By: Adeline Melton, Tiffany Melton, and Grace Stamm
Jacob Duff is a passionate oboist at Loganville High School. He has received a scholarship to Interlochen and the Boston University Tanglewood Institution. He was accepted into the Georgia All-State Orchestra. He plays oboe for Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony. Jacob told us his favorite part of music, among other aspects, is getting to the goal of his hard work:“My favorite thing about music is that I get to enjoy evoking emotion. I get to be a part of doing something that’s entertaining. It’s a lot like a sport, you train for it, practice and rehearse. My favorite thing is getting to the goal of that.” Jacob got an offer for a scholarship at Interlochen, a musical institute and summer program that focuses on band and orchestra talents. He also received a $5,000 scholarship to the Boston University Tanglewood Institution. For the audition process, he was given a list of excerpts that put the technical and lyrical aspects of his craft to the test. Jacob played five to seven of those excerpts and preformed two solo pieces. His hard work paid off, and he was noticed by the principal oboist at Tanglewood, who is a very big name in the oboe community. When asked why he chose to go with Tanglewood, he told us, “The opportunities there are just - for me - a little different. The way the camp is set up is more independent and less rigid. I got a very good opportunity to study with the principal oboist (one-on-one lessons normally offered to college students).” Jacob has a copy of John Ferrillo’s, principal at Tanglewood, book of audition excerpts, and he wants to get it signed when he meets him. Additionally, Jacob is a part of the Georgia All State Orchestra. He had to audition and make a certain score to get in. He explained, “We got to play a concert of music they gave to us. We prepared, rehearsed and played for nine hours straight for like two days and had the concert. It’s a giant thing. Just my orchestra is like 100 people, there’s four groups in 11th and 12th, four groups in 9th and 10th, and four groups in middle school.” However, his musical experience doesn't end there. Jacob plays oboe in the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra. They have three concerts a year and practice once a week. They also have an annual tour - this year they’re traveling to Nashville. He also tried out for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra but didn't make the cut, commenting, “I had a bad audition. It taught me a lot about preparing for an audition, overdoing instead of under-doing it, which is what I did. I spread myself too thin. The day before, I had my APUSH exam, and three days after, I had drama performances.” Music has influenced Jacob’s life and given him so many life changing experiences: “It has given me a lot of my friendships, and taught me a lot of lessons about being a good person. [It helped me with] working well with others because you work with so many people who are really different than you, but may have the same goal. It’s taken me all over the world. This summer I’m going to Boston. I’ve been to Florida, New York, and France. I’ve had a lot of good things in my life because of music."