The 2nd Annual Golden Folk Benefit Concert

Moira Smiley, Luke Wallace, and the Real Vocal String Quartet are graciously taking time in their demanding schedules and contributing their world-class talents for the benefit of our students on Sunday evening, February 22nd at the Golden State Theater in Monterey, CA. Their hearts toward developing creative youth is touching, generous, and humbling and validates our vision for a community of collaboration and accomplishment. Please plan on attending this fantastic musical event–it promises to be one of the best performance experiences on the peninsula for this entire year and will ensure no student is excluded from the valuable educational experiences created for them this year!

Monterey High School Music Students

We often describe the MHS Music Students as the nicest young adults in our entire school community. They are characteristically hard-working, dedicated, dependable, and other-centered people! A small percentage of our students come from well-resourced families and according to our own district demographic data, ten percent are either in foster care or homeless. While this describes the extremes of economic conditions, a much larger group of students at MHS don’t neatly fit into either of these examples. Many of these students go about their lives, meet their obligations, and contentedly navigate their circumstances without complaint or entitled expectation. Many of them have jobs–not to provide mad money for youthful pursuits, but to contribute to a family budget still reeling from one or two hospitality industry incomes decimated by COVID shut downs. Some of these students are living in households with one parent or one income because of catastrophic illness or loss. Some of our families have more than one student in our music program which compounds their need for resources.

What We Try to Provide for Our Students

Music ensembles are really metaphors for community–microcosms of the way people fit into a cooperative environment and work together to maximize effectiveness and quality. This is one of the most important transferable skills students can take with them into their adult lives from participating in a musical ensemble. We try to create at least one adjudicated music festival trip annually because traveling together creates a cohesive bond that is multiplied by the common experience–it’s one of the main reasons that we don’t want to leave anyone behind due to scarcity of resources. These experiences are especially valuable to students that come from more challenging economic backgrounds–they, more than most students, need to see the value of a group working toward and accomplishing big goals. Local events have value but they don't provide the same indelible effect as a trip–we want students to understand that community can accomplish what individuals cannot.

We are the Monterey High School Music Boosters, a 501(c)(3) organization supporting the Monterey High School Music Program. We raise funds for the needs of the program including the purchase and repair of music instruments, equipment and uniforms. We offer scholarships for adjudication field trips and college.

Tax ID# 77-0389621

2nd Annual Golden Folk Benefit Concert

Featuring Moira Smiley, Luke Wallace, and the Real Vocal String Quartet

Team Members