Psyche Up the Band : The Santa Monica High School orchestra practices with an extra sense of urgency these days. It has been invited, along with three other orchestras, to represent the U.S. at a festival in Vienna.

They don’t look like classical musicians as they file into the rehearsal room at Santa Monica High School. Some wear shorts despite the chill wind outside. They playfully punch each other, toss worn backpacks into corners and hike up the arms of their sweat shirts. They warm up their instruments and begin to play.

They move into the piece boldly, gradually merging into one musical voice, buoying each other until they are caught in a whirlwind. The sound is pure symphony, never mind that it is a symphony in sneakers.

The Santa Monica High School orchestra practices with an extra sense of urgency these days. They have been invited, along with three other orchestras, to represent the United States at an international music festival in Vienna next summer.

The pieces for the event are not watered down versions of music played by professionals.

“It’s the same music you would hear at a symphony concert,” said music instructor Jeff Edmons. “A handful of high school orchestras across the country play this level of music. This is the real thing.”

Lately, the real thing means Dvorak’s New World Symphony and Shostakovitch’s Symphony No. 5.

Santa Monica High School’s orchestra has a longstanding reputation for excellence. They’ve been invited to play at festivals across the nation, and judges consistently award them their highest scores.

A representative from the Vienna festival, Craig Northrup, heard them for the first time in the spring of last year at a national conference for music educators in Washington. Santa Monica was one of three orchestras invited to serve as an example of what is possible in music education programs for youth.

“I expected them to be wonderful,” Northrup said. “But they played so beautifully. I think (the average person) would have to keep looking at them to believe they were actually playing the music. They were very professional.”

The following spring, Northrup sent Edmons an invitation to the Vienna festival. The other American orchestras planning to attend are from Northern California, Arizona and Oregon.

The annual International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna has welcomed more than 60,000 musicians from 43 countries in the past two decades, Northrup said. It is sponsored by the Assn. for International Cultural Exchange, the city of Vienna and the Austrian Ministry of Education and Arts.

“The festival brings youths from around the world together through the international language of music,” he said.

For two weeks in July, about 40 student groups will perform in concert halls and churches in and around Vienna. There will be about 15 orchestras; the rest are choirs and bands. The students will also visit cultural sites, including Mozart’s birthplace in Salzburg.

Santa Monica students were surprised last spring when Edmons told them of the invitation during a practice.

“I didn’t know we were that good,” recalled Marjan Farid, 17.

“It was like, ‘What did they say?’ ” added fellow violist, Courtney Kuroda.

Farid and Kuroda began playing violin in the fourth grade in Santa Monica elementary schools. According to Edmons, many of the orchestra’s best players came up through the district’s music program. Many parents provided private lessons as well.

Both seniors say music has become integral to their lives. They plan to study music in college but will always remember the high school orchestra, which they described as close.

They say Edmons is a great teacher.

“He’s hard sometimes,” Kuroda said. “But it’s really gratifying. We’ve all worked really hard to get to where we are now.”

Watching the 27-year-old Edmons conduct the orchestra attests to his energy, which he has used to improve the music program at the high school over the past two years. He slices the air with one hand, grabs with the other. He moves so emphatically, so violently, that his hair flies, his shirt becomes untucked and perspiration pours from his knit brows.

The number of students in the high school music program has nearly doubled in the past two years, to about 160. The variety of music classes also grew to include beginning orchestra and chamber groups. While other districts are cutting back music programs due to budgetary constraints, Santa Monica’s program appears to be thriving.

“There’s a real commitment from the community, the school district and the students to make music an important part of their lives here,” Edmons said. “That’s what makes the program special.”

Parents and other community volunteers raise $50,000 a year for the district’s music programs by holding weekly bingo games in the high school cafeteria. The money pays for instruments, uniforms and furniture. The school district pays for instructors and program overhead.

Parents are being called upon again to pay for the trip to Europe. They must raise about $180,000 to cover the $2,000 per person cost for the trip. There are 85 orchestra members.

The parents are organizing a play-a-thon, in which students will gather sponsors and perform chamber music in the Santa Monica Place Mall and the Third Street Promenade. A walk-a-thon is also in the works.

A fund-raising concert will be held next May in conjunction with the Santa Monica Symphony fund-raiser. Businesses and foundations will be approached, as will the City Council.

Councilman Bob Holbrook said he strongly supports the project and will ask the city to make a contribution.

“The recession is going to make it hard,” said parent Siumay Wong, “But I’m confident we’re going to be able to raise the money. We are going to work until the very end.”

Ryan Dorin, 17, who heads the percussion section for the orchestra, hopes they can pull it off.

“The atmosphere will be really nice,” he said of the trip, “because I love classical music. It should be a lot of fun.”

Although judges will name a winner at the Vienna festival, Edmons and his students say they are looking forward to the trip more for the experience than the competition.

“It’s probably the highest level competition in the world for students,” Edmons said. “But I don’t think the goal should be for them to go and win. It’s the beauty of making music with other fine musicians from around the world and seeing some of the musical heritage of Europe. It’s an honor just to be invited.”