13 Millburn Students, Teacher to Perform With Essex County Orchestras

13 students from Millburn will perform with the Youth Orchestras of Essex County Winter Concert at the South Orange Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Dec. 14. Millburn High School Orchestra Teacher Karen Conrad will serve as one of the concert’s conductors.

The Orchestras are composed of 90 skilled young musicians from more than 18 towns in Essex County, led by outstanding conductors and coaches.

Township students performing in the December 14 Concert will be:

Alex Brod, 12th grade, clarinet

James Chen, 6th grade, violin

Vikram Ganti, 6th grade, cello

Satyen Gupta, 11th grade, cello

Simran Malhotra, 11th grade, clarinet

Sean Qin, 3rd grade, violin

William Qin, 6th grade, piano and trombone

Brandon Recce, 4th grade, violin

Dylan Revsine, 7th grade, trombone

Jacob Winick, 4th grade, violin

Byron Wong, 3rd grade, violin

Katherine Zhang, 7th grade, violin

Maxwell Zhu, 3rd grade, violin

Rehearsing together once a week, these 8 to 18-year-old students create beautiful music in three distinct symphonic orchestras: Overture Strings, Junior Symphony Orchestra, Essex County Symphonic Orchestra, and the ABC (Anything But Classical) Ensemble.

Providing a diverse and musically talented group of young people the opportunity to participate in an affordable, high-level orchestra experience and cultivate a lifelong love of music has been the mission of YOEC since 1956. The vibrant group is the longest operating youth orchestra in New Jersey.

Admission to YOEC is through auditions, held in January and May, and auditions are currently being scheduled for January for the spring 2015 session.

Spaces are available for most instruments, including in the newly expanded Overture Ensemble, which is seeking brass and woodwind players, as well as a pianist for the first time. The other Orchestras and ABC Ensemble will also be holding auditions.

More information about the orchestras can be found here. Interested musicians and community members are invited to experience this showcase by an outstanding group of young musicians at SOPAC.

Tickets for the 3 p.m. Dec. 14 concert are available here. SOPAC is located at 1 SOPAC Way, in South Orange.

Who’s Who in the Photo Gallery

1) Astha Puri of Watchung and Alex Brod of Short Hills, clarinet players in Essex County Symphony Orchestra

2) Daphne Faulkner of Belleville, Sean Qin of Short Hills and Nadya Elshafi of Bloomfield, first row. Matthew Rodriguez of Montclair, Eric Yang of Morris Plains, and Jenny Zhu of Livingston, second row in Overture Strings.

3) James Chen of Short Hills and Mickey Detush-Dornfeld of Maplewood in the Junior Symphony Orchestra.

4) Vikram Ganti of Short Hills and Matthew Rodriguez of Montclair in Overture Strings.

5) Vikram Ganti of Short Hills playing cello in Overture Strings.