Dressed in black and white, complete with little black bow ties for the men, the orchestra entered the stage just before its 6 pm start time. The group was taken through the warm up paces by concert master Michal Camejo before the show began with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem.

Lead by the deft and dexterous Jessel Murray, music director and conductor, the orchestra — flutes, violins, cellos and all — held the audience in awe throughout the show. So completely captivated were they that except for the occasional nodding of the head or tapping of the feet, the room was totally still during the performance only to burst into rousing applause at the end of each set.

The evening commenced with Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Rusilan Ludmila, followed by Anatoly Liadov’s Eight Russian Folk Songs, the audience who seemed eager to shower praise was asked to hold applause until after all eight. This was followed by the well known Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance then George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with acclaimed pianist Sothie Paul-Duraisamy.

Returning after a brief respite the orchestra seamlessly picked up where it left off with Carl Maria Von Weber’s Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra with Kwame’ Lewis on the clarinet. He was followed by Franz von Suppe’s Overture to Poet and Peasant with principal violincello Christian Grant enjoying a solo.

The show closed some 15 minutes after 8pm with Mark Loquan’s Colours Again and Nostalgia.

It was a stellar performance.