THE last day of February was a special for local professional orchestra, the St Helens Sinfonietta and its hardworking founder and conductor Alan Free.
Launched in 1997 on a shoestring budget, they gave their 100th orchestral concert on Saturday (February 28) and a packed town hall rewarded this great achievement.
Forty-two players - the orchestra's maximum number - crowded the platform as leader Celia Hebbron took her place.
The second half of the evening was filled by Beethoven's mighty Fifth Symphony. The rafters rang with the fanfares of horns and trombones at its climax.
Before that, up-and-coming Manchester violinist Dewi Tudor Jones was the soloist in Sibelius' Violin Concerto, a tremendous roller-coaster ride for players and audience. Its magical unearthly beginning was riveting, and Dewi's playing in the second movement was beautiful.
Grieg's tuneful Peer Gynt completed the programme, sensitively delivered by the orchestra.
May there be many more concerts like this still to come!
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