A triptych of emerging soloists and a trio of talented young composers made for an enjoyable evening of eclectic performance repertoire in the heart of Birmingham.

Concerto works by Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, Ernest Tomlinson and Clara Catt were balanced by some engaging concert repertoire, with conductor Ian Porthouse leading two well drilled ensembles in accompaniment and solo features. 

Neat and focussed

James Screaton was a neat and focussed lead in Aagaard-Nilsen’s darkly demanding composition; showcasing his precise technique and textured tonality against a backdrop of reflective lyricism and improvised jazz. 

In contrast, Clara Cutt’s wonderfully breezy ‘Razz for Trombone’ - a cleverly realised homage to the musical soundtrack of mid 1960s American television, was full of joie-de-vivre; played with a lightness of touch and engaging sense of style by the confident soloist Jay Hall.

Bravura

Phillip Tait’s bravura account of the iconic Tomlinson Concerto, with its austere opening leading into kaleidoscopic array of technical flourishes and a finale that still has the ability to send a shiver down the spine 40 years after its premiere, was delivered with mature aplomb from a performer of considerable technical and artistic gifts.

Impressive talents

The trio of featured composers also showcased their impressive talents: John Jemmet’s arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Storm’ billowed with increasingly colourful intent, whilst ‘In the Lands of the North’ by Alec Roberts was an atmospheric tone poem that drew the listener deep into the unforgiving hinterland of bleak Nordic beauty and cold hearted warriors.

Nods and winks

Clara Cutt’s witty ‘Versatility’ - full of more nods and winks to old masters than a Sotherby’s auction saleroom, cleverly tiptoed the fine line between pastiche and parody - from Malcolm Arnold to Glen Miller via the National Anthem, whilst her pulsating take on Chopin’s famous ‘Etude No 12’ - complete with ‘South Bank Show’ sideways glance was a real bobby dazzler.

All that, and any musical evening that finishes with an encore of Alice Cooper’s ‘Poison’ is always well worth the entrance fee alone.

Iwan Fox