Swing 7's Roster

Pamela Price Botts – Alto Saxophone and Flute

Pam got hooked on the “music high” in third grade when she heard the Mason City, IA, All-City Band (a city-wide 5th and 6th grade honors band) play at her school. She determined on the spot, that she would some day be a member of that group. Two years later, flute cradled in her arms, Pam took her first “band trip” with the Mason City All-City Band, and there has been no turning back! Following her love of working with young students, Pam has taught vocal and instrumental music in Texas, Missouri, and Massachusetts, and is currently at the Chickering School in Dover. Pam was also on the faculty of the Missouri University Music Department before moving to the Boston area. On flute, she has been a member of the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, The Chaminade Opera Group, the Sharon Community Band and now freelances for weddings, churches and private parties. On saxophone, Pam has played regularly with the Sil Melchiori Little Big Band and The Roy Scott Big Band.

Susan Capestro – Keyboard/Piano

Susan’s early years were spent in New Jersey at a time when New York City was an exceptional cultural center. A piano student at age 4, she grew up to be the founder of Wholeoctave.com, a fun website for keyboard enthusiasts. Susan also enjoyed a foray into the instrumental world as a horn player for a brassy decade or so. She is a composer and arranger of art music and contemporary music for documentaries, educational software products, and corporate videos. Susan is the author of several magazine articles on keyboard teaching and is a popular presenter at conferences for music teachers. She holds a Masters in Music from Northwestern University in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, and two Bachelor Degrees from Ithaca College, in Piano Performance and Instrumental Music Education. She performs with symphony and jazz musicians, and teaches jazz and traditional piano repertoire synergistically.

Marie Gasbarro – Percussion

Marie grew up in Rhode Island, surrounded by music. Her parents met in her grandfather’s music store, which later became her parent’s music store. Her mom plays piano and her father played violin. Marie tried the violin as a child, but gravitated towards percussion instruments in her teens. She could be found in the percussion line of her high school stage band, playing both snare and bass drums. Marie purchased her first “very used” set of drums 13 years ago for $80 and a drum set has been a fixture at her house ever since. She has been playing with the Stellar Cellar Band for 6 years, a country-rock group composed of family and friends that gather a couple times a month to jam in Marie’s cellar or at birthday parties, summer cook-outs and pig roasts. When she is not playing the drums, Marie keeps busy as a Facility Manager for the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Mary Happ – Tenor and Alto Saxophone

Mary, following her father's lead, picked up the saxophone in high school and has played ever since. In fact, she still plays that first horn her father bought for her, a 1937 Conn 10M (a real product of the Big Band era!). Mary's job in the medical sciences has taken her from her hometown near Philadelphia, PA to Denver, CO and finally the Boston area. She has played in a variety of musical ensembles along the way, including a number of community concert bands, the Juniata Park String Band (with a march up Broad Street in Philadelphia's famous Mummers Parade), and the Roy Scott Big Band. In addition to music, Mary loves spending time in the great outdoors, but more often spends her days managing chemistry data and software applications at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

Joy Oakes – Trumpet and Flugelhorn

Joy hails from Arlington, MA and started playing the trumpet at age 12 after a visit with her family to the Boston Pops, where she decided music was definitely in her future. Initially she had wanted to play the trombone, but this wasn’t to be. In fact, it almost ended there with her first music teacher telling her she could never play the instrument due to her small size. Never a quitter, Joy decided she also loved the sound of the trumpet. Since then, she has been a member of the Lexington Bicentennial Band, Arlington Philharmonic, Harvard Summer Pops Band and a number of marching, concert, and ”feast” bands. In addition to Swing 7, she performs with the Boston Firemen’s Band and St. Alfio’s Band out of Lawrence, MA. During the day, she is employed at the Brigham and Women’s hospital as a staff nurse in family-focused/OB care.

Bridget Wagner – Bass Guitar

Bridget has been playing stringed instruments from an early age, starting with piano and violin. During high school, she was introduced to jazz guitar and bass, and the draw of the rhythm section was impossible to resist. Although high-school and college years included several stints as the "bass girl" in a number of rock bands, music always remained a hobby for her, so her involvement in Swing 7 has been an exciting development. Bridget grew up in New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia, and is an avid fan of both Philly and Boston sports teams. Her career interest is in biology, and she runs a research lab at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, studying the relationship between small molecules and diabetes.

Colleen Wheeler – Trombone

As a toddler, Colleen marveled at the trombones in military bands while living in Washington, DC. Thrilled to hold her first trombone at age 15, she's been playing the instrument ever since. Colleen studied trombone at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Eastman School of Music. She won awards for her teaching in New England and New York, where she was an early adopter of using technology and the Internet in musical settings. Colleen has performed with wind ensembles, orchestras, and many other kinds of ensembles. Currently part of the web strategy team at Wheaton College, she is a founder of The Slide Heard Round the World. A mother, wife, composer, conductor, cartoonist, and soon-to-be-published poet, she lives with her happy family in Massachusetts.