It is not often that a concert can truly be said to be memorable. But the concert given by the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra under their inspiring conductor and County Music Adviser Richard Hallam has been ringing in my memory ever since, writes Rayond Head.

Fresh from a triumphant tour of Ireland the orchestra was on top form, its 150 members playing with tremendous energy and feeling, the product of immense hard work Mr Hallam has the dynamic will-power to bring these young people together.

What an ambitious sequence of works they played too! Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique is demanding for any orchestra and its very length requires huge reserves of stamina - and this was only the first work on the programme! What came over most strongly, despite some lapses of intonation and ensemble, was the musicality of this performance. Here the oboist and cor anglais players especially shone. The trombones and trumpets who always threatened to dominate every climax were, fortunately, counterbalanced by a huge, resonant string section.

Stravinsky's difficult Firebird Suite needs a very crisp, alert response something that young players usually find very difficult but here the orchestra coped astonishingly well. There was some good atmospheric playing, including a fine bassoon solo; and we were left in doubt about the demonic nature of the Kastchei dance too.

However, it was really in the two Bernstein pieces The Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and the overture to Candide that the orchestra really excelled. Confidence, aggression and rhythmic verve were there in abundance. Some of the speeds were on the fast side but this produced a real feeling of exhilaration.