The Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey will present its small ensembles spring concert on Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m. at the Plainsboro Recreation & Cultural Center, 641 Plainsboro Road, Plainsboro. Performers include 55 of YOCJ’s more than 200 students, all of whom take private lessons and are enrolled in their school music programs. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Brass Ensemble, under the direction of Brian Woodward, will perform Sonata No. 22 by Johann Pezel. Musicians include Alec Berger and Sehej Bindra of West Windsor on French horn; Vaibhav Mangipuddy, Shrey Parikh, and Matthew Rossi of West Windsor on trombone; Elizabeth Barstein of West Windsor on euphonium; and Ameya Natarajan on tuba.
The Brass Choir, under the direction of Alexander Costantino, will perform Scherzo by John Cheetham and Grover’s Corners from Aaron Copland’s “Our Town.” Musicians include Amelia Adcroft of West Windsor on French horn; Sriram Bapatla, Freddy Maresca, and Ayanna Posipanko of West Windsor on trumpet; Justin Bi of Plainsboro and Alexander Mitchell and Keith Register of West Windsor on trombone; Madhusudha Vasudevan of Plainsboro on euphonium; and Adam Scherr of Plainsboro on tuba.
The Flute Choir, under the direction of Mary Schmidt, will perform Palestrina’s Madrigal, Mozart’s Adagio, and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Musicians include Sonia Balakrishnan, Aditi Nayak, and Sharvari Tatachar of West Windsor.
The Saxophone Ensemble, under the direction of Jordan Smith, will perform movements from works by Robert Baska and Edvard Grieg, as well as Percy Grainger’s Shepherd’s Hey. Musicians include Nolan Shah of Plainsboro on soprano and alto saxophone; Pratyoy Biswas of Plainsboro and Edward Zhang and Henry Zhang on alto saxophone; and Sidharth Mahant of Plainsboro on baritone.
The Woodwind Choir, under the direction of Christopher Wickham, will perform J.S. Bach’s Fugue in C Minor and a world premiere arrangement by Liz Rosa of Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.” Musicians include Sanjana Balakrishnan, Sarah Chen, Kayli Ko, and Anirudh Srikanth of West Windsor and Vicky Lieu of Plainsboro on flute; Asmita Baskar of West Windsor and Kristina Khaw of Plainsboro on oboe; and Ashley Chang and Diane Hu of Plainsboro and Meghana Padmanbhan and Maxwell Taub of West Windsor on clarinet; and Kaylin Ku and Olivia Lee of West Windsor on bassoon.
The next auditions will be held on Tuesday, June 9, at High School North. Register at www.yocj.org.
Small Ensembles Concert, Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey, Plainsboro Cultural Center, 641 Plainsboro Road, Plainsboro. Sunday, April 19, 3 p.m. Performance by the Brass Ensemble, the Brass Choir, the Flute Choir, the Saxophone Ensemble, and the Woodwind Choir. Free. www.yocj.org.
