Welcome To The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey

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 twelve 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, January 26, 2021
Click HERE for more audition information! Like us on FACEBOOK!

Fall 2020 Online Mini-Courses!

Click HERE to register and learn more about our Fall 2020 Online Mini-Course offerings! Registrations is open to current and newly accepted YOCJ members. Any questions? Email executivedirector@yocj.org

YOCJ and Princeton Symphony Orchestra Announce New Partnership

The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) announce a new partnership to advance excellence in orchestral performance and foster a greater connection between Central Jersey’s young musicians and their professional counterparts. Integral to the partnership, the PSO is expanding its assistant conductor position to include leadership of the youth orchestra’s Symphonic Orchestra. YOCJ’s beloved Symphonic Director John Enz is retiring after 35 years and the current PSO assistant conductor, Nell Flanders, will take over the baton with immediate effect. The partnership is the formalization of an ongoing relationship established through the PSO’s BRAVO! Education Program which encourages young musicians and their families to be exposed to extensive performance repertoire and be inspired by professional artists. Click HERE for more details on this exciting new partnership!

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.

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!

This 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