I cannot in good conscience start this review of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s May Orchestra Hall performance without disclosing several facts. My father is on its board, I on its “Young Associates Board”; I’m an alum of the organization, and most of my happiest memories from high school somehow involve the organization, is myriad programs, and its many remarkable students. Having disclosed this potential for bias, I still feel safe calling CYSO’s Sunday concert a resounding success.

The evening started off with the Chicago Youth Concert Orchestra (a “training ensemble” for the Symphony Orchestra) performing Arturo Máquez’s “Danzóm No 4” under its always-energetic director Terrance Oliveras Gray. The orchestra performed to a preternaturally professional standard—the limpid opening bassoon solo, courtesy of CYCO’s principal bassoonist, could easily have emerged from a professional orchestra. (And keep in mind, this is CYSO’s “training” ensemble”!) The group as a whole brought a refreshing, almost nervous energy to the performance.

The Symphony Orchestra was next on stage, with the “West Side Story Overture” on their hands, a dubious medley by a one Peress. I was unfamiliar with this particular arrangement (the “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story” is by far the most frequently performed orchestra medley from the show) but this rendering definitely “got in all the tunes.” Far more impressive than the quality of the arrangement was the CYSO’s playing, which (again under Gray’s baton) brought a youthful vim to the relatively brief piece.

The highlight of the evening was of course Mahler’s epic and well-known “Symphony No. 5 in c-sharp Minor.” The trio of trumpeters who split up the principal part was stunning, from the symphony’s notoriously touchy opening solo to the poised nobility of the closing movement. The brass section displayed the wall-like unity of sound and pitch for which professional ensembles strive in every encounter with this piece. The woodwind playing was pristine and elegant, and the string playing flat-out virtuosic. At youth symphony concerts I sometimes find myself waiting for that, “Oh God, no!” flub or mistake—there were none on Sunday, at least as far as I could hear. It was a performance that truly made me wish I were back on stage with the group.

To say that CYSO has “grown” in recent years would be an insult. It’s exploded. Their concerts are rare opportunities to hear young people play beautifully before they go off to Ivy League Schools and elite conservatories; let’s see, among my friends while I was there, people went on to Harvard, Yale, Penn, MIT, Juilliard, Curtis, the New England Conservatory, and the list goes on. That all these extraordinary young musicians show up every Sunday afternoon to rehearse and subsequently perform great music is a testament to CYSO, and a gift to the city at large.

The Chicago Symphony will be performing Mahler 5 this weekend. Its high-school counterpart has set the bar rather high.