Lazar Middle School Violinist Lands North Jersey Orchestra Seat

Ann Cao, of Robert R. Lazar Middle School in Montville Township, New Jersey, has been selected for the 2022 North Jersey Region 1 Orchestra. The grade 8 violinist was among 95 violin students who auditioned for this year's honors Orchestra.

“I felt really excited,” Cao said when asked how she reacted to the news that she had been selected for the 2022 Region 1 Orchestra.

Music teacher Janice Scharf was also excited by the news, and reached out to Cao and her family on a Sunday night, immediately upon learning of the Association’s choice of Cao. The NJSMA sponsors the annual honors orchestra.

“I could not wait to tell her,” Scharf said. “Ann is a very hard worker. She is a very dependable person and a dedicated musician. I was very excited for her.”

Scharf notes that Cao practices for many hours daily.

“I think of it as playing, not practicing,” Cao explained. “I really like when the music gets challenging. I like to learn new things and improve.”

Cao, who has been playing the violin for 6 years, is currently, in rehearsals for the North Jersey Region 1 Orchestra’s spring concert. Rehearsals are in-person with orchestra members from across northern NJ. A live concert is planned for March 6, however, the North Jersey Music Educators Association, the organization that sponsors the Region 1 Honors Orchestra event, has asked the musicians to be prepared to shift to a virtual format if necessary.

As a musician, Cao has become comfortable with both virtual and in-person formats. She noted there are benefits to both approaches to the music. For her, she especially found the virtual audition process less stressful.

Traditionally, orchestra musicians are selected through a blind audition process, where the judges cannot see students as they audition. Often the judges sit with their backs to the musicians, and the musicians play from behind a screen. Once again, for 2022, due to the pandemic, the audition process for North Jersey Region 1 Orchestra was held virtually. The virtual audition format provides musicians with an opportunity to record several audition takes and submit only the ones for which they are most satisfied.

Cao noted that auditioning virtually, through the use of submitted tapes, was less stressful because she did not have to wait all day for the audition, and she did not have to play for an audience that had its back to her.

The 2022 North Jersey Region 1 Orchestra concert is slated to be held at Randolph Middle School, 511 Millbrook Avenue in Randolph, NJ, on Sunday, March 6th, 2022, at 3 pm.