About the Orchestra

Founded in 1937 by Paul Katz, the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra brings together the greater Dayton area’s most gifted young orchestral musicians, providing the opportunity to study and perform a broad range of orchestral repertoire. The DPYO is committed to inspiring an overall cultural awareness and appreciation of music in its members and audiences, strengthening our region’s existing school music programs, and helping stimulate interest in the development of school orchestral programs where none exist.

The DPYO performs three concerts each season and was invited to perform at the 2002, 2004, and 2006 Ohio Music Educators Association conferences. The Youth Orchestra regularly appears on the Dayton Philharmonic’s Family Concert Series, which has recently included collaborations with the Dayton Ballet School Ensemble, Dayton Ballet Studio Company, Dayton Opera Artists-in-Residence, performance artist Dan Kamin, and the Magic Circle Mime Company.

DPYO is one of three Youth Orchestras of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. The DPYO is affiliated with the Youth Division of the American Symphony Orchestra League.

About the Conductor

Maureen Hickey Haitch (“hey-ch”, she/her) is a conductor, violinist, and violist born and based in Cincinnati, OH. Maureen currently works as a staff conductor with the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance where she directs the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Dayton Philharmonic Youth Strings. In addition, Maureen acts as Cover and Guest Conductor for the Cincinnati Community Orchestra. Maureen has guest conducted the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and will debut with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2026 for Carnegie Hall’s Link Up: The Orchestra Swings! 

Previously, Maureen was Adjunct Professor and Director of Chamber Orchestra at Xavier University and Assistant Conductor of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra. Before moving back to Cincinnati, Maureen worked as Assistant Director of the Youth Symphony Orchestras of East Central Indiana in Muncie, IN, where she conducted the Youth Symphony, taught beginner private and group violin, viola, and cello lessons, coached chamber ensembles, and led an after-school music program for children with socioeconomic instability through Motivate Our Minds. As a graduate assistant, she taught undergraduate conducting and string technique courses, and conducted Ball State University’s Campus Orchestra and New Music Ensemble. 

As a freelance violinist and violist, Maureen performs regularly with the Richmond (IN) Symphony Orchestra, Springfield (OH) Symphony Orchestra, and Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as a violinist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and for Andrea Bocelli’s 30th Anniversary Tour at the Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH.

Maureen earned dual Master’s degrees in Orchestral Conducting and Violin Performance from Ball State University in Muncie, IN, as well as a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Miami University of Ohio. She has participated in music festivals and conducting workshops throughout the United States and in Perugia, Italy under conductors and pedagogues such as Markand Thakar, JoAnn Falletta, Robert Moody, Kalena Bovell, Janna Hymes, and Aik Khai Pung. 

Rehearsals

Youth Orchestra members rehearse every Sunday, September through May from 4:45 – 7:45 pm.

Radio Broadcasts

Our performances are broadcast on WDPR 88.1 FM and WDPG 89.9 FM. Visit On The Air for a schedule of all DPAA broadcasts.

Eligibility

Applicant must be a student in grades 9–12 and be a member of a school music organization playing the same instrument as is played in the Youth Orchestra. If there is no school orchestra or band, an exception may be made.

Recent Repertoire Performed by the DPYO
Since 2000

Amundson – “Sola Gratia”
Arlen & Harburg – “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz
Arnold – Four Scottish Dances
Austin – “Thee Surrender” for String Orchestra (premiere)
Barber – Adagio for Strings, First Essay for Orchestra
Bartok – Hungarian Sketches
Beethoven – Egmont Overture, Symphony No. 5
Bellor – High Resolution
Berlioz – Hungarian March (“Rákóczi”) from The Damnation of Faust
Bernstein – Overture to Candide; Mambo from West Side Story
Bizet – Carmen & Arlesienne Suites
Bock & Harnick – “She Loves Me” from She Loves Me
Borodin – Symphony No. 2
Bryant – Dusk
Chabrier – Espana
Copland – Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid & Rodeo Ballet Suites
Dvorak – Symphony No. 8 & 9, Slavonic Dances, Op. 46
Elgar – Nimrod, from the Enigma Variations
de Falla – Final Dance from The Three-Cornered Hat; Spanish Dance No. 1 from La Vida Breve
Ellington – From Three Black Kings
Ginastera – Suite from the ballet Estancia
Glinka – Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla
Gottschalk – Fiesta Criolla, from La Nuit des Tropiques
Hanson – Symphony No. 2 Romantic
Humperdinck – Prelude to Hansel and Gretel
Jaquith – Kinesis
Kabalevsky – Overture to Colas Breugnon, Violin Concerto
Kander – Music from Chicago
Leigh & Darion – “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha
Loewe & Lerner – “I could have danced all night” from My Fair Lady
Marquez – Danzon No. 2
Mendelssohn – Hebrides Overture
Mozart – Overture to The Magic Flute, Concerto for Piano, K. 467
Mussorgsky – Dawn on the Moskva River
Offenbach – Overture to La Belle Helene
Piston – The Incredible Flutist Ballet Suite
Puccini – Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
Ravel – Pavane pour une infante defunte 
Rimsky-Korsakov – Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 67
Rodgers & Hammerstein – “My Favorite Things” and “Do, Re, Mi” from The Sound of Music
Rodgers & Hammerstein – “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific
Rutter – Mass of the Children
Saint-Saens – Bacchanale, from Samson and Delilah, Concerto for Violin No. 3 in B minor, op. 61
Schwartz – Highlights from Wicked
Schubert – Symphony No. 8 Unfinished
Sheldon – Danzas Cubanas
Shostakovich – Festive Overture
Sibelius – Finlandia
Smetana – The Moldau from Má Vlast
Sousa – The Liberty Bell
J. Strauss – On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Tales From the Vienna Woods, Emperor Waltzes
Stravinsky – Suite from The Firebird
Sung – The Phoenix Rises: A New Beginning
Suppe – Overture to The Poet and the Peasant
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 2 and No. 5, Swan Lake & Nutcracker Suites
Various – The New4Seasons Project
Verdi – Overture to Nabucco
Wagner – Prelude to Die Meistersinger, Overture to Rienzi
Webber – Selections from The Phantom of the Opera; “Music of the Night”
Whitacre – October
Williams – Prelude on a Welsh Hymn Tune “Rhosymedre”
Willson – “Wells Fargo Wagon” from The Music Man