It’s unusual for an orchestra to give up its season opener, but the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra (KSO) clearly knew it had a winner in the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

Not only is the ensemble an incredible, disciplined group of musicians, it is travelling this season with one of the most gifted percussionists in the world, Dame Evelyn Glennie.

The only person in the world to sustain a full-time career as a percussionist, a musician of Glennie’s stature only comes around once in a while.

The works performed highlighted her talent — and that of the orchestra, in particular cellist Yuri Hooker.

Opening with Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major, a work originally created for the piccolo and rearranged for vibraphone by Glennie, the two played off each other throughout the three movements.

From there, the orchestra moved into Airs d’Espagne by Jose Evangelista, Snowblind by Joe Duddell (with Glennie on percussion) and the highlight of the night, Mirage? by Christos Hatzis, a work commissioned for Glennie.

The Toronto composer has created a work that is haunting in its emotional intensity — and in the fingerwork on the strings, as the musicians stroke their bows while sliding their fingers up each string.

It was eery — and then Glennie came into the work and it resonated between sadness and optimism.

Frankly, it’s a hard work to describe and give justice to it. This may be a cop-out but, with this Hatzis work, you truly do have to hear it.

The evening ended again with the focus on the orchestra and its conductor, Anne Manson, as they did what is one of their hallmark performances of Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony Op. 118a which, strangely enough, the audience interrupted by applauding as if it was the end of the concert after the third of four movements.

This strong opening bodes well for the KSO season, which continues on Oct. 3 with clarinetist Jerome Summers.

Born in Kamloops, Summers has based his career out of my hometown of London, Ont., and I’ve heard him often.

He’s a musician also open to a variety of styles and, for the Kamloops performance, will be doing:

■ Solaris by John Estacio, a three-piece work that draws its inspiration from the energy of the sun;

■ Concertino for Clarinet by Carl Maria Von Weber, a lush and, at times, sprightly work;

■ Pissarro Landscapes for Clarinet, Piano and Strings, a complicated work by Oliver Whitehead (also from London, Ont.) that covers a range of emotions;

■ Enigma Variations, by Elgar, a true, heavily textured classic.

Summer’s concert is called Sun-Drenched. Tickets are available at the Kamloops Live! Box Office, 250-374-5483 or online at tickets.kamloopslive.com.