I never cease to be amazed at the depth of talent among the county’s young musicians, and Friday’s gala concert showed the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra at their very best.

From the moment they burst into life with excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet they impressed with their energy, spirit and masterful handling of one of the 20th-century’s most technically challenging composers. There was a wonderful contrast between the tension of the Montagues and Capulets, the playful flirting of Juliet and the mischievousness of Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio sneaking into the Capulet ball in their masks.

Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre provided another contrast, as the players captured the mysterious and foreboding nature of this captivating piece, with a mature and confident solo performance from Lizzie Mundell-Perkins. The first half finished with a gloriously fluid rendition of the Adagio from Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus, now famous as the theme tune for BBC’s The Onedin Line.

The second half continued with equally impressive performances of Strauss’s Salome’s Dance, Wagner’s Good Friday Music from Parsifal and Borodin’s exciting Polovtsian Dances, finishing in suitably triumphant mood with Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, which brought the evening to a Last Night of the Proms-style close. And the players didn’t hold back — this was delivered with such breathtaking vigour and patriotic fervour that they were obliged to give an encore, during which conductor John Traill endeavoured to get the audience to sing along, with limited success!

This was an impressive display of musicianship, commitment and dedication, and it was a shame that the event wasn’t better supported. There is another chance to catch the orchestra on July 31, when they present a Grand Concert at the Sheldonian Theatre — by which time they will have taken part in the National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham, and toured to the Netherlands. For details, visit www.oxfordshire.gov.uk