SATURDAY'S surprise item came at the start. A trumpet trio used the space to ringing effect in Britten's Fanfare for St Edmundsbury.
Next, conductor Keiron Anderson strolled down memory lane with the premiere of his Radio Days. A solo flute graced this tribute to the old BBC Light Programme.
And the band kindled lyrical warmth with the Symphonic Suite from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, the big-band version of Sing, Sing, Sing and a Miss Saigon medley featuring an ardent saxophone.
Other items sounded more delicate. Take the opening elegy of Frank Tichelli's Cajun Folk Songs 2, or Ernest Tomlinson's English Folk Dance Suite with its vivid oboe solos.
There were tone-poems in contrasting hues. The charm of Eric Whitacre's October, the grandeur of Philip Sparke's Spirit of the Sequoia and the magic of David Bedford's Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves were richly evoked.
Guest soloist Nigel Hinson added panache with a clarinet concerto written by jazzman Artie Shaw for a Fred Astaire film. Ralph Hermann's Clarinet on the Town was a scorching epilogue.
Peter Palmer
