Youth, String Orchestras Present Combined Concert Saturday

EDGEWOOD, MD — The Harford String Orchestra and Harford Youth Orchestra will present a combined concert Saturday, featuring the talents of students from sixth through 12th grades.

The concert will start at 1 p.m. at Edgewood High School, 2415 Willoughby Beach Rd. Hosted by Harford Community College, the annual spring concert is free and open to the public.

Brian Folus directs the Harford Youth Orchestra (HYO), which will present an All-American Composers program that includes two premier performances. The HYO and the Harford String Orchestra (HSO), under the direction of Anne Pape, will perform some audience favorites.

"This is our 26th year- both orchestra HSO and HYO have been performing together since our inception in 1999," Folus told Patch. "This is a great culminating activity. Both orchestras present a joint concert in November and April each year. The parents and students get to see the musical growth of their children. The students in HSO see what musical opportunity awaits them in high school.It has been my joy and pleasure to be involved with both of these orchestra since the very beginning."

The HYO is open to all high school string, wind and
percussion students currently enrolled in their school orchestra program. The HSO is open to all middle school string students currently enrolled in their school orchestra program.

This year, the HSO has 26 middle school-aged students, Folus told Patch.

"We are always open to involve more middle school-aged children in this group," Folus said. "This year in HYO, we have 44 high school-aged wind, percussion and string students."

The Harford Youth Orchestra and Harford String Orchestra was founded in 1999 by a group of Harford County music teachers wanting to develop a youth orchestra to augment and extend the musical experiences of the students of Harford County and the surrounding areas.

The Harford Youth and String Orchestra members come from highs schools in Harford, Cecil and Baltimore counties and include many homeschooled children. The orchestra presents two annual concerts, November and April.