Yiddish Dances - Adam Gorb

Taidhreamh - Declan Townsend

Gaian Visions - Frank Tichelli

Rhapsody in Blue - Gershwin

March Op 99 - Prokofiev

Morning Music Richard Rodney Bennett Symphony in B flat - Hindemith

It's a basic premise of orchestral activity that some of the players will get it wrong. If the violinists in a symphony orchestra all played exactly together and in tune, a section of 16 would be a lot louder than an individual but otherwise not that much different. But the tolerance of variation is quite tight, the dividing line between acceptable and unacceptable statistical spread quite fine.

In these regards, wind ensembles, and the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble is no exception, have a tougher time than groups with a high proportion of strings. Not all composers, not even all experienced composers, handle the problems in a way that's readily gratifying to the ear, and the variability within the IYWE's concert at the NCH on Tuesday had to do with the composers as well as the players.

Frank Tichelli's Gaian Visions and Richard Rodney Bennett's Morning Music, both conducted by James Cavanagh, brought out the very best from the young players - real resplendence at the bass end, and good clarity and definition of colour. Hindemith's Symphony under Timothy Reynish flickered in and out of focus and Prokofiev's March (Cavanagh) just wasn't delivered with the finesse that it really needs.

It's always interesting to hear young players in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The wind solos invite a certain amount of grandstanding, which, on Tuesday, was offered in abundance, if not always with style or taste. The piano soloist, Isabelle O'Connell, didn't avoid the pitfall of taking some of her expressive points from a tradition which wasn't Gershwin's. That's the way most pianists handle it these days. But she compensated elsewhere with a liveliness of spirit and a braveness of attack of which the composer would surely have approved.