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There's a lot to be said for late bloomers.

Not here, though. Not in these brightly-painted, high-ceilinged rehearsal rooms in the Music Center at Strathmore where the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MCYO) perform their killer repertoire — Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky — under the watchful gaze of their artistic director, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Jonathan Carney. More than 400 youngsters participate on six levels: Chamber Strings for fourth- through sixth-graders; Young Artists, an orchestra for sixth- through eighth-graders; Symphony, seventh- through ninth-graders; Sinfonia and Philharmonic, each for 10th through 12th-graders; there's even a harp ensemble.

These young musicians are blooming now.

Opportunities

"I was expecting to see a good level," says Jorge Orozco, MCYO's new Chamber Strings Conductor. "But I was amazed.

"We're talking kids 9, 10, 11 years old; they are very interested in music, all of them."

So interested, in fact, that they rehearse up to three hours a day, take private lessons, participate in their school bands and come here every week to rehearse a program of Vivaldi, Brahms and Mozart. The first concert of the MCYO season is on Sunday, and the kids are beyond all right.

Orozco has come a long way to put these children through their paces. Born in Cuba to a family of renowned classical musicians, Orozco, 37, was a violin prodigy who won a national violin competition at 10.

"Then I knew," he says simply.

He became a soloist with the Cuban National Orchestra when he was 14, started teaching and coaching at 18 and followed his violin teacher to Venezuela, where he started conducting.

"In 2003, I decided to leave Venezuela with my wife," he says. "We both received scholarships from the University of Southern Mississippi."

The couple was eventually hired by the Gulfport school system, which had an excellent music program, and Orozco enjoyed a life of teaching and conducting.

"We were there during Katrina," he says, "and we lost many things. After that, our high school orchestra was invited to Germany."

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Cuban Embassy. Orozco had to come to D.C. to renew his passport and "I fell in love with this area. We decided to move here before we even had jobs."

The music attracted them, he says.

"There are many opportunities for young musicians like us, a lot of music schools, a lot of concerts on the calendar." he says.

So when he was offered the chance to audition for the job at MCYO, he took it.

‘Fun, fun, fun'

Orozco may be new to MCYO, but the orchestra has been around for more than six decades. Founded by Chester Petranek, then a teacher and supervisor of music for the Montgomery County Public Schools, it was created as a resource for musically gifted students. It still is that, but it's more than that.

"There are only a few programs in the country that have orchestras this size," says Carney proudly. "And these kids are all extremely brilliant and talented."

Their prowess, he reckons, is a natural byproduct of the high-powered, uber-achieving area in which they live. But Carney, all Zen and cool in specs and a black turtleneck, isn't here to pile on.

"A lot of these kids get a lot of pressure at home," he says. "You can spot them right away; then you really soften up."

Carney understands the role high expectations play in the lives of young musicians of this caliber. He was a child musician in a family where Juilliard was everyone's alma mater.

"So much was imparted to me as a child. The pastoral care my parents gave me with music was fantastic," he says.

Carney tries at all times to pass on that pastoral care. By the time they get to MCYO, he says, the kids have already reached a high level of expertise, trained by their elementary school band teachers and private music tutors.

"We give them the opportunity to play this incredible repertoire, and also the social aspect," he says. "I really try to emphasize the social aspect, the human aspect, of playing with your friends."

The way to get to Carnegie Hall, the old joke goes, is practice, practice, practice. The way to get kids to practice?

"Fun, fun, fun," smiles Carney. "Just keep associating it with fun."

Obsession

Kelly Jo Wallace is a tiny blonde 12-year-old with a voice so soft one has to lean in to catch every word. This is her fifth year with MCYO, although she has been playing the violin since before she can really remember.

"I was 1-1/2," she says. "I had this little violin."

What prompts parents to get their baby a violin? A violin-playing baby, apparently. Wallace says her parents weren't musicians themselves, but they understood from the beginning that their daughter was.

"I started with a ruler and a tissue box. I guess I saw other kids," she explains. "I just wanted to play violin!"

Wallace plays violin for about three hours a day; she spends Saturdays at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and reserves Sundays for her family. She's home-schooled.

"If I went to school, I wouldn't be able to play violin," she explains.

And although she has other interests – she's on the swim team – it's clear that this young prodigy has set a path to her dream career as soloist, concertmaster and member of a string quartet.

"I enjoy being in the front of the orchestra," she says. "It inspires me to work harder."

There are not many optical illusions you can perform when you listen to Brahms or Vivaldi, but try this: Close your eyes and let the music of the MCYO wash over you. Then open them, quickly, to see the girls in pink sweatshirts and messy buns and the boys with their bulky running shoes tapping the floor almost imperceptibly. There's a faint smell of bubble gum or cherry chapstick in the air and some candy-colored cello cases stand by the sound panels, but nothing else suggests that the sublime sounds surrounding you have been put into the air courtesy of tween and teenage musicians.

Josh Chik, 17, a senior in the International Baccalaureate program at Richard Montgomery High School, has been playing violin since he was 4.

"My parents really pushed my siblings and me," he says. "Now I'm so glad they did.

"I have this fascination – this obsession – with music."

Chik says he tries to practice every day, even though a tough academic load puts demands on his time. And while he finds the music "really exhilarating," he says he loves the social aspect of MCYO, the lessons it offers in how to get along with all kinds of people. Chik wants to be a physician when he grows up, a pediatrician or an internist, and he wants to continue to write and play music.

"I just have this philosophy," he says, "I'd like to be able to save lives and save souls.

"And – I just love to play the violin."

Chik is a lanky kid, outgoing with a wide, ready smile.

"Just producing music makes me so happy," he says. "I think music is a miracle."

The Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras will perform their season's first concerts on Sunday in the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. An Afternoon with the Classics, featuring the junior orchestras, begins at 3 p.m. and the December Evening Spectacular, featuring Sinfonia and Philharmonic Orchestras is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are $20, $8 for seniors and children. Call 301-581-5100 or log on to www.strathmore.org.