CHARLES COUNTY, Md. — Spend Saturday, June 13, with the Charles County Youth Orchestra and enjoy two different concerts. The first concert will be at 12 noon at ArtsFest at the Village Green in Indian Head. Students from all four of CCYO’s ensembles: Prelude Strings, Encore Band, Encore Strings and the CCYO will perform the 1812 Overture, Ode to Joy, as well as music by Pachelbel, Handel and music from The Avengers. Then at 4 p.m., CCYO will hold its 7th annual Concerto Competition Concert at Christ Church, La Plata. Seven of CCYO’s talented students will perform and compete for a chance to perform solo with the orchestra and cash prizes. Music will include works by Mozart, Goltermann, Bloch and more.
Upcoming summer concerts include July 3 at 8 p.m. at the Alice Ferguson Foundation in Accokeek, and the CCYO Chamber Music Festival concerts July 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 4 p.m. at Christ Church, La Plata.
All concerts are free and open to the public.
Auditions for next season will be held Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Christ Church, La Plata. All levels and instruments, except piano, are warmly encouraged to audition.
CCYO consists of 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 George’s, St. Mary’s, Calvert and Anne Arundel counties, as well as Charles County. Recently, CCYO has been featured in an online film by the Charles County Arts Alliance and on WTOP radio. Furthermore, two CCYO String Quartets were finalists in the Washington Performing Arts Society Misbin Chamber Music Competition in Washington, D.C.
CCYO presents two large concerts and several smaller concerts each year, a two-week Chamber Music Festival with additional chamber music concerts, a Concerto Competition Concert as well as masterclasses and sectionals for students in all four of CCYO’s ensembles. This past year CCYO has performed concerts at the Port Tobacco Courthouse, the Maryland Veterans Museum, Kris Kringle at the Fairgrounds, the Village Green in Indian Head, Christ Church, La Plata, and the Alice Ferguson Foundation.
The Charles County Youth Orchestra is supported by grants from the Charles County Charitable Trust, the Charles County Arts Alliance and the Maryland State Arts Council, as well as donations from generous individuals.
