Should you ever despair of young people today, pop along to any Brighton Youth Orchestra concert and you will be wonderfully surprised.

For almost 60 years, the orchestra has been producing notable musicians who have gone on to fill our national orchestras.

To open the diamond jubilee celebrations, the orchestra put on a gala concert at the weekend and dared to perform one of the epic symphonies of the 20th Century.

Dimitri Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony was published soon after the death of Stalin in 1953 and is considered by many to be the composer's testament to the miserable life led under the tyrant. It opens with a long, bleak first movement, includes a somewhat Mahlerian andante and is epic not only in intention but in scope.

Superb use of cellos and violins gave the very feel of Russia and with exquisite use of brass and wind, thunderous percussion and overall discipline and tightness, the BYO gave a reading that was way beyond the players' years.

The BYO is one of the city's cultural assets which deserves greater exposure. Congratulations on reaching the diamond jubilee, we look forward to hearing much more.