The Staff at HYRO

Kathy Cammarata is an educator, cellist, conductor, clinician, and adjudicator from Howard County Public Schools. Ms. Cammarata has a B.A. Degree from Towson University and post graduate work from Loyola College.

As a string specialist in Howard County Public Schools, Ms. Cammarata began her career 24 years ago, and has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She is currently the orchestra director at Centennial High School, where her groups consistently receive superior ratings at the district and state orchestra festivals. She has also assisted in writing various music curriculums in Howard County, as well as within the state

Ms. Cammarata is the founder of the Howard Regional Youth Orchestra and has been one of its directors since1998. Ms. Cammarata also has served as a former President of the Maryland Orchestra Directors Association and a member of the Maryland Music Educators Executive Board. As an adjudicator, she has served the counties of Maryland and advanced the level of orchestral performance

Colin M. O'Bryan received his B.M. in Double Bass performance from The Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently pursuing his M.M. in Conducting at Peabody.

Mr. O'Bryan serves as the orchestra director at Atholton, Howard and Reservoir High Schools in Howard County. He was conductor of the Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestra for the 2003-2004 season. He has also served as an adjudicator for the Maryland Junior and Senior All-State Festival, as well as the Maryland State Solo and Ensemble Festival.

Mr. O'Bryan is currently the music director for the award winning Johns Hopkins University AllNighters, the school's only all male a cappella group. He hails from Troy, New York and now resides with his fiance in Ellicott City, MD.

Ben Denne is a graduate of Northwestern University where he studied Euphonium performance with Rex Martin and conducting with Mallory Thompson.

Mr. Denne is our brass specialist and assistant conductor of HRYO. In addition to conducting of the Howard County Regional Youth Orchestra, he also directs the orchestra programs at Ellicott Mills and Patapsco Middle Schools, the Peabody Preparatory Chamber Orchestra, and performs as a bass soloist at the Zion Lutheran church.

Mr. Denne also performs with the Greenspring Valley Orchestra on trombone and string bass, and maintains a small studio of students studying low brass instruments.

Robert Chamberlin grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Upper St. Clair High School. In college he majored in music and graduated from West Virginia University. He taught five years in Fauquier County, Virginia, then returned to West Virginia University to get a Master's Degree in music.

After graduate school, Mr. Chamberlin taught middle and high school in Prince Georges County, Maryland for 6 years before coming to Howard County. He presently teaches at Patapsco Middle School where his bands have earned many superior ratings at band and orchestra festivals. Robert Chamberlin has been co-directing the Howard Regional Youth Orchestra for five years.

Rosemary Lather has been teaching orchestra in Howard County for 21 years. She currently teaches at River Hill HS and Marriotts Ridge HS. In 2001 she was Howard County's music teacher of the year.

She played in the 1st violin section of the Maryland Symphony for 21 years, 1st Violin section of the Harrisburg Symphony for 3 years, was assistant concertmistress of the Millbrook Chamber Orchestra for two years and concertmistress of the Columbia Orchestra for four years. She also taught violin and chamber music at Western MD, now McDaniel College for three years. She is a frequent adjudicator and guest conductor throughout the state of MD.

Together with her husband, an award winning banjo player, she plays music of the American Civil war era, performing at the Smithsonian, civil war battlefields, reenactments and many other historical events. They have two recordings and have recorded sound tracks for several battlefield visitor centers. Mrs. Lather studied the violin with Robert Gerle, Berle Senofsky and Herbert Greenberg. She also have a Juris Doctor degree. She has two children and 4 poodles.

Julius Wirth received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Francis Tursi, Jefrey Irvine and Marcus Thompson. Mr. Wirth also acquired a Master of Music Degree from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Karen Tuttle.

He has been a winner of numerous awards and made solo appearances with the St. Cecilia Orchestra, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Concertante Chamber Ensemble, and the Lakeland Symphony. He is presently Principal Violist of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.

From October 2002 to March 2003, Mr. Wirth was the violist/violinist for the Broadway production of the "Flower Drum Song." Other memberships include the National Chamber Orchestra and the Baltimore Opera Orchestra.