An exciting event took place on Monday evening – the collaboration of two school orchestras normally separated by 6,000 miles. As part of Japan-UK 150, which marks 150 years of friendship between the two countries, students from the Tokai Gakuen High School in Nagoya, Japan, joined the Abingdon School First Orchestra for a concert that featured around 160 youngsters sharing a common enjoyment of music-making.

The evening opened with the Abingdon School orchestra playing a specially-commissioned piece, Abingdon Tokai, a Festive Overture, by Abingdon School’s composer-in-residence Simon Whalley, and was a magnificent start, featuring Japanese folk song Sakura and making full use of the school’s variety of instruments. Both orchestras then performed Wagner’s Overture to Die Meistersinger and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy, with the players tackling these difficult pieces with all the confidence and aplomb of seasoned pros. Particularly impressive was the players’ obvious appreciation of the warmth and richness of the music, and the excitement they generated with their playing. The driving force was conductor Michael Stinton, Abingdon School’s director of music, one of the most communicative conductors I have seen; with his clear, decisive hand gestures and body language he left no one in any doubt as to exactly what he wanted.

No less impressive was the conducting of Tokai student Yukihiro Tsuda, who took charge of the Tokai Gakuen orchestra after the interval with performances of Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 and Dvorak’s Carnival Overture. Tsuda may not yet have the dynamism of Stinton, but for somebody of his age this was a mature and controlled performance, ensuring that the players captured the felicitous and romantic nature of the Schumann, and the effervescence of the Dvorak, which brought the evening to a suitably rousing conclusion.

This was a thrilling and stirring evening, and it was both inspiring and humbling to see so many young people showing such talent, dedication and enjoyment. Wonderful.