What is your hometown, what brought 

you to the Emerald Coast and how long 

have you been here? 

 

I grew up in Fort Walton Beach and lived there 

through high school until I left for college. I 

found my way back full time in 2005, after 

founding Sinfonia Gulf Coast, our region’s only 

fully professional symphony orchestra.

What is your profession and what led you 

to choose this profession?
I am a musician, specifi cally an orchestra 

conductor. The profession chose me. The music 

business is one that you just don’t wake up one 

day and decide you are going to be a musician. 

Many people aren’t aware of the incredible 

school music programs that we have here in 

Okaloosa and Walton Counties. The band 

programs in Okaloosa County, specifi cally, have 

a history of excellence in performance that rival 

many college programs. The solid foundation 

that I received in music during high school paved 

the way for me to be accepted in to one of the top 

music conservatories in the U.S.A., which then 

took me all over the world. I knew early on that 

music was my calling. I never looked back.

What do you like best about Destin and 

what makes it unique?
There are so many things to love about Destin, 

and they are all unique. Aside from the natural 

beauty, the sense of community is so strong, 

something that I have not witnessed in any of my 

travels. The combination of the people and the 

place is what makes Destin.

Give us three words that best describe 

you. 
Funny, Forthright, Frenetic

Favorite things you like about Destin.
The people and the history! What is not to like 

about a fi shing village that was partially founded 

by a bunch of crazy Greeks? (I had to work that 

one in for my mother!)

I AM DESTIN because…  
I grew up here, and it will always be a part of me 

no matter where life’s journey takes me. 

I AM DESTIN

Demetrius 

Fuller

photo by Marcia 

Wright-Reynolds for ELJ

98 I Am Destin - Demitrius Fuller.indd   1

11/27/18   10:21 AM