Tessa Berger is currently a freshmen music education major and saxophonist at Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She says,”The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey was my favorite part of my pre-college music career. It gave me a group of friends that shared my passion of music and helped me challenge myself as a student and musician with the wide range of repertoire. YOCJ was the perfect outlet to explore my love of music and the wonderful conducting staff helped me realize that I wanted to pursue  music as a career. I was given opportunities to play principal parts, arrange music, conduct, play a concerto, work with composers, and even travel! Without YOCJ, I would not be who I am today.” ~ Tessa Berger