The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey has been providing outstanding opportunities for talented young musicians in Central New Jersey since 1978.

The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey brings together some of the finest young musicians in our region to participate and excel in a nurturing and challenging musical environment. Over 200 elementary through high school students, all of whom take private lessons and participate in their schools’ music programs, make up its fourteen performance groups. There are three levels for strings: String Preparatory Orchestra, Pro Arte Orchestra, and the advanced Symphonic Orchestra. There is a Wind Symphony and many small ensembles for brass, percussion, saxophone, flute, and woodwind students. Rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings from October through May at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. Auditions for new students are held in January, June and September. Our next audition date(s):
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Click HERE for more audition information! Like us on FACEBOOK!

Watch our May 26th Grand Finale!

The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey presented 2 exciting culminating events on Tuesday May 26. At 6pm, The Flute Ensemble held a Zoom Flute Presentation for those students and their immediate families. This featured a live flute demonstration, an Accapella App presentation, and an iMovie performance by the Flute Ensemble. Afterwards, there was a YOCJ-wide 7pm YouTube Livestream in conjunction with Front Row Seat Productions. This Online Finale featured our 3 Senior Concerto Competition Soloists performing their solos with accompaniment and being coached by 3 accomplished clinicians. Watch our May 26th Grand Finale here:

https://youtu.be/UwLROWr_aZM

Soloists: Luke Armstrong, Tuba; Drew Borek, Trumpet; Andrew Xu, Cello. Piano accompanists: Julie Caudle & Annabel Guo. Clinicians: Ovidiu Marinescu, Cello; Michael Mergen, Trumpet; Paul Mergen, Tuba. Feel free to share this link with your private teachers, friends, and other YOCJ supporters. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Spring 2020 Semester Updates

  1. REMOTE LEARNING: Although we were saddened to cancel our rehearsals and concerts, YOCJ was glad to be able to connect virtually with our students via Zoom and other online platforms from Tuesday March 31st to May 26th.
  2. FINLAND TOUR POSTPONED: The YOCJ Board has officially cancelled the 2020 Finland/Baltics tour and rescheduled for the Summer of 2021. Click HERE to access our tour page for more information on refunds. Refunds were mailed on FRIDAY APRIL 24th.
  3. NY PHILHARMONIC REFUNDS: YOCJ refunded all the participants from the cancelled April 4th trip to see the NY Philharmonic. Refund checks were emailed on WEDNESDAY APRIL 29th.
  4. CANCELLED: YOCJ SUMMER BAND CAMP: YOCJ unfortunately needs to cancel the Virtual Summer Band Camp due to insufficient enrollment. Mr. Collins and Mr. Woodward are hoping to relaunch an in-person Summer Band Camp in 2021!
  5. YOCJ BOARD UPDATE: The YOCJ Board is continually discussing our current situation and will update our members with further information in the near future.

Remind App 2019-2020

Click HERE to find out how to sign up! Any questions, please email Mrs. Epps at executivedirector@yocj.org

YOCJ & the McCaffrey’s Receipt Program!

The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey is part of McCaffrey’s program that supports local nonprofit organizations by generously donating 1% of every receipt collected. Please share with your neighbors, friends, family and coworkers – anyone can submit their receipts to the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey. This is an ongoing fundraiser, so there are no deadlines. However, we request that receipts are submitted monthly as receipts cannot be more than 3 months old.
Please contact Amy Woodward at amywoodward2@me.com, for information on how to mail your receipts to her. Thank you for your support!

AmazonSmileGeneralThis is one of the easiest ways to show your support for our non-profit organization! Click HERE to start shopping on AmazonSmile and support the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey at the same time. AmazonSmile is a website that offers the same products and convenience as Amazon. The difference is that shopping on AmazonSmile means that the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate .5% of the purchase price towards any eligible charitable organization. Please consider doing your on-line shopping to help support our talented young musicians!

The Splash Reel (at very top left of our page) was masterfully crafted by Front Row Seat Productions, LLC

Accessibility

YOCJ is committed to making all of our events accessible to all our patrons. Click HERE for more information and email us with any requests and questions that you might have: executivedirector@yocj.org