Review: Southampton Youth Concert Sinfonia (SYCS) summer concert, Turner Sims

THE second orchestra in the Southampton Youth Orchestras pyramid performed their toe-tappingly spectacular summer concert.

Conducted by musical directors Anna Robinson and Kevin Withell, and led by first violinist Hiro Jones, the orchestra romped through 14 separate pieces over the course of the evening – each of which was in some way influenced by jazz.

The show opened with Tribute to Louis Armstrong, an upbeat and boisterous piece which set the mood for much of the concert to come.

Highlights from the first half included Boogie Wonderland, which was conducted by student conductor Emily Yeates, and two pieces where the orchestra was joined by talented singer Evie A Music. Evie’s soulful voice was perfectly suited to the night’s jazz numbers and Hit the Road Jack proved a great opportunity to showcase her fantastic range.

The second half saw two more student conductors take to the stage. Albany Rowan conducted Its Not Unusual and Hayley Adamson later took the strings through Larry Moore’s arrangement of Uptown Funk, which had the whole audience clapping along. The orchestra’s penultimate piece was simply titled Medley from Sister Act. Joined once again by Evie along with two vocalists from the orchestra, SYCS rip roared through what was easily the highlight of the evening.

Julia Mitchell