Four MCPS Student Musicians Selected for National Youth Orchestra Programs

MCPS student musicians Henry Golden, Donna Lee, Chloe Robertson and Issac Won will spend part of their summer performing and training alongside some of the nation’s top young musicians.

Henry and Issac were selected for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), while Donna and Chloe were chosen for NYO2, the program’s junior ensemble. Both highly selective programs give students the opportunity to train and perform with distinguished music professionals from across the country at no cost to participants. 

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This summer, NYO-USA musicians will travel to New York for an intensive two-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY). During the residency, students will rehearse with faculty members who are principal players from some of the nation’s leading professional orchestras while also participating in master classes and sectionals ahead of the ensemble’s international tour. Henry and Issac will perform at Carnegie Hall and then travel to Europe as part of the orchestra’s summer performances.

NYO2 musicians will also spend two weeks training at Purchase College, where they will rehearse with a faculty of professional musicians and participate in master classes, sectionals and private one-on-one lessons. Chloe and Donna will perform at Carnegie Hall and then continue the experience with a five-day residency and international program in the Dominican Republic.

For Issac and Chloe, the selection marks a return to the program, as both previously participated in NYO2.

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Meet the musicians.

• Henry Golden, Apprentice Composer in NYO-USA, Walt Whitman High School
• Donna Lee, Percussion/Timpani in NYO2, Clarksburg High School
• Chloe Robertson, Violin in NYO2, Richard Montgomery High School
• Issac Won, Trumpet in NYO-USA, Winston Churchill High School