WALDORF, Md. — The Charles County Youth Orchestra (CCYO) will host its annual Winter Concert on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at Thomas Stone High School, located at 3785 Leonardtown Rd, Waldorf, MD. This event is free and open to the public, with a reception to follow.
The Winter Concert will showcase performances from CCYO’s various ensembles, offering an engaging program that highlights classical and contemporary music:
- CCYO Orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov’s The Caravan from Turkish Fragments, and Accolay’s Violin Concerto, featuring 2024 Concerto Competition winner Aaron Oribello as soloist.
- Prelude Strings, the beginner string ensemble, will present three works by Baltimore-based composer Brian Balmages.
- Encore Strings will perform Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in D Major, and Encore Band will entertain with Fiesta Rock and Henry Mancini’s The Pink Panther.
- Combined Ensembles: Encore Strings and Band will collaborate on Mozart’s Overture to the Abduction from the Seraglio. The concert will conclude with all four ensembles uniting for a rousing rendition of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
Mid-year auditions for all CCYO ensembles will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Christ Church in La Plata. For audition details, visit the official CCYO website: https://www.charlescountyyouthorchestra.org/auditions.
The Charles County Youth Orchestra is one of Southern Maryland’s largest youth music organizations, providing educational and performance opportunities for talented musicians aged 7 to 18 across Charles, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, and Calvert counties. The organization’s annual calendar includes two major concerts, smaller community performances, a Chamber Music Festival, a Concerto Competition, and masterclasses.
In the past year, CCYO ensembles have performed at venues such as the Port Tobacco Courthouse, Alice Ferguson Foundation, Nanjemoy Community Center, and Christ Church, La Plata. They’ve also been featured on WTOP Radio and in an online film produced by the Charles County Arts Alliance. Two of its string quartets were finalists in the prestigious Washington Performing Arts Society Misbin Chamber Music Competition.
CCYO is supported by grants from the Charles County Arts Alliance, the Charles County Charitable Trust, the Maryland State Arts Council, and generous donations from the community.
