When I told my friends that I was spending my Valentine’s day at a saxophone concerto, they were shocked. But no one was as shocked as me. I have always resonated with the flamboyance, ferocity and extravaganza that comes with pop and R&B music, spending my late teens and early 20s trotting all over the country seeing divas like Chlöe, RAYE, Janelle Monae and Beyoncé. I never thought there was a space for me in classical music, something I have always experienced as rigid, traditional and exclusive.

However, having just begun a new degree in a new city, I was and remain determined to embrace new experiences. Before the concerto, I met with Cambridge University and Varsity Music alum, Jack Marley who won the University’s long running Concerto competition last year for best classical instrumentalist and was returning to perform a Saxophone solo at the recent valentine’s event. He read music at Pembroke College from 2022-2025 and has been honing his saxophone skills since the age of nine.

“Our conversation challenged some of my misconceptions about the classical music scene in Cambridge”

Our conversation challenged some of my misconceptions about the classical music scene in Cambridge and reminded me of the dedication these musicians put in to enhance their crafts. Along with technical proficiency, judges also assess command, presence and comporting themselves with intentionality. That is to say, how you assert yourself without playing.

Armed with that refined knowledge I arrived at the West Road Concert Hall. Outside the venue, patrons were buzzing with energy. As we walked into the hall and the instrumentalists took their seats on stage, the atmosphere was animated with anticipatory chatter. During the night Jack performed Takashi Yoshimatsu’s Saxophone Concerto, ‘Cyber Bird’ (1994) and Sibelius’ Symphony No.2 (1901-2).

“Marley’s presence and enviably stylish outfit was effervescent”

The first showcase had a stirring intro. Marley’s presence and enviably stylish outfit was effervescent. While the saxophone was the undisputed star of the show, the piece also featured prominent solo piano and percussion parts, with a strong jazz influence. Towards the end, the music culminated in a massive climax before receding into a wistful piano led tune. Jack’s saxophone became airer, more subtle. Throughout its duration the concerto demonstrates a strong jazz influence, particularly in the syncopated rhythms and improvised passages of the first and final movements. I was enthralled with its use of restraint and excess.

The concerto closed with a burst of untameable energy. A fantasia of sound and musical colour, centring round a striding, confident melody. Sibelius’ Symphony No.2 (1901-2) told a story of struggle of uncertainty and struggle, leading to ultimate triumph. It built organically through small musical gestures before the third movement began bubbling away with unruly energy and unsettled melodies. Every member of the orchestra embodied the theatricality and emotion needed to convey such a complicated journey. Its close was borderline cinematic: brass fanfares, shimmering string tremolos, timpani rolls, slow and momentous melodies.

What I loved about this night was how different it was to the pop concerts I’m used to going to where everyone is singing every note and thrashing about. Here, the audience was demure and respectful, their piercing gazes locked onto the performers. The collective effervescence of pop replaced by the arrested reverence of classical.

“I wanted to dance and whoop too”

Still, in this dynamic tour de force, there were many moments where I wanted to dance and whoop too. Perhaps, pop and classic forms of music aren’t opposing forces but liminal spaces that allow us to artistically express the human condition? RAYE’s new album, This Music May Contain Hope, infuses some of her classical training and a live orchestra into her new music. On Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé drew inspiration from Caro mio ben – the famous 18th-century Italian aria – for her ballad Daughter. Even artists like Billie Eilish and Katy Perry have been classically trained.

So not only did I have a great night, I realised this genre has been the musical foundation to many of my great nights in the past, present and future. This space, I realised, belongs to me as much as anyone. West Road Concert Hall, I’ll be seeing you!