Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras - Music Center at Strathmore
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Youth orchestras celebrate 60 years of music

Montgomery County youth orchestras celebrate how far the organization has come with a concert at Strathmore.  Anniversary concert plays on success

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Zaid Hamid⁄Special to The Gazette Emily Brown (left), a sixth-grader at Middletown Middle School in Myersville, and Lauren Barber, a seventh-grader at Herbert Hoover Middle School in Potomac, rehearse for the 60th anniversary celebration of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras, held May 21 at the Music Center at Strathmore. More than 400 students participate in the Washington, D.C., area’s oldest youth orchestra program founded by a Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School music teacher.     Photos by Zaid Hamid⁄Special to The Gazette Students in the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras rehearse one last time before performing to a sold-out audience at the Music Center at Strathmore.

Just a few years ago, the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras had no place to call home, rehearsing in low-ceilinged school cafeterias, with violinists interspersed among pillars and acoustics echoing off tables and chairs.

Concerts were held on cramped high school stages where lights and air conditioning sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t.

Now, MCYO is the resident youth orchestra program of the Music Center at Strathmore, rehearsing in acoustically enhanced practice rooms and performing in a world-class concert hall.

Last weekend, MCYO marked its 60th anniversary, honoring alumni and celebrating how far the organization has come.

The progress made over the years has been ‘‘unbelievable,” said artistic director Olivia Gutoff, remembering one concert where a broken air conditioning system caused the auditorium to feel ‘‘well over 100 degrees.”

‘‘We’ve gone from that situation to an ideal concert setting in probably one of the more beautiful halls in the country,” she said. ‘‘That has added a dimension to the performance.”

The celebration at Strathmore featured a sold-out gala concert by the three full orchestras of MCYO — Young Artists, Symphonic and Philharmonic — as well as an alumni orchestra.

Students performed famous classical works, but the highlight was a musical piece composed specifically for the occasion by MCYO alumnus Joseph McIntyre.

‘‘There’s a lot of symbolism in it,” Gutoff said. ‘‘He actually interspersed in all three movements the theme of ‘Happy Birthday.’”

In 1946, MCYO began as an extracurricular orchestra program, called Montgomery County Youth Orchestra, for the county’s best music students.

Chester Petranek, then an instrumental music teacher, led rehearsals at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School for the roughly 50-member group known as the Montgomery County Youth Orchestras.

‘‘He felt that the very talented kids of Montgomery County needed an outlet for their like-talent,” Gutoff said.

Though he died in 2004, Petranek left a musical legacy.

Over time, MCYO grew into what it is today — a 420-student program with three full orchestras, two string orchestras and harp ensemble.

More than 1,000 students in grades four through 12 auditioned last August and competition has become fierce in every instrumental section, said Gutoff, who also conducts the Philharmonic orchestra, the MCYO senior orchestra.

‘‘I turn away string bass players, I turn away percussionists, I turn away oboists and bassoonists,” she said. ‘‘That’s unlike prior to 20 years ago.”

As the number of auditioning and participating students has grown over the years, MCYO’s prestige has grown as well.

In the past, MCYO has earned invitations to play for the International Festival of Youth in Switzerland, the Johann Strauss Centennial Celebration in Austria, the Music Educators National Conference and the Mid-West International Band Clinic.

Numerous MCYO alumni have also gone on to professional music careers, with some playing for the likes of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and some teaching instrumental music, said alumni coordinator David Lashof.

Lashof, who played violin in MCYO from 1969 to 1976 under Petranek, said MCYO was always ‘‘very, very family.”

‘‘I loved every minute of it,” he said.

Four years ago, MCYO changed its name to the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras to reflect the expanded geography of its student members and also to distinguish it from other counties name Montgomery in the nation.

The growth of MCYO has been ‘‘amazing,” Gutoff said.

‘‘Sometimes I pinch myself and wonder how all of this happened. But then when I really think about it, I know how it happened.

‘‘I have a fabulous conducting staff ...,” she said. ‘‘They’re all extremely gifted teachers and outstanding musicians in their own right. They’re very caring people and they’re very demanding of the kids.”

Raymond Goh, a Potomac native who played in MCYO from sixth grade to his junior year in high school in 1997, remembers the demands of playing clarinet in MCYO.

‘‘The expectation is raised really high of the students, so we were playing really hard music and it sounded really good, especially for a youth orchestra,” he said. ‘‘Overall, it’s as close to being professional when you’re in high school as you can be.”

The educational and artistic experience of MCYO is engendered through the talent and high expectations of the students, Gutoff said.

‘‘They’re talented and they’re very eager and it’s amazing how passionate they are,” she said. ‘‘When you can capture that, it’s a very exciting experience.”

For the future, Gutoff said she hopes MCYO continues maintaining its high musical standards and reputation.

‘‘It’s like the Olympics,” she said. ‘‘Everybody wants to win a gold medal, but only one person eventually gets it. ... Staying at the top is harder than getting there.”0

She also hopes to create more partnerships with musicians that perform at Strathmore, holding master classes with world-class musicians.

Being at Strathmore has placed MCYO at a ‘‘unique position in the country,” Gutoff said.

Some youth orchestras perform in fine concert halls, but rehearse in drab spaces. Others rehearse in acoustically enhanced rooms, but perform on less-than-stellar stages.

MCYO, however, has ‘‘the best of all possible worlds,” she said.