Oboist Receives Support From Initiative Geared Toward More Diversity In Classical Music

Oboist Zachary Allen with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Emeritus for Life during a masterclass and concert. Photo provided by the Silverman Group.
Oboist Zachary Allen with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Emeritus for Life during a masterclass and concert. Photo provided by the Silverman Group.

Oboist Receives Support From Initiative Geared Toward More Diversity In Classical Music

By Tia Carol Jones

Zachary Allen’s musical journey began with his playing the cello in elementary school. He attended a summer arts program and heard someone playing the oboe and fell in love with the sound of the instrument. He asked his mother if he could play the oboe and began playing the instrument in seventh grade.

With the help of the Chicago Music Pathways Initiative (CMPI), Allen has received support that has enabled him to perform around the country and world and get him into the Oberlin Conservatory, where he is pursuing degrees in Oboe Performance and Africana Studies.

The Chicago Music Pathways Initiative was launched in 2019 with the goal to address the lack of diversity in American orchestras by training student musicians from underrepresented backgrounds in sixth through twelfth grades. Those students receive financial, instructional and academic support through the initiative.

Allen heard about Chicago Music Pathways Initiative through an event about the launch of the initiative, and it sounded like something he wanted to be part of. Before that, he was slated to apply for private boarding schools for high school. He decided to stay in Chicago and audition for the initiative. He was admitted into the Chicago Music Pathways Initiative and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, along with other top music programs during his freshman year of high school. He said the Chicago Music Pathways Initiative was the most important because they gave him a mentor for his instrument and paid for his private lessons, as well as summer festivals, his instrument and youth orchestra tuition.

Allen said without the guidance of CMPI he wouldn’t have known how to progress in his career and would not have received as many opportunities as he did when he was in high school. He said he also received great instruction and guidance while he was in the program. One of Allen’s biggest performance opportunities came during the pandemic when he participated in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra masterclass with former music director Riccardo Muti.

“This masterclass was live streamed internationally and it was a crazy opportunity to get to work with great musicians, play for one of the greatest conductors and, in preparation for that performance opportunity and masterclass with Riccardo Muti, I had the opportunity to receive coaching from William Welter, who is the principal oboist at the Chicago Symphony,” Allen said. He added that he has been able to continue to take lessons with Welter when he is available.

Allen has won several national and international awards, and he was able to make his Carnegie Hall debut at 17. Allen, who was diagnosed with Lupus and Mixed Connective Tissue Disease during his junior year of high school, said he was grateful that CMPI continued to let him participate in the program. He said they were understanding, supportive and helped him as he continued his musical pathway and dealt with his illness.

“If I had not had the support of the CMPI and their mentors, the advisors and if they weren’t there to continue to support me, I definitely would not be where I am now,” he said.

For more information about the Chicago Music Pathways Initiative, visit chicagopathways.org.

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