The stage lights are shining bright on Zachary Allen, the audience waits for him to play the first few notes. He brings the wooden reed to his lips and begins to play. The audience immediately becomes hypnotised and sits hungry for more. What Allen brings to the stage is unique compared to the average high school student.  

Allen first became interested in music in 4th grade. Students were given the option to choose one instrument and he chose the cello. Though he did love music, he realized his passion for cello was waning. The summer before 7th grade, he attended Interlochen Arts Camp to try and rejuvenate his interest in cello. While there, he heard someone playing the oboe solo from Scheherazade. “When I came back I immediately told my mom I wanted to play the oboe, so I switched instruments,” Allen said. Since then, he has excelled in oboe, and is now a part of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO). 

Recently, Allen was selected to be a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award Scholarship. “It’s a $10,000 scholarship for pre-college classical musicians. I received the scholarship in conjunction with being chosen to appear on NPR’s From the Top, so I will also be recording a performance and an interview for their radio show in May,” Allen said.

“I was surprised because I knew that they only picked 20 classical musicians a year around the country”.

Allen’s friend and fellow musician at CYSO, Anika Veda rehearses with Allen often.

“Allen is a driven person who is dedicated towards achieving his goals. However, no matter how serious his aspirations are, his fun-loving personality always shines through. I admire his hardworking nature as he is constantly prepared for rehearsals no matter how busy he may be”.

Allen loves the community in CYSO. “Everyone in CYSO is really good and every weekend they are constantly pushing each other to be better,” Allen said.

Allen is also a merit scholar at the Music Institute of Chicago (MIC) where he takes music lessons. In addition to studying music at MIC, he enjoys participating in their community service programs.

“I’ve had the opportunity to perform in their ‘Music as Service’ program where they take their students to homeless shelters or nursing homes and non-traditional venues and have them play small concerts. Over the pandemic we couldn’t do that anymore, so what they did instead was pair up students with a senior citizen and have bi-weekly zoom meetings where we would play for them and just talk because many people felt isolated during quarantine”.

Over the past year, many of Allen’s musical commitments were put on hold due to the pandemic. Allen’s orchestra had to cancel trips, concerts and even practice virtually. “My youth orchestra had to cancel our Spring concert in 2020, and our entire 2020-2021 season was virtual. Our first live concert in two years was this past November. I had also been awarded a number of performance opportunities as a result of winning multiple competitions last year, but was unable to perform. I was supposed to play at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, Germany but couldn’t go due to travel restrictions. I was also supposed to solo with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago after winning in the Wind’s Division of the DePaul Concerto Festival, but that performance was canceled as well. Luckily, some of my missed performances were able to be postponed. Towards the end of May, I will be making my Carnegie Hall debut as part of a winners recital for the 2020 American Fine Arts Festival”. Things are looking up for musicians, as concert venues are opening up again, but with restrictions. 

Though Allen is very busy because of his commitments with CYSO and MIC, he still finds time to play in the school symphonic wind ensemble. His band teacher, Liam Jackson thinks Allen is phenomenal. “Zach is a stunning oboist with a natural musical maturity far beyond his age. His extraordinary sound and sensitive musicianship makes him a leader in every ensemble he plays with and his always-curious personality ensures that he learns more every day. I feel extremely lucky to have met Zach, and I can’t wait to watch his career in music take off”.

Looking to the future, Allen is planning on majoring in oboe performance and going to a conservatory. Once he graduates, he hopes to get a job playing in a professional orchestra. This summer, he has a special opportunity. “I will be going on tour as a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. We will be performing in Berlin, Leipzig, Prague, and Vienna”.

If you would like to see more of Allen, you can visit @zacharyallen.oboist on instagram.