George '32 and Julia '31 Selected to Highly Competitive CJMEA Region II Orchestra
On Saturday, January 31st—just one day after assisting with the Lower School Orchestra at the Winter Concert—Julia Adler ’31 and George Walter ’32 auditioned for the CJMEA (Central Jersey Music Educators Association) Region II Intermediate Orchestra on viola and violin, respectively.
These highly competitive auditions took place at the West Windsor–Plainsboro Community Middle School. Students were required to prepare nine major scales (C, G, D, A, E, F, B♭, E♭, and A♭) in two and three octaves, performed in quarter notes and slurred eighth notes at a tempo of quarter note = 104 bpm. In addition, they performed a solo selection (Julia: Telemann Sonata in A minor, 3rd and 4th movements; George: Rieding Concertino in G, Op. 24, 1st movement) and completed a challenging sight-reading excerpt that tested their music reading skills.
Dr. Dorota Sobieski, All-School Orchestra Director said, “I am proud to share that both Julia and George were accepted into the 2026 CJMEA Intermediate String Orchestra, selected from well over 100 auditioning violinists and more than 50 auditioning violists representing Hunterdon, Monmouth, Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex, and Union counties.”
This marks the first time since 2019 that Ranney School has placed two students in this highly competitive regional ensemble. (The previous students were Rowan Johnson ’23 on cello and Jason Woska ’24 on bass.)
Julia and George will begin rehearsals with the Region II Orchestra on Saturday, February 7th, and will perform with the ensemble on Sunday, March 15th at Monroe High School.
“Please join me in congratulating them on this outstanding achievement,” said Sobieski. “Their success reflects countless hours of practice, dedication to private lessons, strong stress management, and, above all, a great deal of hard work. I could not be more proud of Julia and George—well done!”
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