By Angelina Ricker
When people mention the oboe, the next sentence that follows is usually, “Isn’t that just a clarinet?” While oboe and clarinet do share many similarities, such as being a woodwind, the oboe uses a distinctive double reed.
The other big difference, when it comes to the Lovett band, is that there are several clarinet players, but only one oboist: freshman Emily Choi.
Emily played the flute in lower school, before switching to the oboe. She picked it up because one of the people she admires played it, calling it “a really pretty sounding instrument.” Emily joked that one of the aliens in the Cantina band, from Star Wars, plays the oboe (hence the title photo.)
The biggest change from flute to oboe was the addition of a reed (well, two reeds), though that didn’t turn out to be a long-term obstacle.
The true problem, Emily says, was that she didn’t have a working oboe the first few months of playing. Now, the main issue is 16th note runs.
Emily’s favorite part of the oboe is the reed. Ironically, her least favorite part of the oboe is also the reed.
She does love seeing which color reed she’s going to get from her teacher. It’s “like a surprise birthday gift,” she said. What’s less fun is having to keep purchasing expensive reeds that wear down over time.
Colorful reeds aside, playing oboe takes a lot of practice. Almost every one of Emily’s weekends is filled with, you guessed it, practicing oboe. She even skipped homecoming to practice (I did my best to persuade her to come.)
On Saturdays, Emily likes to prepare in advance for her lessons the following day. This usually takes around two hours. On Sundays, Emily has hour-long sessions with her teacher where she works on improving her oboe skills (shout out to Ms. Cook!) She then attends the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO) at KSU to again practice for another two and a half hours.
Although I (and many other friends of Emily) have relentlessly heard her use the oboe as an excuse for not hanging out… practice does seem to be paying off.
Last year, Emily, who had made district two years before, made it to all-state band where she played one of her favorite pieces of music, “Tha Mi Sgìth.”
The first time she auditioned for state, she recalled, feeling anxious, not knowing what to expect. “[Even now] I’m still nervous because I want to do my best,” she said.
According to Emily, “You get the music three months in advance.” This allows for time to practice before auditioning.
“For district, you play eight scales, including the chromatic and your lyrical etude, and then you do sight reading. And if you score high enough to make state auditions, you also play your lyrical etude, and then you play your technical etude. And then you do sight reading,” she explained.
Emily said that she and other musicians gather in a classroom to audition in front of judges. One time, Ms. King (yes, our Ms. King) was one of the judges.
Before actually performing in the district band, they have a rehearsal. Here, they sight-read and practice the music. When rehearsing in the state band, the music is more difficult, so they get their music a few weeks beforehand to practice it and then rehearse it as an ensemble for a few days before their performance.
Going forward, Emily wants to improve her skills on the oboe. She hopes to get first chair at state, even though she already managed to get first chair at GYSO, and overall, to just practice more. She aspires to play more complex songs and overall strengthen her expertise.
