Arts / Youth orchestra provide festive flair at Christmas concert
After a day decking her home with decorations, Annalie Irvine was in the mood for some festive musical fayre – and Shetland Youth Orchestra’s Christmas concert did not disappoint, she writes here.
As well as the veritable smorgasbord of musical offerings, mulled apple juice and mince pies offered upon arrival could not fail to fill everyone with seasonal joy.
Aisulu Goddard’s crisp and clear diction in her opening solo of Walking in the Air set the scene and listeners certainly felt they were “swimming in the frozen sky”.
Danse Macabre, an atmospheric tone poem composed by Camille Saint-Saens in 1874 was the orchestra’s first offering of the evening.
It was obvious that a lot of practice had gone into preparing this performance and the orchestra’s persistence paid off, with a suitably mournful tone being produced by the strings, and a haunting cock crow from the oboe towards the end of this “dance of death”.
Santa hats were then donned by members of the orchestra for a much merrier performance of What’s This? from The Nightmare before Christmas.
Accompanied by the orchestra, three audience participation carols, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Deck the Halls and Silent Night were then interspersed with a variety of solo and small group performances.
The flute quintet gave close harmony performances of Coventry Carol, Angels from the Realms of Glory and Mr Sandman.
Anne-Louise Harpe’s cello solo of Schindler’s List, a haunting melody written by John Williams, and Ellie Nicolson’s rendition of The Girl with the Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy, provided moments of calmness and serenity.
Howard Blake’s The Snowman Suite, with jaunty playing from the cello and double bass, followed by Eatnemen Veulie by Norwegian composer Frode Fjelheim from the film Frozen, were performed by two different groupings of all strings.
A recently formed jazz trio, The Jam Jar, gave two very sophisticated renditions of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Jubilee Stomp.
The subtle supportive drum kit and understated tight playing of both the saxophone and guitar belied the youth of these performers, certainly a group to watch out for.
Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24, composed in 1995 by members of American heavy metal group Savatage to reflect the emotional impact of the Bosnian war, saw two members of the orchestra switch to playing electric and bass guitar.
The melody of both God Rest ye Merry Gentleman and the Ukrainian folk tune Carol of the Bells could be heard throughout this “war” between the traditional orchestral instruments and the rock guitars.
The Polar Express medley created a sense of the magical and the players coped well with the various changes of tempo.
The orchestra brought the evening to a close with a hearty rendition of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
This group of young players did themselves, and the adults who lead rehearsals to further their development, proud.
They are also supported by a band of parent helpers and are already preparing for their next public performances, a trip to Bergen in 2026 (donations towards this can be made here) and a concert at Lerwick Town Hall on Saturday 20 June 2026.
On the strength of their Christmas concert performances, this promises to be a concert not to be missed!
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