It was a case of age meets youth as octogenarian Chris Barber shared the stage with talented young musicians from Lancing College.

This came about after the college’s director of music, recalling that Barber harboured an ambition to play with a British orchestra, invited him to join forces in the finale to an evening’s pot pourri of musical entertainment.

The College Concert Band kicked off with a selection that included the stirring theme from The Great Escape while The Polysonics, a small group of male students, presented a trio of contrasting a capella numbers - the haunting Summertime, a Victorian ballad and a novelty number involving Kazoos.

The mood changed when the college’s swing band took to the stage and got feet tapping with a varied selection that included solo vocals from Francesca Williams and Florian Panzieri. Williams was joined by Georgie Fielder and Camilla Harris to recreate an Andrews Sisters’ number.

The heat was turned up when Barber and his band played their set mixing traditional style jazz with sizzling Duke Ellington numbers and climaxed with the Symphony Orchestra musicians joining the band for thrilling tributes to Ellington and Basie – the Orchestra particularly effective when augmenting the band’s rhythm section.