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HCYO

The High School Gifted and Talented Orchestra has been renamed the Howard County Youth Orchestra. The orchestra got their start as the Howard Regional Youth Orchestra over a quarter century ago.  One of Maryland's premier youth orchestras, the HCYO has performed at New York's Carnegie Hall, Washington, DC's Kennedy Center, The Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and Baltimore's Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. In 2019, we shared the stage with TwoSet Violin for two incredible concerts and in 2022, we had the distinct pleasure of performing with Time for Three.

Our next concert will be on May 17, 2025 and will feature the music of Ruth Gipps, Michael Gandolfi, and our concerto competition winner, Lydia You performing the Mozart C Major Oboe Concerto! This concert is at the Jim Rouse Theatre in Columbia, MD at 2pm. There are no tickets required for this concert.

On May 18th, we will be joining Ben Folds at Merriweather Post Pavilion for an incredible evening. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.

Auditions

Auditions for the 2026-2027 school year are now closed.

Thank you to all of the students who auditioned!  We received 185 students auditions and we have enjoyed listening to all of the wonderful work that was accomplished.  Audition results will be sent by email starting on June 4th and continuing through June 7th. They will not all be sent at the same time. Because of the proximity of the NOI concert we are sending out acceptances as soon as we are sure of audition’s status. This means that you may hear of others receiving their acceptance letters before you receive your result. Please be patient with us as we work through the audition review process. If you do not receive your result by June 8th, please contact the directors using the form on this site.

Audition submissions for the 2026-2027 season will be due on May 31, 2026 Percussion auditions will be held at Howard Community College.

Below is a draft schedule for the 2026-2027 season.


NOI Side by side

  • Tuesday, June 9th - 7pm-9pm - Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, June 11th - 7pm-9pm - River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Saturday, June 13th - 9:00am-9:00pm - University of Maryland, College Park


Concert 1

Winter Concert

w/ MSGTO

  • Tuesday, August 25th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, September 1st - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, September 8th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, September 15th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, September 22nd- 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, September 29th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, October 6th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, October 13th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, October 20th- 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, October 27th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, November 3rd - 7pm-9:15pm - no rehearsal, election day

  • Tuesday, November 10th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, November 17th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, December 1st - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, December 8th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, December 15th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Sunday, December 20th - Concert - 2:00 pm (11am call) - Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake HS

  • TBD - Concerto Competition - 3pm-7pm - Meyerhoff?

  • Winter Concert Snow Date is January 5th (Rouse)

Concert 2

BSO Side-by-side

  • Tuesday, January 5th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, January 7th - 7pm-9:15pm Snow date for 1/5 rehearsal)

  • Tuesday, January 12th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, January 14th - 7pm-9:15pm Snow date for 1/12 rehearsal)

  • Tuesday, January 19th- 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, January 21st - 7pm-9:15pm Snow date for 1/19 rehearsal)

  • Tuesday, January 26th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, January 28th - 7pm-9:15pm Snow date for 1/28 rehearsal)

  • Tuesday, February 2nd - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, February 4th - 7pm-9:15pm Snow date for 2/2 rehearsal)

  • Tuesday, February 9th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Thursday, February 11th - 7pm-9:15pm Snow date for 2/19 rehearsal)

  • Thursday, February 16th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room - moved due to Lunar New Year

  • Tuesday, February 23th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, March 2nd - SBS Concert time TBD - Meyerhoff


CONCERT 3

Spring Concert

w/ MSGTS

  • Tuesday, March 9th - 7pm-9:15pm no rehearsal, Eid ul-Fitr

  • Tuesday, March 16th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, March 30th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, April 6th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, April 13th - 7pm-9:15pm River Hill Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, April 20th- 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, April 27th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, May 4th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Tuesday, May 11th - 7pm-9:15pm Reservoir Rehearsal Room

  • Saturday, May 15th - Concert - 2:00 pm (11am call) - Jim Rouse Theatre

  • Possible Merriweather Show


HSGTO Concert Attire
*All orchestra members are required to wear formal attire for all performances*
Below are three choices. Choose the option with which you are most comfortable:
1. Tuxedo or black suit jacket and black slacks (no jeans or khaki pants), black button shirt, black bow tie, black dress shoes and long black socks.
2. Long black dress with black shoes. The dress doesn’t have to be long sleeved, but elbow length, 3/4, or long sleeves are preferred.
3. Black slacks (no jeans) and a black dress shirt/blouse (3/4 or long sleeved) with black shoes and long black socks/hose.

HSGTO Attendance Policy

We strive to create an orchestral experience for our students that is musically rewarding and challenging.  In order to achieve this, it is important for all involved to exhibit commitment to rehearsal attendance, integrity in music preparation, and proper rehearsal etiquette.  With this in mind, we would like to provide a clear attendance policy to ensure a success for the orchestra as a whole.

1. Attendance for all rehearsals and concerts is mandatory.

2. Students will be permitted one excused rehearsal absence per concert. All excused absences must be communicated by email to directors@hocoyo.org and approved by the directors at least two weeks in advance of the absence (except for sickness and emergencies). Absences due to illness must be communicated before 3pm on the day of the rehearsal.

3. Excused absences may include the following: college visits, school concerts, athletic games (not practices), school Spring trips.

4. All other absences are unexcused, including: Social activities, school homework/projects, studying for tests, etc.

5. After any absence, students may be required to play for the directors before the next rehearsal at 6:00PM.

6. After one excused absence per concert or after ANY unexcused absence, the student’s participation in HCYO will be subject to review by the directors.

It is our expectation that all students will abide by these guidelines, thus creating a more positive and productive musical experience for everyone. 

Past Seasons

Click on some images to hear recordings.

 

Concert Recording - December 17, 2023

2023-2024

  • Ranaan Meyer: Concerto for My Family

  • Jessie Montgomery: Coincident Dances

  • Copland: Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo

  • Bolcom/Primatic: Graceful Ghost Rag

  • Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

  • Prokofiev: 2nd Suite from Romeo and Juliet

  • Brahms: Academic Festival Overture

  • Kabalevsky: Cello Concerto #1, Yehji Hwang - Cello

  • Shostakovich: Symphony #5

  • Tank and the Bangas at Merriweather

Concert Recording - February 20, 2024

Concert Recording - May 19, 2024

Tank and the Bangas with HCYO at Merriweather - April 21, 2024


2022-2023

  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony #4, Finale

  • Beethoven: Symphony #6

  • Moncayo: Huapango

  • Borodin: Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor

  • Guster at Merriweather


2021-2022

  • Hisaishi: Howl’s Moving Castle

  • Hisaishi: Totoro

  • Back to the Future

  • Chronicles of Narnia

  • John Williams: Star Wars Suite

  • Time for Three


Concert Recording - Nov. 3, 2019 - Repertory and Symphony Orchestras

Concert Recording - Nov. 3, 2019 - Repertory and Symphony Orchestras

2019 - 2020

  • Sibelius: Finlandia

  • Copland: Our Town

  • Saint-Saëns: Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah

  • Mozart: Symphony #35, 1st mvt.

  • Holst: The Planets, I. Mars, II. Venus, III. Mercury, IV. Jupiter

2018 - 2019

  • Marquez: Danzon #2

  • TwoSet Violin

  • Strauss: Feierlicher Einzug

  • Mozart: Don Giovanni Overture

  • Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite

  • Delius: The Walk to Paradise Garden

  • Shostakovich: Ballet Suite No. 1

  • Verdi: Nabucco Overture

  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5, 4th mvt.

  • Sibelius: Symphony #2

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Concert Recording - Dec. 2, 2018 - Symphony Orchestra

Concert Recording - Dec. 2, 2018 - Symphony Orchestra

Concert Recording - Dec. 2, 2018 - Repertory Orchestra

Concert Recording - Dec. 2, 2018 - Repertory Orchestra

Concert Recording: TwoSet Violin - October 21, 2018

Concert Recording: TwoSet Violin - October 21, 2018

Concert Recording: May 6, 2018

Concert Recording: May 6, 2018

Concert Recording: December 3, 2017

Concert Recording: December 3, 2017

2017 - 2018

  • Kabalevsky: Overture to Colas Breugnon

  • Dvorak: Symphony #9, from the New World

  • Ginastera: Estancia

  • Rossini: La Scala di Seta Overture

  • Stravinsky: The Firebird (1919)

  • Weber: Oberon Overture

  • Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2, 1st and 4th mvts.

  • John Mackey: Mass

  • Leonard Bernstein: Overture to Candide

  • Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto, op. 54 in a minor, 1st mvt. Gloria Cai, piano

  • Walter Piston: The Incredible Flutist


2016-2017

  • Copland: Buckaroo Holiday and Hoedown from Rodeo

  • Rossini: William Tell

  • Berlioz: Rakoczi March

  • Faure: Requiem

  • Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture

  • Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

  • Gershwin: Cuban Overture

  • Mozart: Overture to the Marriage of Figaro

  • Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet

  • Shostakovich: Symphony #5, 1st and 4th mvts.

  • Dvorak: Carnival Overture

  • Copland: Clarinet Concerto (Madelyn Armes, Clarinet)

  • Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis

Concert Recording: October 2, 2016Kennedy Center

Concert Recording: October 2, 2016

Kennedy Center

Concert Recording: December 4, 2016

Concert Recording: December 4, 2016

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Concert Recording: May 21, 2017

Concert Recording: May 21, 2017


2015 - 2016

  • Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite

  • Borodin: Symphony #2

  • Borodin: Polovetsian Dances

  • Beethoven: Symphony #5, 3rd and 4th mvts.

  • Wagner: Die Meistersinger Overture

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnole

  • Prokofiev: Symphony #7

  • Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from Samson and Delila

  • Grieg: Piano Concerto


2014 - 2015

  • De Meij: Lord of the Rings, Gandalf

  • Brahms: Symphony #1, 4th mvt.

  • Smetana: The Bartered Bride, Overture

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture

  • Beethoven: Fidelio Overture

  • Mahler: Symphony #2, 1st mvt.

  • Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, 1st mvt

  • Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture

  • Sibelius: Symphony #2, 3rd and 4th mvt.

  • Stanley Leonard: Circus for percussion ensemble

  • Bach/Stokowski: Toccata and Fugue in d minor

  • Bruch: Violin Concerto #1, 1st mvt.

  • Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

  • Beethoven: Symphony #6, Mvts. 4 and 5


2013 - 2014

  • Mozart: Die Zauberflote Overture

  • Brahms: Symphony #2, 1st Mvt.

  • Lortz: Deus Ex Machina

  • Williams: Star Wars Suite

  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6, 3rd and 4th mvt.

  • Prokofiev: Violin Concert No. 2, 1st Mvt.

  • Dvorak: Symphony #8

  • Berlioz: Le Corsaire Overture

  • Saint-Säens: Cello Concerto No. 1, 1st mvt.

  • Respigi: Vetrate di Chiesa, II. San Michele Arcangelo

  • Wagner: Sigfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung

  • de Falla: The Three Cornered Hat


2012 - 2013

  • Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

  • Smetana: Ma Vlast (My County), II. The Moldau

  • Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastic, IV. Marche au supplice and V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat

  • Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine

  • Elgar: Enigma Variations

  • Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #3

  • Mahler: Symphony #1, 1st and 4th mvts.

  • Williams: The Cowboys

  • Prokofiev: Montegues and Capulets

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, 1st and 4th mvts.

  • Chaminade: Flute Concertino


2011-2012


2010-2011


2009-2010


2008-2009


2007-2008


2006-2007


2005-2006


2004-2005


2003-2004


2002-2003


2001-2002

  • Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain

  • Debussy: Clarinet Rhapsody

  • Dvorak: New World Symphony (Finale)

  • Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man

  • Rossini: William Tell Overture

  • Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture

  • Rossini: Barber of Seville Overture

  • Stravinsky: Firebird

  • Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

  • Rossini: La Gazza Ladra

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnole

 

Directors

Ben Denne

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Ben Denne is a graduate of Northwestern University where he studied Euphonium performance with Rex Martin and conducting with Mallory Thompson and John Paynter. He received a bachelor of music degree with an emphasis in both performance and education. He received his masters' degree in music education from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Mr. Denne has directed the orchestra program at Ellicott Mills MS since 1998.   In that time, the orchestra has grown from a small group of 4 violinists to a program that currently reaches ~170 students in four orchestras.  Mr. Denne is a frequent guest conductor around the state of Maryland, where he has conducted county middle-school and high-school honor groups.  He has also served on adjudication and assessment panels for Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford, and Montgomery Counties.  He has had a place on the music leadership team in Howard County for 8 years and has worked on many curriculum writing teams over the past 18 years.

A conductor of the Howard County High School Gifted and Talented Orchestra (formerly the Howard Regional Youth Orchestra) since 2002, Mr. Denne has taken students to perform at Carnegie Hall, the Midwest Clinic, and most recently the Kennedy Center, where the orchestra performed a side-by-side concert with the top student orchestra from Beijing, China.

For 10 years, Mr. Denne also served as the director of the Howard High School orchestra, adding a second orchestra and doubling the number of students reached in the program.  The Howard High Orchestras and Mr. Denne were awarded recognition and won competitions for performances in Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Virginia Beach, and Myrtle Beach.

Ben maintains a small studio of private students on euphonium, trombone, and tuba, and performs with Butte and Friends and One Flight Up on trombone.  He resides in Columbia, MD with his wife Beth, daughter Katie, and puppy Rio.


Colin o'Bryan

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Colin O’Bryan has been an educator in Howard County Public Schools since 2000.  A graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with a degree in Double Bass Performance, Mr. O’Bryan has previously been the Orchestra Director at Atholton, Howard, and Mount Hebron High Schools in Howard County Maryland.  He is currently the Orchestra Director at Reservoir High School, where he also teaches Music Theory I and  Theory II AP.  In addition, Mr. O’Bryan has served as Director of the Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestra, Howard County Repertory Orchestra, Baltimore County Middle School GT Orchestra and the Southern Maryland All County Orchestra.  Mr. O’Bryan also served on the review and appointment panel for the position of Conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra.   As a bassist, Mr. O’Bryan has served as a clinician with the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra, and the New York String Teachers Association Summer String Institute at Ithaca College.  He has also been an adjudicator for various county and state festivals and assessments.  Colin has been a part of Bassworks since its inception, and serves as director of one of its many chamber groups.


Tim McKay

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Tim McKay has been the percussion coach for the youth orchestra organization since 2007. He currently serves on faculty at Howard Community College where he teaches applied percussion lessons and maintains a strong private teaching studio through HCC's Music Institute program. Many of his students have performed in county and state-level ensembles, prestigious national music festivals, and have been accepted into the leading music schools and conservatories across the country. He is the director of the Drummin' Dragons Summer Percussion Camp, and is a former recipient of HCC’s Adjunct Faculty of the Year award.

Mr. McKay is an active freelance performer and enjoys his myriad of playing opportunities - everything from accompanying local choirs and musical theater, to classical and contemporary music. He performs most often with the Apollo Orchestra. Notable performances include Christopher Rouse's percussion concerto Der geretette Alberich with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and PBS's A Capitol Fourth celebration on the National Mall with American Idol winner Phillip Phillips.

Mr. McKay holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (BM) and the University of Maryland (MM). In addition to music, Mr. McKay enjoys homeschooling his kids, coaching his son’s baseball team, and baking artisan bread. He resides in Columbia with his with his wife, Amanda, and children Isabelle and Zach. In his spare time you can find Mr. McKay hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains and biking the back roads of Howard County.

 

Contact Us

Please contact us if you have any questions about the orchestra.

 

 

hCPSS Music Office

5451 Beaverkill Road
Columbia, MD, 21044