• "... a stunning performance from all sections... yet another of the [orchestra's] daredevil enterprises that paid off sensationally."
    Yorkshire Evening Press (of Alessio Bax & Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Ravel's Daphnis & Chloe)
  • "In an intimate account, gauged as if to reflect the most optimistic of funerals, the phrasing was delicately moulded, the little delays on the composer's happy dissonances immaculately timed.  The building smiled at such finesse, casting an aura that took the breath away."
    Yorkshire Evening Press (of Elgar's Serenade for Strings in York Minster)
  • "Musical magic does not come more magical than this"
     Yorkshire Evening Press (of the Mahler 2nd Symphony)
  • "It takes skill and courage for an orchestra to tackle the rhythmic complexities of Belshazzar's Feast, qualities the Guildhall [Orchestra] has in large store"
    Yorkshire Post
  • "... Simon Wright at times whipping up the orchestra into an almost indecent excitement towards the conclusion"
    Yorkshire Evening Press
  • "... how would the massed forces for a performance of William Walton's masterpiece Belshazzar's Feast survive in this most resonant of acoustics?  Brilliantly was the answer."
    Yorkshire Evening Press
  • "The symphony is endearing tosh, but conductor Simon Wright built phrases with endearing care, drawing lovely playing from the strings and woodwinds."
    Yorkshire post (of Saint-Saens Organ Symphony)
  • "... cackling low brass and blaring trumpets (nine extra here) were the lasting adventures from a thrilling adventure"
    Yorkshire Evening Press (of the Janaček Sinfonietta)
  • "If giving concerts is about weaving spells, the CYGO's performance of Mahler's huge Third Symphony ... was a magician's dream" 
    Yorkshire Evening Press
  • "Simon Wright marshalled his troops with impressive skill and authority and the response from the musicians produced a vivid re-creation of musical imagery..."
    Yorkshire Evening Press (of the Strauss Alpine Symphony)
  • "Having been so successfully invented, this is a tradition that deserves to flourish."
    Yorkshire Evening Press
  • "Once or twice a year, with a slice of luck and always assuming you are a regular concert goer, you may experience one of those rare moments that transcends expectation.  One of them happened on Saturday."
    Yorkshire Evening Press (of Leon MacCawley & Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto)
  • "... overall effect was breathtaking."
    Yorkshire Evening Press
  • "In both works the orchestra, directed with much dedication by Simon Wright, showed astonishing professionalism and idiomatic perception."
    Yorkshire Post (re. Evelyn Glennie’s performance of concertos by Gow and Jollivet)
  • "... scarcely believable that a large non-professional orchestra could sustain such a consistent standard in so demanding a work.  Almost without exception, the playing was technically superb, with crucial percussion that was admirably precise."
    Yorkshire Post (re. Mahler’s Fifth Symphony)
  • "Now that it has become one of the region’s principle cultural assets... "
    Yorkshire Evening Press
  • "Throughout the concert there was a heart warming artistic integrity that is seldom surpassed by contemporary orchestras, amateur or professional."
    Yorkshire Post
  • "The City of York can be proud of an orchestra that bears its name."
     Yorkshire Post