At 54 degrees, I thought it was a bit nippy for shorts. But then, I wasn’t working very hard.

From the back stage door to the front of the house, Marshfield Auditorium was a tempest of activity last Sunday morning. The scream of an electric screwdriver said that risers were being assembled. The guy in the red T-shirt stopped to wipe his brow.

“That’s 72 chairs onstage,” he wheezed. “Seventy-two!”

However, for professional musician David Jarvis, shorts were the perfect uniform for battling the freshening breeze that whipped into the green room. Soon enough, he would don the penguin-like tuxedo worn by symphonic musicians while performing, but for loading in the contents of his stuffed-to-the-gills hatchback wagon, comfort beat out couture.

Because Dave Jarvis is principal percussionist for the Oregon Coast Music Festival Orchestra, and he had a 20-item inventory list to check off prior to the day’s first rehearsal.

With its snare drums and carpets and sandblocks and trap tables, the percussion section requires a significant portion of onstage real estate. Look for them upstage right tomorrow evening at the festival finale — the Rachmaninov concert.

Professor David Jarvis is the coordinator of percussion studies at Washington State University, and has performed internationally in both classical and jazz arenas. His jazz fusion group, the Dozier-Jarvis-Young Quartet, was featured at the OIMB Boathouse concert during the 2004 Oregon Coast Music Festival. A composer for percussion and electronic sound, his piece, “Digga digga digga digga digga digga digga digga DEE-GOT!” was commissioned by the percussion duo Equal Temperament, for their CD titled “Parhelion.” Jarvis also serves as the principal timpanist for the Washington-Idaho Symphony, although timpani was not transported in the back of his wagon. Those large, bowl-shaped kettledrums that were heard during the week’s earlier concerts are the property of Marshfield High School, and Jarvis wanted to spend time on Sunday checking and tuning the set.

A 17-year veteran of the Oregon Coast Music Festival, Jarvis says that he always enjoys whatever music is on the program. When asked if this year brought any particular challenges for percussion, his reply was thoughtful and fast.

“Challenges? Yeah, the Bernstein. There is such a large quantity. We use stations of equipment, rather than a single instrument. It’s a challenge just getting on the stage with all the humanity.

“Most of Bernstein is a challenge,” he continued. “It’s a challenge to lock it all in, to get it together. I’m looking forward to getting behind the timpani instead of the percussion ... The remaining four (percussionists) will play the other parts.”

The Tuesday concert included Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Suite: On the Waterfront,” a 20-minute piece in five sections that played like a single, menacing movement. It’s film music, an accomplished vehicle for building tension and fraying the melody line. Alternating between heartbeat and threat, “On the Waterfront” was filled with urban grit and hints of cacophony — a ferocious piece for percussionists.

Tonight, the Festival Chamber Players perform Beethoven and Mozart in a 7 p.m. concert at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Coos Bay.

Tomorrow, Conductor James Paul leads the Festival Orchestra in Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 3, joined by guest soloist Jon Nakamatsu for Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The program begins at 7:30, with remaining tickets available at the MHS Auditorium door.

Teri Albert reviews art and artists for the Ballyhoo! page of The World. Comments on or story ideas for this column are welcome, and can be e-mailed to malbert3@verizon.net.