It would be hard to imagine a better finish for the 2025–26 Dolgellau Music Club concert series than the one delivered on Friday, 27 March in Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor by Classic Rhythm, a trio (flutes, piano, percussion) whose sound often seemed to exceed the output of just three players.

Flautist Helen O'Connell switched tellingly from flute to piccolo; pianist Adrian Sutcliffe summoned harpsichord, as needed, from an electronic keyboard; Chris Brannick filled the whole front of stage with his battery of percussion – marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, xylophone, timpani, gongs, tam-tam, drumkit, cymbals, triangles, castanets, woodblock, whistle and more besides. At high points the rhythmic energy and sonic richness were irresistible – small wonder that some listeners dubbed this the 'best concert of the lot'!

Presenting well-known tunes in imaginative instrumentation is a winning formula, and so this programme demonstrated. The first half comprised Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, the William Tell Overture, Debussy's La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, a folksong medley and Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite – Morning, Anitra's Dance, and In the Hall of the Mountain King. Debussy's 'La Fille', arranged for vibraphone and piano, provided moments of calm, as did the folksong medley foregrounding the flute.

All the other pieces and movements created vivid contrasting atmospheres; the Grieg conclusion, as Peer Gynt dreams he is braving the Troll King and his Troll Courtiers in that spooky Mountain Hall, provided an excellent climax.

Jazz Suite (by Adrian Sutcliffe himself) made a good contrast to open the second half, moody in 'Midnight City', wistful in 'Alone in the Night', dynamic in 'Downtown Kyiv' – the trio totally at home in this idiom.

Chris Brannick's arrangement of cabaret singer Sue Casson's lyrical Camden Lock, 'a timeless tale from London', was a good sequel. Saving (it might be said) the best wine till last, a couple of final items just swept the audience away.

In Vittorio Monti's famous Csárdás, Chris Brannick on xylophone (supported by Adrian at the piano) showed astonishing virtuosity as the expected accelerations sent his two sticks (only two?) flying faster and faster across the keys.

Some comic touches along the way added therapeutic laughter to the musical enjoyment.

A West Side Story suite brought the trio and all their instruments together in a magnificent finale, sonorities and colours in songs such as 'Maria', 'Tonight' and (most triumphantly) 'America' conjuring the impression of a full-size Bernstein orchestra.

An encore was insisted on, so it was a three-song medley from the Jungle Book score that rounded off in high style the seventh and last concert in another successful series.

The club is grateful to the Coleg for hosting, and to all attenders and supporters. A new season will begin on 2 October with a much-anticipated visit from that multi-talented folk group, Pedair.