This year’s Sir Francis Burt Memorial Concert, in honour of that celebrated jurist and former Governor of Western Australia (1990-93), provided yet another opportunity to hear in action not only one of today’s most celebrated organists, Dr Joseph Nolan, but to relish the artistry of West Australian Symphony Orchestra Principal Trumpet, Jenna Smith.

Smith is a former student of previous WASO Principal Trumpet, David Elton, who joined Nolan for the 2024 Sir Francis Burt Memorial Concert. In my review of that concert, I noted that “despite the extraordinary musicianship and level of technical accomplishment exhibited by both artists, their chosen repertoire tended towards the lighter side, the program almost comprising a succession of (admittedly lengthy) encores.”

Jenna Smith. Photo © Ammon Creative

It was difficult to avoid an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu on this occasion. But that’s not wholly fair. Because, taken as a whole, this Thursday night concert had a satisfying arc to it, a cohesive affective thrust, which the earlier concert did not exhibit, suffering as that did from peaking early with Nolan’s magisterial performance of Charles-Valentin Alkan’s Impromptu sur le choral de...