The time is fast approaching when brilliant young conductor Lee Reynolds will shoot off into the musical stratosphere and we will have to worship him from afar.

In the meantime, at the end of a busy year that’s taken Reynolds from the Barbican to Berlin, LSO and Glyndebourne, he and the dazzling Kantanti Ensemble sprinkled Christmas stardust over a capacity audience of Snowman fans in woollies and wellies.

There are plenty of concerts at this time of year designed to introduce your little ones to orchestral music, but not one of them will beat the sheer excitement of seeing the players at such close range, hearing – and seeing – how a harp makes ET fly, having a go at conducting the orchestra, or even messing about on the piano in the interval.

It’s this happy atmosphere which makes music irresistible and when an ensemble as accomplished as the Kantanti pitch up on your doorstep, it’s worth a thousand improving trips to the Royal Festival Hall.

Hundreds of happy little music fans emerged into the frosty twilight eagerly pulling on their scarves and hats. They were walking in the air.