Paul Duarte was born and raised in Turlock CA. He is the son of Jorge and Grace Duarte and the youngest of his siblings. He been involved with music & music performance from very young . His grandfather, Manuel Vega Duarte was the conductor of the Serreta and Altares marching bands and was the first conductor of the Portuguese marching band from Livingston CA known as Lira Acoreana and conducted the band for 5 years from 1981-1986. Paul’s father, Dr. Duarte, has been playing music since he was little and continues to play in Tracy band with his son. Paul joined Tracy band in 2013 playing both trumpet and tuba depending on what was needed that day then in 2016 he was invited to join Lira Acoreana to play in the Azores. Joining with friends his age with passion for music, they made sure to represent America in the homeland of the Azores. Paul graduated from Turlock High School in 2018 where he played in the jazz band and the symphonic band. Paul has been a musically inclined individual his entire life. At the age of four he began to take drum lessons then at 8 years old he began shifting his musical talents to piano, accordion, and trumpet. He now has been playing those instruments for over 10 years and has a vast repertoire of music under his belt.
In November of 2017 Frank Sequeira approached me and said he had a vision of creating a new musical group with a new Generation of young individuals of Portuguese decent and the goal to become the best Portuguese American band in California . We then began discussing possibilities of the upcoming of a new band later to be called generations.
What began as a musical family inviting me into the family band quickly became jam sessions, then after the turn of the new year into 2018 was when things began picking up. After a lot of hard work and practice, the group became official! GENERATIONS...