He still rides a bike. He’s 87 years old, and we rode the bike trail.
What’s your favorite thing about The 330?
PW: The opportunity. There’s so much to do between the [Cuyahoga Valley] National Park and the [Summit] Metro Parks, and the music opportunities and the cultural things. The change of seasons just means more things to do.
What’s something about you that might surprise people?
PW: One of the joys of my life is our grandkids. We have three grandkids, and they finally moved back to Copley, so they’re real close. There’s nothing to compare to being a grandpa.
What kind of music do you listen to in your car?
PW: Old blues, like Eric Clapton blues, B.B. King, that kind of stuff. Guitar blues.
Is there any other instrument you’d like to learn?
PW: I’d like to develop piano more. My mom was a piano player, and after she passed away, I inherited her electronic keyboard. I’ve got that set up in the basement, and I’ve been messing around with that.
What does the ensemble do in the winter?
PW: We play in assisted living homes and places like that. We play the [Holiday] Tree Festival at the [John S.] Knight Center every year. We rehearse every Tuesday evening. We take a little hiatus in December and January. Then we come back and hit it.
What’s your favorite kind of music to play?
PW: The old popular stuff, like jazz from the ‘40s. When the group started, our main source of music was that stuff, and I was playing the bass. That was fun, especially when we get to the assisted living places. These older audiences, that brings back memories for them. That is really meaningful — to play the kind of music people respond to. When you see an old couple sitting there tapping their feet, holding hands or wanting to sing along, you know you’ve got it right.