BBC New Generation Artists In Belfast

I attended a BBC Radio Three Invitation Concert last night at the Spires Centre in central Belfast. I managed to park outside the complex in Howard Street. The concert started at seven o'clock. There was queue outside the hall and it's just as well that I was brandishing my brolly because the heavens opened shortly before they let us all in!

The auditorium was about seventy per cent full; it's not uncomfortable though, I feel, not ideally suited to orchestral concerts. The BBC uses it occasionally when the Ulster Hall is unavailable.

It was an enjoyable performance, with fairly popular pieces. Eduard Kunz played Tchaikovsky's famous Piano Concerto Number One; the highlight of the evening for me, though, was the absolutely wonderful and poignant performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto by eighteen year-old Jennifer Pike. This girl is so gifted; she can make the violin sing so sweetly and vividly. Many of us were left with smiles on our faces when she finished.

I'll be keeping an eagle eye out for Jennifer Pike in future, be assured.