VTHS orchestra plays with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

VERNON — Recently, the Vernon Township High School Orchestra, under the direction of Jennifer Krott, participated in its fifth annual side-by-side workshop with members of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

The students traveled to Sussex Tech, where they watched the NJSO perform "Classical Favorites for All Seasons" from their Concerts for Young People series.

After the concert, the VTHS Orchestra rehearsed one of its own pieces, "Dance of the Hours," with Maestro Grogan and members of the NJSO. The VTHS Orchestra will perform this piece as part of their spring concert line-up next May. During the rehearsal, the students sat next to professional musicians and had the opportunity to not only discuss the piece that they were working on, but also individual instrumental techniques.

"Working with Maestro Grogan and the NJSO continues to be a wonderful educational experience for both the students and me," Krott said. "The NJSO mentors were actively engaged with our students and, this year, I had the opportunity to conduct the combined group during the final run-through. The students and I returned to VTHS with renewed passion for the piece that we're working on and the students were very excited to share the performance tips that they learned. We thank the NJSO musicians, Maestro Grogan, NJSO liaisons Audra Fuhr and Joanna Borowski, and VTHS Band Director Max Taylor for helping make this year's side-by-side collaboration a success."