Every weekend, without fail, WCHS senior Kyle Cho travels eight hours up to New York and back to have nine hours of music classes from Professor Douvas at The Juilliard School. Cho started playing the oboe in fifth grade and has not stopped playing since. From Argentina to New York to Carnegie Hall, his love of the oboe has taken him worldwide.
“My dream instrument was a bassoon and the oboe at first was a transition instrument, but then I realized that I met some really nice oboeists and really liked the sound of the oboe,” Cho said. “ Oboe playing is unique in the sense that we make our reeds and customize our instruments, so everything is very personal when it comes to the oboe and I enjoy that part.”
Cho won the 2024 YoungArts competition and is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA). Cho won two Concerto Competitions by the “President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band and the “Pershing’s Own” U.S. Army Band and performed oboe concertos with both. In addition, Cho is the principal oboist for the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and the World Youth Wind Symphony. Cho is also a member of Maryland’s top youth orchestra, and in his free time volunteers by performing as an oboist at Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), an organization for individuals with disabilities.
“[Touring around with] NYO-USA was one of the best experiences I have ever had,” Cho said. “I mean, playing with such amazing musicians is such an honor and it is all you want as a musician. And touring itself, going to places like Argentina and Brazil, is like wow. The audience, the concert hall and the conductor were so amazing. But at the same time, it was really busy, so we stayed in each country for about two days, and most of it was packing and the flight, so there was no real time to practice.”
It has been difficult for Cho to manage the workload. As an oboist, in addition to practicing, he has to craft the actual part of the instrument, the reed, which he usually ends up spending up to four hours a day making. Cho has to balance this with school work, as well as budgeting time for when there are big tests to study for. Sometimes, he ends up having to just stay up late at night to cram.
“There was a period where I felt burnt out, especially after doing all those competitions,” Cho said. “But one of my teachers told me, as a musician, rather than thinking about the workload, you have to think about why you play music. It is not about playing the right notes but making the notes yours. Think of a piece of music as a blank, empty page, but what you can do with the page is what makes you an artist.”
After all that he has accomplished, Cho is only a senior in high school and now is looking forward to the future. His dream is to become an orchestral musician and spend the rest of his life doing something that he loves.
“I keep on having new memorable moments,” Cho said. “Like two days ago I kind of figured out a really important part of reed-making, which made me emotional because it is so hard. I’ve cut myself a lot because there are knives involved and I think that throughout June I spent basically ten hours a day trying to figure it out.”
Another memorable experience for Cho was winning competitions in his sophomore and junior years. Playing for the U.S. Marine Band was a daunting moment for Cho, especially since it was his first time playing with such a large group. He has already had several life-changing experiences, and without a doubt, being an oboe player has changed the course of his life. Throughout it all, he has taken his love of the oboe with him, and now he will take it with him into the future.
“I think what you always need to remember is that music is about putting yourself into it,” Cho said. “In a sense, you can always be yourself when you perform. I try to be me; I do not try to copy anyone, but I always try to show me, show the audience, that this is what I believe in.”
