OUTSTANDING STUDENT
PEO PLE
Emerald Lewis Journey into music carries LMHS jewel home.
VITAL STATS
INTERVIEWER: JAMES COMBS
≈ PHOTO: NICOLE HAMEL
• Senior at Lake Minneola High School. • Maintains a weighted 5.0 grade-point average.
• Completed seven advanced placement courses and seven dual-enrollment courses.
Tell us about your journey into music: My grandmother had been
Xi’an, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. For me, this was very special because I’m from China and was adopted by an American family when I was 10 months old.
in musical theater her entire life and my two older sisters played piano, so I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life. I started band in sixth grade. I initially chose to play the alto saxophone, but there were too many students playing it, so I got put on oboe.
Why do you love the oboe? It’s very challenging and technical because it has two reeds. Most instruments only have one reed. With a double reed instrument like the oboe, two pieces of cane vibrate against each other when I blow against them. It takes a lot of precision. I spend about eight to 10 hours a week playing the oboe.
Where have you performed? I’ve performed in numerous honor bands, including the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) and the UCF Rising Knights Honor Band. I’ve also performed solo at several state musical festivals.
Tell about your favorite performance: I’m also involved with the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra, and in the summer of 2019, we toured and performed for 12 days in China. We went to Beijing,
What was it like to return to your native country? It was life changing. I enjoyed seeing the culture, eating the food, and being surrounded by other Chinese people. Since I don’t speak Chinese, communicating with others was a little difficult, but it motivated me to start studying the language.
Colleges applied to: The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Florida, and the University of Miami. I’ve already been accepted into Baylor University’s honors program.
Future plans? I want to do something in the medical profession so I can help people. However, I’d still like to find time to be part of an orchestra and perform in concerts. I’d also like to give private lessons.
What would you like to do in the medical field? I’m not 100 percent sure. I do like neuroscience.
Know an outstanding student? Fill us in! Email your recommendations to james@akersmediagroup.com
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