Under the dedicated direction of Viktoras Prizgintas, the Allegro Orchestra, which is made up of three levels of student musicians, was joined by members of the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a performance of baroque and modern string music. The concert Friday night at Central Valley Elementary School featured guest violinists Krista Benion Feeney and Anca Nicolau, violist Ronald Lawrance, cellist Myron Lutzke and bassist John Feeney. Professional and young instrumentalists, especially at the top level, formed a special musical bond that provided genuine listening pleasure.

The featured work of the evening was the last piece played, Benjamin Britten's "Simple Symphony," based on material the composer wrote between ages 9 and 12. Beginning with a "Boisterous Bouree," the piece opens with bold double chords repeated three times and then developed in dancing variations. The next movement, "Playful Pizzzicato," is exactly that, every note plucked or strummed on strings. The third, "Sentimental Sarabande," introduces a plaintive melody lovingly sustained by violins and cellos over the plucked double basses and violas and building to a rousing anthem-like crescendo. The work closes with "Frolicsome Finale," full or rapid and resonant rhythms.

The Baroque Ensemble played the Britten symphony with confidence and skill, qualities it also brought to Gustav Holst's "Brook Green Suite." The sweet phrases of the opening prelude are followed by a nostalgic air that begins slowly, quickens and slows again before returning to the first subject. The closing dance develops into a merry romp that brought the players together for a timely tutti.

The concert began with Kirt N. Mosier's "The Dance of Iscariot," played by the guest performers and the intermediate Concert Orchestra. The strings handled the mounting cadences with a strong attack, briefly interrupted by a sonorous cadenza by a violin and viola duet. The Training Orchestra and guests then played Jean-Joseph Mouret's "Rondeau," a baroque study of a single theme repeated and returned to with emphatic passagework. The youngsters met the challenge with force and solidarity.