Orchestras to perform in Whitefish

Whitefish High School hosts the State Orchestra Festival Monday and Tuesday.

More than 120 orchestra students from Missoula Big Sky, Corvallis, Anaconda and Whitefish high schools will rehearse and practice over those two days.

Catch the orchestras from Corvallis and Anaconda as they rehearse in the Whitefish Foursquare Church. The orchestras will be rehearsing with conductor Tobin Stewart from about 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Stewart is director of orchestral activities and assistant professor of music at Montana State University.

The Whitefish and Big Sky orchestras will rehearse at the same at the Whitefish Center for the Performing Arts with guest conductor Stephan Payne. Payne taught 32 years, 25 of those at Billings Senior High School.

Those rehearsals will culminate both nights in performances. Music from the classics to the modern — Saint-Saens’ “Danse Bacchanale,” Henry Mancini’s “Molly Maguires” and music from the movie “Brave” and video game “Halo” are among some of the featured pieces.

Monday night’s concert will feature performances by each individual orchestra, while Tuesday night’s concert will be the festival finale with the combined orchestras.

Both shows start at 7 p.m. in the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. The concerts and rehearsals are all free and open to the public.