Auditions for the 2011/12 season have already taken place. Details of 2012/13 auditions will be published in due course.

Benslow Instrument Loan Award

An annual award made to a young string player in Hertfordshire for the loan of an instrument from Benslow for 3 years.  The first year of loan will be  funded by Benslow and the second and third years by the Friends of County Youth Music Groups. For more information click here

Recent Events

• Winter Course - 18th-22nd December 2011
• CONCERT: 22nd December 2011, 7:30pm. Weston Auditorium - Hatfield
  Programme:
  Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival overture
  Jarre Lawrence of Arabia suite
  Rodney Bennett Murder on the Orient Express suite
  Rimsky-Korsakov ScheherazadeSummer Residential Course - 23rd-27th August 2011,
• CONCERT: 27th August 2011, 7pm. Watford Colosseum - Joint concert with HSSO
  Programme included:
  Rimsky-Korsakov Procession of the Nobles from Mlada
  Stravinsky The Firebird Suite 1919
  Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
  Maw American Games
  Stravinsky Rite of Spring
• Spring Course - 16th-20th April 2011 - programme: Dvorak The Wild Dove, Lutoslawski Litte Suite for Orchestra & Sibelius Symphony 1
• Winter Course - 19th-23rd December 2010 - film and show music programme, including Bernstein Candide overture and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Korngold's theme from The Sea Hawk and Gershwin Symphonic Picture from Porgy & Bess
• Summer Residential Course - 22nd-27th August 2010, St. Georges, Harpenden leading to concert on 27th August 2010 at the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban
  Programme:   
  Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture                 
  Debussy Nocturnes
  Holst The Planets Suite
• Concert - 17th April 2010, Barbirolli Hall, Chorleywood
  Programme:
  Mussorgsky Night on a Bare Mountain
  Rachmaninoff The Rock Fantasy
  Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
• Concert - 22nd December 2009, Weston Auditorium, Hatfield
  Programme:
  Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra
  Sullivan arr. Mackerras Pineapple Poll Suite
  Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker Suite
• Rare performance of Schoenberg’s epic Gurre-Lieder, joined by the London Symphony Chorus and London Philharmonic Choir - 29th August 2009, Central Hall, Westminster
  (DVD recording available at www.bsfv.co.uk/musicshop.html)

County Youth Orchestra on tour in Prague - August 2007 by Emily Blogg (violin)

Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra travelled to Prague on 25th August 2007 after a few days of intense rehearsal at Wheathampstead.  There was a huge buzz of excitement as everyone helped to load the special bus full of our instruments ready to take in advance to Prague.  The following morning, people congregated at their pick-up points ready for buses to take us to Stansted or Heathrow airport.  Despite being rather tired due to the early rise (3:30am!), everyone was eager for the journey to get under away. 

It was late morning, cloudy but sunny, when we arrived and we were able to wander the streets of Prague for the first time.  A small group of us found a local restaurant for lunch.  Once we got to our Hotel Duo, we settled down for the evening ready for the hard day’s work ahead of us. This was the beginning of our trip in Prague.

In our free time, there was lots for everyone to do.  From sipping frothy cappuccinos under large umbrella shades to gazing at the bustling activities of the city square, one could see a completely different lifestyle.  The historic Astronomical Clock which stood in the city square always attracted a crowd of tourists due to its magnificence.  The horse-drawn carriages dutifully toured the city centre and the vast number of Churches and Cathedrals gave the city a strong sense of character that was complemented by the beautiful surrounding landscape.

On one of the evenings, we were taken out for a meal at The Black Sabbath where we ate soup followed by a dish of traditional meat with salad.  It was delicious!

There was so much in Prague that somehow made its way into the Czech music we rehearsed.  I also felt that the experience gave a sense of closeness which helped towards the ever-growing confidence of the orchestra.

We first went to play in the Rudolfinum on Monday.  Inside, the concert hall had huge stone pillars surrounding the audience seats and there was a magnificent organ behind the concert platform.  The acoustic was amazing and we knew it was such a privilege to perform in such a famous concert hall.

My most enduring memory of the trip was being able to play the Janacek Sinfonietta with the Prague Philharmonic Band in the Rudolfinum for the first time.  One could just tell the music was in their blood and this gave us all a real taste of Czech music.  On the concert day, there was a lot of apprehension.  However, the concert hall was completely full and they liked our playing so much we even played an encore!  The concert went fabulously and there was a real sense of achievement.  Finally, all our hard work and concentration had paid off.  In my opinion, we couldn’t have been given a better opportunity.  This proved to be a magnificent experience, which was also the perfect send-off for those doing their final concert with the HCYO.

I would like to thank John Witchell, on behalf of the orchestra, for looking after us on the tour and he and his team for all the hard work that they have put into running the orchestra.  I would like to thank James Dickinson, Peter Stark and all our sectional coaches whose contribution was crucial to the success of the performance.

CYO recording reviewed in Gramophone Sep 2006 by Richard Whitehouse

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, E Roxburgh

Linda Merrick clarinet, RNCM Symphony Orchestra
Saturn, E Roxburgh
Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra, Peter Stark

NMC New CD NMCD119 (59 minutes : DDD)

As fine an introduction to this Briton’s music as you could wish for

Although Montage was a notable success at the 1977 Proms, Edwin Roxburgh is as well known as a composition teacher (he was on the staff at the Royal College of Music for many years, and directed its Twentieth-Century Ensemble) as a composer. This disc features two substantial orchestral works that give an insight into his distinctive and never unapproachable idiom.
The Clarinet Concerto (1995) falls into a half-hour single movement – its haunting initial idea the basis for what ensues and generating a natural momentum such as makes its development easy to follow. While this process of organic accumulation could perhaps have been telescoped more thoroughly during the first half, the intense central meditation and build-up to a climactic cadenza with percussion is impressively realised. Linda Merrick gives a confident and assured performance, and Roxburgh secures a committed response from the RNCM forces.

Taking its cue from images sent back by the Voyager II spacecraft, Saturn (1982) is a tone-poem depicting each of the planet’s nine satellites in a continuous sequence – enhanced by a subtle electronic presence – ranging from the textural interplay of ‘Mimas’ to the fugal density of ‘Dione’ and the sustained threnody of ‘Titan’. The constituents are then drawn (in a manner recalling Lutosðawski) into the culminating ‘Saturn’ movement, which drives to an exhilarating conclusion. The work’s considerable technical demands are met with relish by the Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra and heard to advantage in sound with a greater spatial depth than that accorded the concerto. Brief but informative notes from the composer, and a fine introduction to Roxburgh’s music that has been too long in coming.

Richard Whitehouse
13.4.05

County Youth Orchestra record for commercial label!

Following the success of HCYO's winter concert performance of Edwin Roxburgh’s Saturn, the orchestra was approached by the recording label NMC and invited to record the work for commercial release.

This was an amazing opportunity for the orchestra and follows on from the success of it’s own recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto (details further down!) It is also very prestigious as the other work on the disc is Roxburgh’s Clarinet Concerto which will be performed by Linda Merrick and the orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music. For a Youth Orchestra to be associated with a leading Conservatoire in such a project is praise indeed!

The orchestra recorded Saturn over Easter at Haileybury College, Hertford. To buy the CD:

Visit NMC Recordings website:

• www.nmcrec.co.uk

Visit the Royal Northern College of Music website:

• www.rncm.ac.uk

County Youth Orchestra recording now available

During Easter 2004, CYO recorded the Elgar Violin Concerto, soloist David Greed, conducted by Peter Stark.

This record confirms CYO as being one of the best Youth Orchestras in the country and is a testament to the hard work of all the players as well as the inspirational conducting of Peter Stark.

For your copy (£10), please call 01727 860941 ext. 209 or email countymusicenquiries@hertscc.gov.uk.