As openings go, it was at the subtler end of the bang-whimper spectrum. So subtle, in fact, that the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’s first concert of 2022 began before most of the packed auditorium noticed. What sounded like pre-performance doodlings among the double basses and percussion suddenly cohered into a heavy tread of repeated notes and rhythmic filigree. As the rest of the orchestra filed on stage, the standard-issue minimalism (shades of Terry Riley’s In C) blossomed into more colourful textures. And then it all dissipated as mysteriously as it had begun, leaving the principal oboe playing a sustained A for tuning.

There was no conductor and no music. Just, as we were told in one of multiple spoken cameos from players, the NYO’s trademark “unashamedly enthusiastic atmosphere”. Such devised pieces are now a regular feature: a reminder of how much the organisation provides for its members beyond high-level orchestral training. (Though nothing encapsulates the scale of Operation NYO better than their gargantuan pre-concert pizza order, which arrived as I did.)

If the main body of the concert seemed more subdued than some NYO appearances, that’s surely because it was this cohort’s first outing, after a single week together. But the quality of playing under the careful, encouraging leadership of Sian Edwards was largely as polished as ever. Ravel’s La Valse emerged from barely-there rustles, taking flight in irresistibly brash climaxes. The middle movement of Karim Al-Zand’s City Scenes wove delicate skeins of percussion and strings, while Dani Howard’s Coalescence showcased on-the-money brass and exquisitely blended polychrome shimmer. Best of all were Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, which boasted a gorgeously mellow saxophone and tender strings, liquid ripples of woodwind and a muscular, sharply chiselled finale – and there’s no full orchestral sound quite like an NYO tutti, as this huge, energetic machine roars joyously into life.

• At Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry on 7 January