FOR their autumn concert, the Trowbridge Symphony Orchestra took over St James' Church in their home town for an evening celebrating two of Scandinavia's biggest names in classical music, Norway's Edvard Grieg and Finland's Jean Sibelius.

But first, in a tribute to the recent Armistice centenary, the orchestra began with John Williams' Hymn to the Fallen, from Saving Private Ryan. Much as the piece diverted from the concert's overall theme, it was a fitting opening number. It was performed so well that the absence of vocals was not even noticeable.

The strings section truly led the way in this particular concert. But the star of the show was the soloist, whose incandescent talent provoked no little comment across the venue. Trowbridge's 17-year-old Rachel Stonham, a former student of TSO leader Carmen Tunney, impressed with an effortless display of confidence and almost military control and discipline over her instrument. A level of talent we have seen in the likes of Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang, Nicola Benedetti, and even the great Yehudi Menuhin.

Stonham shone in her performance of Sibelius' Violin Concerto, the movements of which successfully transitioned between the mournful and harrowing to the mischievous and fiery at the end.

Lighter notes followed in the second half, where the orchestra remained with Sibelius in a seamless performance of the Valse Triste. Again, it was the violins, violas and cellos that helped capture the playful alternation between the energetic and sorrowful moods.

Rounding off the concert, we heard a full rendition of both of Grieg's Peer Gynt Suites. Beginning with the lesser-known Suite No. 2, whose tones are far more violent, distressing and chaotic, as they tell tales of abduction and disaster until the understated, sad ending. In Suite No. 1, the section that truly stood out was the sorrowful and grief-riddled Death of Åse, in which the audience could join the hero as he mourns his mother.

The orchestra truly came together as one for what could not have been a better finale. The bit that everyone knows - In The Hall of the Mountain King. With conductor Philip Draisey's calm but firm control and direction, each artist in their own right succeeded in depicting that slow development from the quiet creeping to the chaotic crescendo.

Once again, the Trowbridge Symphony Orchestra never fails to impress or deliver an incomparable musical experience. This can be in part down to the leadership of Philip Draisey and Carmen Tunney, but also in their own respective talents as musicians. It would be impossible to name any one orchestra member who stood out - they all did equally extraordinarily.

DALE HURST