Music makes friends!

About the orchestra

The College Park Youth Orchestra was created in 2006 to help young string players develop their reading and listening skills and to introduce them to the joys of ensemble playing. The orchestral repertoire is carefully selected to challenge the reading abilities of the advanced beginner through advanced intermediate level string player.

To best meet the needs of its members, the CPYO comprises two ensembles. The Primary Ensemble emphasizes the development of fundamental reading and listening skills while introducing its members to the joys of ensemble playing. The Intermediate Ensemble offers a more challenging repertoire to students with previous ensemble experience, more technical skill, and greater reading proficiency.

CPYO is a program of the College Park Arts Exchange and is supported in part by the Prince George's Arts Council.

About the director

Kenneth Whitley received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Performance degrees from the University of Michigan. He spent nine years with the D.C. Youth Orchestra program, where he served as both conductor and cello instructor. In 1992, he helped found and became director of the Mount Royal Symphonic Orchestra, a nonprofit organization that offered musical instruction to children who would not otherwise have been able to study a musical instrument. He has been guest conductor for the InterSchools Orchestra of New York and the Junior Philharmonic of Tokyo, and festival conductor and adjudicator throughout Maryland and Virginia. Mr. Whitley lives in Baltimore where he oversees the Middle School Music Program and directs two vocal ensembles at The Bryn Mawr School. He lives with his wife, Jane Cromwell, and son, Cooper.

Locations

Rehearsals are held in the Old Parish House at 4711 Knox Road (at Dartmouth Avenue) in College Park.

Dates and times, 2007-2008

The College Park Youth Orchestra meets on scheduled Sunday afternoons, generally odd Sundays of the month, from September through June. The orchestra performs concerts in the fall, winter, and spring.

The CPYO's Primary Ensemble rehearses from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. The Intermediate Ensemble rehearses from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Occasionally, rehearsal times may be adjusted to allow both ensembles to rehearse together.

For tuning and warm-up, players should arrive 15 minutes early for rehearsals and one hour early for concerts.

Membership requirements

All members must be taking lessons, either privately or in a group, apart from CPYO.

Members of the Primary Ensemble are expected to have skills which, at minimum, include reading knowledge of all the notes in first position; the common rhythmic note values of quarter, eighth, half, and whole and their equivalent rests; and a comfortable physical set-up. Suzuki students should be working on the Bach Minuets in Book 1 and beyond.

Members of the Intermediate Ensemble will be competent readers with knowledge of third position and experience with keys of up to three sharps and three flats. It is recommended that students be working on solo repertoire comparable to that in Suzuki Book 4. They will typically have had some previous ensemble experience, such as a prior CPYO year.

The conductor will place each student in either the Primary Ensemble or the Intermediate Ensemble and may revise placement after a concert or, if helpful to the student, at any other time.

Fees

Tuition for the year is $275, due at or before the second meeting in the fall. Students may attend the first meeting as a free trial. Checks should be payable to College Park Arts Exchange.

How to join

Print the CPYO registration form, fill it in, and mail it to the address on the form or bring it to the first rehearsal. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Early registration is highly recommended as spaces are limited. Should openings become available during the year, vacancies will first be offered to those on the waiting list.

Repertoire

• Carl Strommen, Stone Mountain Stomp
• Jean-Joseph Mouret, Rondeau from Suite des Symphonies No. 1
• Soon Hee Newbold, Dragon Dances
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, BWV 147
• Soon Hee Newbold, Song of the Sea Mariner
• Elliot Del Borgo, Celtic Fiddle Tune
• Reinhold Glière, Russian Sailors' Dance from The Red Poppy
• Joseph Brackett, Simple Gifts
• Gioachino Rossini, William Tell Overture

• Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Sandra Dackow, Concerto alla Rustica in G Major, RV 151
• Arcangelo Corelli, arranged by Sandra Dackow, Christmas Concerto, op. 6 no. 8
• Kirt N. Mosier, The Dance of Iscariot
• Henry Purcell, ed. by David Kerr, Chaconne from The Fairy-Queen, Z.629 ("Dance for the Chinese Man and Woman")
• Soon Hee Newbold, Arabian Dreams
• Peter Ilyich Tschaikowsky, arr. by Sandra Dackow, 1812 Overture
• Modest Mussorgsky, Hopak from The Fair at Sorochinsk
• Ludwig van Beethoven, Allegretto from Symphony 7
• Girolamo Frescobaldi, Toccata

• Johann Sebastian Bach, adapted and arranged by Merle J. Isaac, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, 1st movement
• M.L. Daniels, Air and Dance
• Gustav Holst, Brook Green Suite
• Terry McQuilkin, Salisbury Overture
• Antonio Vivaldi, Violin Concerto in A Minor, 1st movement

• Johann Christian Bach, arranged by Sandra Dackow, Sinfonia in D Major, Allegro
• Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Merle J. Isaac, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, 1st movement (abridged)
• Ludwig van Beethoven, arranged by John Caponegro, Ode to Joy (from Symphony No. 9, 4th movement)
• Michael McLean, March

CPYO in the news

12/12/2006: Outlook, the University of Maryland's faculty and staff newspaper, spotlighted Ashleigh Butler, an undergraduate majoring in music performance and music education, who has volunteered her time with the CPYO.

2/23/2006: The College Park Gazette profiled the CPYO shortly after its formation.

Sponsors

The College Park Youth Orchestra is supported in part by generous donations from:

• Gailes' Violin Shop
• Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Questions?

Contact a CPYO administrator by e-mailing admin@cpyo.net or call the College Park Arts Exchange at 301-927-3013.