IT was no wonder that the audience were riveted to their seats at the recent ninth public performance by Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO). Under the baton of principal conductor Kevin Field, the student musicians had enjoyed their own performances.

Says percussionist 19-year-old Lim Lai Hock: "It was wonderful that so much hard work was put in at the four-day rehearsals. The challenge was to get the audience to focus on the music."

Lim enjoyed the MPYO's rendition of In the Hall of the Mountain King from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No 1 Opus 46.

Says trombonist Wee Wei Peng, 22: "I am glad to be here. The audience evidently was impressed by our musical style and hard work."

Wee viewed MPYO's best performance to be Ase's Death from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite. "It expressed emotions that the audience felt and many had responded with a smile during that performance. It is a rare experience to receive the coaching that we have had."
Says Khor Wen Xi who plays with the second violins in the orchestra: "It was good fun. The second movement of George Bizet's two-movement Symphony in C - the Adagio -- was performed first to tease the audience but I liked Vivian Chua's arrangement of P. Ramlee's Tunggu Sekejap."

Says Ho Mei Yoke who plays the clarinet and bass clarinet: "I felt good."

But for the rest of the budding orchestra musicians between the ages of 12 and 26, the developing cohesion, tension and intent was singular particularly in the second half of the night's programme which started with Bizet's youthful symphony, followed by P Ramlee's Tunggu Sekejap and culminated in a selection of Bizet's Carmen Suites.

The collection of pieces had been spun off from his opera, Carmen, and it was the encore piece -- The Song of the Toreador -- from the opera that set the ambience for merriment for that evening.

The better performances in the first half of the programme were the MPYO's rhythmically precise rendition of P. Ramlee's Bunyi Gitar arranged by Chua and Anitra's Dance from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite.

Field summed up the night's performance by the MPYO: "It was fantastic and the response of the student musicians to the conductor was very good.

"The music played was a contrast in styles and forms, and the MPYO is going from strength to strength." -- By MICHAEL SUN