Continuing this impressive student-led Spring Festival, Wednesday’s concert featured their artist-in-residence, Leafcutter John. The first set featured a realisation of John’s animated graphic score by an ensemble of music students themselves.

It didn’t really do it for me: to be sure the graphics were colourful, bright and pleasing, but so what? The interpretation married the shapes – glissandis, dynamics and speeding up to represent the climax/fragmentation – but it was all a tad obvious and their sound world dated and anything but bright.

With a name like Leafcutter John, one might have expected a seasoned environmental gangster, not the charming young man with echoes of a sober Jim Morrison. In the opening folktronic set, John sang beautifully, even sounding like the great man, but then the electronics walloped in from nowhere and the piece never really got back on track. There was some blending of the two, but when the folk song aspect returned one had to question the logic of the journey. This, however, was followed by a much better piece with John feeding swirling stones, bowed bowls, gentle percussion hits and then a mini accordion, plus that top voice into the electronic mix. From a baffling beginning the piece developed beautifully. Lovely and therapeutic.

- Steve Crowther