WALDORF, Md. – The Charles County Youth Orchestra’s annual Winter Concert on Sunday, January 18, will begin at 3:00 p.m. and will be held at Thomas Stone High School, 3785 Leonardtown Rd, Waldorf, MD. This concert is free and open to the public and a reception will follow.
CCYO’s program will include Schubert’s Symphony #8, Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony, and the Violin Concerto No. 23 by Viotti with 2025 CCYO Concerto Competition winner Autumn-Sky Leroy as soloist. Encore Strings, CCYO’s mid-level string orchestra, will perform the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by J.S. Bach and Encore Band will entertain with Salute to Liberty.
Encore Strings and Band will join together for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture. Prelude Strings, CCYO’s beginning string ensemble, will perform three works by Baltimore composer Brian Balmages. The concert will conclude with a rousing rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” with all four ensembles performing together.
Mid-year auditions for CCYO will take place on February 7 from 9 AM to 12 PM at Christ Church, La Plata. All levels and instruments, except piano, are invited to audition. Audition requirements and sign-ups are available at https://www.charlescountyyouthorchestra.org/auditions.
CCYO includes four ensembles: Prelude Strings for beginning string players, Encore Strings and Encore Band for intermediate musicians, and the Charles County Youth Orchestra for advanced musicians. CCYO serves students from Prince Georges, St. Mary’s, Calvert, and Anne Arundel counties, as well as Charles County.
CCYO presents three large concerts and numerous smaller concerts each year, a two-week Chamber Music Festival, a Concerto Competition Concert, masterclasses, and sectionals.
This past season CCYO ensembles have performed at the Maryland Veterans Museum, Port Tobacco Courthouse, Alice Ferguson Foundation, Nanjemoy Community Center, Kris Kringle at the Fairgrounds, Indian Head Village Green, Bel Alton High School, and Christ Church, La Plata.
Recently, CCYO has been spotlighted in an online film by the Charles County Arts Alliance and has been featured on
WTOP radio. Also, two CCYO String Quartets were finalists in the prestigious Washington Performing Arts Society Misbin Chamber Music Competition in Washington, D.C.
The Charles County Youth Orchestra is sponsored in part by grants from the Charles County Charitable Trust, the Charles County Arts Alliance, the Maryland State Arts Council and donations from generous individuals.
