Christina Jung, a sophomore at Wayne Hills, has recently been accepted into North Jersey Regional Orchestra as the fifth chair cellist out of sixteen.

Jung has been playing cello for eleven years since the age of four and recently started her fourth year in the regional orchestra. She has even received a certificate from the Board of Education for her accomplishments.

The process of regional auditions was not easy and involved many weeks of preparation and practice. Jung’s audition was blind and judged thirty percent on her scales, fifty percent on her solo, and twenty percent on her sight-reading.

For the audition, judged by three well-respected musicians, Jung had to play excerpts from her solo piece, selected scales and arpeggios that she was required to memorize, as well as a sight-reading exercise. She was allowed to use a provided metronome before the audition but was not allowed to use vibrato for her scales. Vibrato is a rapid, slight variation in pitch that could potentially produce the illusion of correct intonation when it is actually off. 

On top of keeping up with academics, Jung and the orchestra practice in five hours sessions each week for five weeks in preparation for their performance. The area in which practices are held changes weekly.

The orchestra includes a variety of instruments including violins, violas, cellos, harps, and various brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The selection of musicians is a mixture of students grades nine through twelve.

Some selections that they are preparing include the theme from Romeo and Juliet, Fountains of Rome, and selections from Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer commonly known for The Nutcracker.

Jung expresses that she is very excited about this opportunity.

“Cello is exhilarating. I’m privileged to have such a good opportunity to play in such a prestigious orchestra.”

Jung is working hard to prepare for the upcoming orchestra performance on February 11th.