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Youth orchestra takes
talented students to new levels in music Nov. 19, 2003
A tradition of more than a half a century continues next month when the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras presents its first concert of the 2003-04 season Dec. 7 at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac. Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras is a nonprofit that works to nurture and develop talented young musicians in a quality orchestral program. Its four orchestras and one harp ensemble consist of a diverse group of talented musicians, all students in grades 4 through 12. Participants play in their respective orchestras based on their academic year and instrument. The orchestras include a symphony for grades 6-9, chamber strings for grades 4-6, a young adults orchestra for grades 5-8, the harp ensemble for grades 4-12 and philharmonic for grades 9-12. Olivia Gutoff, artistic director and senior orchestra conductor for the program, said participation requires talent, drive and a love for classical music. "It's a nurturing of the soul. When you're involved in the arts, you transcend daily things," Gutoff said. In the Washington region, a wealth of youthful, committed and gifted musicians vie for the opportunity to play for Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras, Gutoff said. The majority of the orchestras' musicians hail from Montgomery County, but some travel from Frederick, Howard, Prince George's counties and Washington, D.C. for once-a-week practices that stretch two-and-a-half hours. This year, 382 musicians were selected from 787 applicants following a competitive and annual late summer audition. Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras' members must audition each year to belong, and pay $385 in annual participation fees. Due to the number of musicians, three separate weekly practices are simultaneously held at three Potomac schools: Churchill, Cabin John Middle School and Herbert Hoover Middle School. "We wanted something somewhat central," said Gutoff as to why all the practices are held in Churchill cluster schools. "Many families have more than one child in the organization and we needed locations where parents could carpool." Carpooling will soon be a little less hectic because the Board of the Music Center at Strathmore selected the nonprofit to be its resident youth orchestra. The Center opens in 2005 in North Bethesda, according to information available on the Strathmore Web site. The orchestras have played at an assortment of national and international concert halls, including an annual Christmas Eve concert at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the National Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York since 1997, as well as concert tours through England and Wales in 1995 and Austria in 1999. Silver Spring resident Chester A. Petranek, an instrumental music teacher at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, founded Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras, then known as Montgomery County Youth Orchestra, in 1946. Petranek, for many years also a viola player in the National Gallery Orchestra, also founded the adult Montgomery County Symphony and a summer music program that eventually evolved into the Maryland Center for the Arts at Goucher College in Baltimore. A resident of Silver Spring, Petranek died Nov. 7 following a stroke. He was 87. Petranek's son, Gary, 57, also of Silver Spring, said Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras' move to Strathmore is in keeping with his father's work. "He was always a visionary...looking for opportunities to develop and expand," Gary Petranek said. "This is one more loop in growth, sharing and giving youth opportunity." Potomac resident Monica Guzikowski, 15, a sophomore at Churchill, is a member of the program's philharmonic, or senior orchestra. Guzikowski has been a viola player since 6th grade and a member of the program since 7th. She likes to spend evenings making music with her sisters Margaret, 13, a violin player in the nonprofit's symphony orchestra and Melissa, 10, a cello player in the chamber strings unit. "I think it's a lot of fun. The musicians play at a high level and I like the way it sounds," Guzikowski said. The annual audition keeps her focused, Guzikowski said. "I work all summer for it. I practice even harder. It's a little
nerve-wracking, but it pays off in the end," Guzikowski said.
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