Jeffrey Paul, principal oboist with the Sioux City and South Dakota Symphony Orchestras, grew up primarily in Southern California, and was an aspiring concert pianist by the age of ten. He was awarded opportunities to perform piano concerti with the Conejo Youth Symphony and the Pepperdine University Orchestra under the tutelage of Edward Francis. Jeff is the pianist for jazz group JAS Quintet, and performs regularly on saxophone. He can also be found playing Irish whistles and keyboards for Celtic band "Maggie in the Meantime." Jeff attended the Eastman School of Music (BM with performer’s certificate, 1999) and the University of Southern California (MM, 2003) for oboe performance. His primary teachers were Richard Killmer, David Weiss, and Allan Vogel. He has performed as an oboe soloist with the New West Symphony, Heidelberg Castle Festival Orchestra, Conejo Concerto Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony, and is a member of Duo Paul-Feris, with pianist Alessandra Feris.
Jeff has great interest in American roots and indigenous music, and was a recipient of the inaugural Ford Musician's Award from the League of American Orchestras in 2016 primarily for his work with the SDSO Lakota Music Project.
Jeff made his conducting debut during high school, when he assembled an orchestra to premiere his original concert overture during a Music Teachers Association convention, and has since had a few other guest appearances. He has conducted the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonia since 2008.
In composition, Jeff has received awards from the SDMTA, and Young Composer’s Guild of the Music Teachers Association of California. He has also received commissions from the South Dakota Symphony, Sisseton Arts Council, John T. Vucurevich Foundation, and the Young Artists Ensemble theater in California. He composes regularly for the Dakota Wind Quintet. A recent premiere of his Concerto for Oboe occurred with the Sioux City Symphony in February, 2024.
No stranger to the recording studio, Jeff has recorded for new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, hip-hop orchestra Dakah, JAS Quintet, vocalist Jami Lynn, and a spattering of independent films.
He is the proud father of three beautiful children.
