High school orchestras gather for morning of music at Modesto Junior College

Nine Stanislaus County high schools performed in Modesto Junior College’s High School Orchestra Day on Thursday. Students played works by composers such as Brahms, Handel, Holst, Meyer, Mozart, Newbold and Ravel. There were 11 participating orchestras in all, as Turlock and Pitman high schools have two each.

The participating schools included Beyer, directed by Marcos Rivera; Downey, directed by Joanne Neuffer; Davis, directed by Mark Davila; Turlock, led by Joe Tovar; Pitman, led by Don Grishaw; Enochs, directed by Phil Vallejo; Modesto, directed by Matt Cover; Gregori, led by Dan Bryan; and Johansen, led by Brad Hart.

MJC Community Orchestra conductor and string professor Anne Martin hosted the free event. “It’s definitely not a competition,” she said. “It a chance for the students to share, and I think of it as a celebration of string music.”

The event has a long history. This is Martin’s 14th year at MJC and her 14th High School Orchestra Day, but she knows it was around before her arrival. Among those in Thursday’s audience were the student musicians, parents, local music teachers and MJC music students.

This story was originally published November 6, 2014 at 1:16 PM with the headline "High school orchestras gather for morning of music at Modesto Junior College."