I say, "This was a great concert," and you say, "You mean given the circumstances?," and I say, "No, just great, period." And then you have that "aren't you nice... and foolish" look on your face. And that's because you were not there, not with an audience of 2,700 shouting its approval, in a scene right out of the movies. The truth is that it's becoming a bit awkward to "discover" and acclaim the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra over and over again (while recalling nervously the nationally-known critic who compared it, favorably, with the Chicago Symphony, anti-Solti writer that she is), but here's the thing: The SFS Youth Orchestra is routinely exceptional. But at today's concert, in Davies Hall, under the baton of its miracle-working music director, Alasdair Neale, it was even better than that, a 110-piece orchestra playing together and brilliantly. From a bold, Wagnerian-huge Brahms Third Symphony, to the world premiere of a major work by Mark Volkert, to a Triple-X "Dance of the Seven Veils" from "Salome" (a teenager herself, if memory serves) -- today's concert went from impressive to moving to thrilling... without caveats about age or anything. Volkert, 49, assistant concertmaster of the senior San Francisco Symphony, wrote "Songs from the Sea: Impressions of Poems by Reeves, Whitman and Eliot for Large Orchestra" for Neale and the SFSYO. A 20-minute-long tone poem, it's among the best works of the long-time composer, and his most colorful and lyrical to date. In the program notes, Volkert wrote about his hesitation enter the arena where Debussy, Britten, Wagner, Delius and others have written "timeless music inspired by the great oceans and have, to my ears, defined the `sound of the sea'." Turning for advice to his wife (the cellist Jan Volkert) as "La Mer," "Peter Grimes," etc. loomed large, Volkert was told: "So?" and he understood the message: "Compose your piece. Paint your picture. Write your poem or play. Enjoy the process and don't worry about being compared to others. Why are we here, if not to be creative individuals?" The result is gorgeous music, ranging from bold strokes to turbulance, shimmering vistas, lush, majestic feelings -- without a single "standard ocean reference" or cliche. All fresh, unique, beautiful, "Songs from the Sea" is that rare new music that appeals on first hearing while making the listener anxious to hear it again. In the Volkert and the stunningly-performed Strauss, concertmaster Yixing Xu and oboist Irami Osei-Frimpong stood out with exceptional solo work. While the majority of SFSYO still consists of youngsters of immigrant families from Asia, there is an increasingly varied ethnic representation, including African-Americans. The family of Osei-Frimpong comes from Ghana -- and "Ira" himself is a foreigner (in San Francisco), having been born in Los Angeles. Based on his experience with SFSYO, the UC-Berkeley philosophy senior has decided to pursue the only career that may be more lucrative than philosophy (barely): he will be an orchestra musician. Any manager attending this concert would hire him on the spot. This youth orchestra represents a fourth dimension of the San Francisco music scene: in addition to the separate-and-equal symphony, opera and ballet orchestras, there is this band of present and future musicians, doing their routinely exceptional work, for our pleasure and benefit. Janos Gereben/SF [log in to unmask]