HAPPILY, the orchestra has found a new home following the closure of the town’s arts centre – under the chandeliers of the Dolphin Centre’s Central Hall, and celebrated with a colourful display of orchestral fireworks.

The concert opened with a majestic arrangement by A Benoy of music from William Boyce’s Royal Birthday Odes.

This full orchestral arrangement was both simple and effective, and delivered with style, with lovely warm playing from the lower strings giving the music a powerful depth.

The dignified opening soon gave way to much livelier pieces, including a fiendishly fast Scherzo by Tchaikovsky, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 2, and an exuberant rendition of Offenbach’s Can-Can from Orpheus in the Underworld.

Throughout the evening, the audience was encouraged to support the orchestra by clapping, humming, or fingerclicking.

This relaxed atmosphere created by the orchestra and conductor David Plews made every member of the audience feel warmly included in the concert.

The orchestra’s guest performers were the boys of the Locomotion Choir, with guitarist Tony Kilpatrick. Their selection of popular songs included two lovely solos, and some accomplished harmony singing.

A peaceful medley of Simon and Garfunkel songs by the orchestra provided a nice contrast, before a finale of Broadway showstoppers.

After the uncertainty of the past few months, the Darlington Orchestra is clearly determined that the show will go on.