Due to a terrible bad-luck string of un-get-out-of-able commitments, I have not yet heard new Seattle Youth Symphony conductor Stephen Rogers Radcliffe conduct. This is his second season with the group, Sunday is his fifth concert, and I’ve missed them all. The SYSO’s concerts (under his predecessors) have never been less than thrilling, displaying that unjaded energy with which the best youth orchestras put their older professional colleagues to shame. This afternoon’s program offers American music old and new (Copland’s Tender Land Suite, Kernis’ Too Hot Toccata), a German chestnut (Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony—a good workout, because thanks to the composer’s overcautious orchestration, everyone plays all the time), and an English semi-rarity, Walton’s Cello Concerto, played by Joshua Roman. (A magnificent musician, but he keeps such a low profile; he needs to get out more.) Benaroya Hall, Third Avenue and Union Street, 362-2300, www.syso.org. $8-$40. 3 p.m. Sun., March 2. GAVIN BORCHERT

Sun., March 2, 3 p.m., 2008