COLORADO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS
​CYSO provides access to musical understanding, fostering social growth, self-esteem, and a lifelong love of music for all aspiring musicians.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
At CYSO, we believe that family comes first, music makes community, and motivated kids do their best when they aren’t stressed out.
​We believe that youth orchestras should really cater to youth: our age limit is 19 or younger, and all students are enrolled in local K-12 schools or are homeschool students.
We know that IB and AP students are occasionally slammed with homework, and we want them to know they are supported: it’s totally OK for these students to occasionally miss class!
We know that in-person auditions and chair tests sometimes don’t show students at their absolute best, so we made ALL auditions video auditions. This way, students can record their pieces as many times as needed in the comfort of their own homes, and just send us what they are comfortable sharing.​
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OUR HISTORY
The CYSO was founded in 1984 to provide orchestral experience for school-age musicians. The University of Denver contributed class and performance space and gave the new organization a $10,000 startup grant. Two CYSO orchestras began meeting in September 1984.CYSO's concerts were held at the University's Lamont School of Music. Concerts are now presented at numerous sites around the city of Denver.
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Current CYSO Staff
Michelle Orman
Executive Director
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Michelle Orman is in her fourteenth full season with CYSO. Her primary responsibilities are fundraising, managing the budget and finances, managing staff, and overseeing administrative and orchestra operations.
In addition to managing the CYSO, Michelle is Principal Clarinet with Opera Colorado, the Colorado Ballet Orchestra, 2nd Clarinet with the Central City Opera, and the Boulder Philharmonic. She frequently performs with the Colorado Symphony. She is Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at the University of Northern Colorado, and has been working with youth orchestras since 1980. Michelle is also a D'Addario woodwind artist.
Margaret Dyer Harris
Symphony Conductor
Margaret Dyer Harris has crafted an eclectic career as a recording artist, entrepreneur, chamber musician, arts advocate, and educator. She was recently named Principal Violist of the Boulder Philharmonic and she has been the Assistant Principal violist of the Santa Fe Opera since 2015. Ms. Dyer has recorded in the worlds of classical, jazz and with numerous cross genre projects which have been acclaimed by critics. An artist on multiple GRAMMY™ award winning records in multiple genres, Margaret was a founding member of the GRAMMY™-nominated chamber orchestra, "A Far Cry," the Boston based conductor-less string ensemble. She has performed and recorded with groups across a broad spectrum of music including The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Cyndi Lauper, ECCO, Decoda, Harry Connick Jr., Esperanza Spalding, John Legend, & Bryce Dessner. Before moving to Denver, CO in 2020, Margaret was the violist in Wicked on Broadway and she was a member of the New York Pops Orchestra. She was also a member of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular orchestra in 2013 and 2016. She was a guest violist with the New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. An active and passionate chamber musician, Margaret has been featured at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Denver Chamber Music Festival, and countless national and international festivals. She has taught masterclasses in Mexico, England, Peru, United Arab Emirates, Scotland, and all across the United States. Margaret has a strong passion for education and community outreach. She was the Director of Outreach for A Far Cry before beginning a post-grad fellowship program with Ensemble Connect: a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the NYC Dept. of Education. As a member of this ensemble, Margaret wrote and produced interactive performances for audiences all around the boroughs of New York City: dozens of schools, eldercare facilities, and correctional facilities. She was a partner teacher at Curtis High School on Staten Island, working with the students in all of their strings programs. Margaret was hired by the Weill Institute of Carnegie Hall to teach and perform with the men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, culminating in a side-by-side performance of pieces written by the inmates, performed for residents and officers. In 2017, Margaret became the Education Coordinator for the Knights chamber orchestra. She directed concerts for families in Brooklyn and students of neighboring schools of the BRIC Arts and Media Center. When the pandemic halted all performances, Margaret wrote and produced an online series for the Knights called “Musical Chairs” which introduces the instruments and players of the orchestra to a young digital audience.
Dr. Grant Larson
Wind Ensemble Conductor
Dr. Grant Larson is the soprano saxophonist with the Colorado-based Chautauqua Saxophone Quartet and has performed with the Colorado Symphony, the Colorado Music Festival, and the Fargo/Moorhead Symphony. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder. An active recitalist and proponent of new music, he has premiered works for saxophone by Philip Wharton, Chiayu Hsu, Steven Makala, and John Drumheller at regional and national conventions. His album Terrane features nine of his original jazz compositions. Grant served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Concordia College, and the Boulder Arts Academy. He studied saxophone with Tom Myer, Peter Sommer, Russell Peterson, and Ron Wray and oboe with Jennifer Peterson. He has performed onstage with Maria Schneider, Kurt Elling, Mulgrew Miller, Art Lande, Peter Erskin, Ray Charles, Ignacio Berroa, and “Slammin” Sammy K.
Isaac Kay
Spectrum String Ensemble Conductor
Mr. Kay is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, Westmont College, and the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Preparatory College.
Indebted to his instructors for their commitment and care in his musical training, Mr. Kay was fortunate to study under Mary Jane Kolodziej, David Thrall, Rebecca Ensworth, Louise Zeitlin, Eugenia Poustyreva, MJ Huskonen, Yue Deng, Thierry Stoeckel, Dr. Han Soo Kim, Linda Wang, Kathleen Spring, Ian Swensen, Alexander Barantschik, Jay Christy, David Halen, and Bing Wang, with Baroque Violin coaching from Elizabeth Blumenstock.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Kay has performed alongside Augustin Hadelich, Simone Porter, Stephen Wartts, Robert Chen, Alex Kerr, Matthew Zalkand, Jeremiah Shaw (of the Telegraph Quartet), Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Elaine Douvas, members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, respectively.
In collaboration with Lincoln Center, Mr. Kay performed chamber music concerts throughout the world through an exclusive contract with Holland America Cruise Line. Having performed over 400 concerts onboard cruise ships, he believes strongly in using intimate chamber music concerts as a way to connect and share with audiences of every age and background.
As an orchestral musician, Mr. Kay has performed with the Colorado Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, New World Symphony, Opera Colorado, Colorado Ballet, Santa Barbara Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Mr. Kay was invited to perform as guest concertmaster for the Santa Barbara Master Chorale and the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Aspen Chamber Symphony, and Principal Second Violin for both the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Aspen Opera Center Orchestra. He has worked under the batons of Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Matthias Pintscher, Dame Jane Glover, Nicholas McGegan, James Feddeck, Jayce Ogren, Keith Lockhart, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sir Andrew Davis, Oscar Jockel, Ari Pelto, Christian Reif, among others.
Dedicated to performing works by living composers, Mr. Kay has worked with composers Daniel Gee and Remi Inari on two commissions: Into the Desert: A Monastic Portrait (Gee) and Hojoki (Inari). He has also collaborated with Pamala Z and Steve Schick as Concertmaster of the SFCM Chamber Orchestra to perform her work Heiligenstadt Drone. Mr. Kay has performed with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble performing the work Ligeti, under the baton of David Robertson. Having won a recording grant through the University of Denver, his recoding of Kevin Puts’ And Legions Will Rise was featured on Colorado Public Radio. In addition, he was featured in composer Webster Young’s documentary Return to Aspen, working with Young to perform his compositions throughout the film.
Mr. Kay has also collaborated with the celebrated post-conceptualist artist, Stephen Prina, during the presentation of his work “String Quartet for Six Players,” at the Aspen Art Museum during its’ exhibition in 2021.
Mr. Kay currently serves on the faculty of Metropolitan State University-Denver, in addition to being a Visiting Artist at Westmont College. Mr. Kay has also served on the faculty of the Credo Chamber Music Festival. His students have won their concerto competitions, soloed with orchestra, and attended prestigious festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival and School. Mr. Kay believes strongly in preparing the next generation of musicians with all tools necessary to lead a successful and fulfilling life in the arts.
An avid youth music educator, Mr. Kay is the director of Primavera Place, a preparatory training school for string players in Denver, Colorado. He leads a school of 60 students, along with a team of dedicated faculty. He recently led an international tour with his pre-college students and their parents to Switzerland. In addition, he also taught for many years at the Santa Barbara Strings Organization under director and mentor Mary Beth Woodruff. Past teaching posts include Aspen Music Festival and School’s P.A.L.S. Program, teaching in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Public Schools, and a Graduate Teaching Assistantship under Linda Wang at The University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.
Mr. Kay has performed throughout Italy, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and extensively in the U.S., in renowned halls such as the Mozarteum (Salzburg), Dvorak Hall (Prague), Das MuTh (Vienna), Harvard University, Severance Hall (Cleveland), New World Center (Miami Beach), Harris Hall (Aspen), Mechanics Hall (Boston), The Granada (Santa Barbara), The Aspen Art Museum (Aspen), among others.
A four-time alum, Mr. Kay was selected as one of 10 students to receive the Center for Orchestral Leadership Training Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival and School. In addition, he has attended the Brevard Music Festival, the Credo Chamber Music Festival at Oberlin College, and the Stringendo School for Strings.
Mr. Kay was fortunate to live and study in Heidelberg, Germany at the Heidelberg Opera House with its’ Concertmaster, Thierry Stoeckel, during the fall and winter of 2014.
As a soloist, Mr. Kay has performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra (Minnesota), the Brahms Double Concerto at The Music Academy of The West’s Hahn Hall, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Roanoque Baroque Ensemble (Virginia). Additionally, he has performed as a concerto soloist in Vienna’s Das MuTh Hall. Upcoming performances of Locatelli’s Violin Concerto No. 11 with Roanoque Baroque Ensemble will be performed in December of 2025.
In addition to performing and educating, Mr. Kay also serves as Manager of Artistic Operations for the Music Academy of the West’s Lehrer Vocal Institute, alongside celebrated Mezzo-Soprano Sasha Cooke and San Francisco Opera’s John Churchwell.
Mr. Kay is the Host and Executive Producer of the forthcoming docu-series, Travel Notes. The series seeks to bring understanding and unity through the powerful lense of music. Learn more - Travel Notes.
Mr. Kay performs on a 1765 Johannes Helmer instrument on generous loan from the Riesenfeld family of Santa Barbara.
He currently divides his time between Denver and Santa Barbara with his wife, Dr. Catherine Barth.
Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable orchestral environment that reflects the rich diversity of our Colorado community and empowers every young musician to thrive.
Hear what our Alumni have to say...
Anya Wilkening
PhD Student, Historical Musicology
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Columbia University
Participating in CYSO was both a formative and transformative experience for me. It served not only as my introduction to orchestral and chamber music, but also enabled and encouraged me to hone the skills necessary to succeed in both. Through CYSO, I first developed abilities that I continued to utilize in my orchestral career at institutions like the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and a variety of others. CYSO nurtured my love of chamber music, introducing me to a repertoire that has proved continuously and endlessly fascinating; as a consequence, I attended the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, received a fellowship from Aspen’s Center for Advanced String Quartet Studies, and served as a young artist for both Da Camera and Strings Music Festival. For me, CYSO was the beginning of a long and fulfilling musical journey, one that continues to this day as I pursue my doctorate in Historical Musicology at Columbia University. I look forward to teaching others, hopefully at the collegiate level, inspiring them in the same way that CYSO did for me.
Rainer Eudeikis,
Principal Cello
San Fransisco Symphony
"My years in CYSO as a young student were vital to the person and musician I am today. In addition to developing ensemble skills, social skills, and responsibility, I experienced the true joy that is music-making onstage surrounded by my peers. I can't recommend the Colorado Youth Symphony highly enough!"
Kristopher Harris
English Language Instructor
Kawasaki, Japan
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My time with the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra was an important part of my path in becoming the musician I am today. I learned important ensemble skills, auditioning skills, and technical skills very early on since joining the CYSO. I enjoyed various opportunities including coaching from and playing with members from the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, lifelong connections and friendships, and even chances to play with quartets at parties and social events. I treasure the memories of having the chance to play orchestra and quartet music with professional musicians and making friends with the other students. Without my experience in the CYSO, I doubt I would have made it so far as a musician or been able to enjoy performing around the world.