FOR the men of York Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society it was a tuxedo function, their creamy jackets standing out against the black evening wear of the ladies, as they sang side by side in a tribute to The Music Of Stephen Sondheim.

A fortnight ago, the YAODS singers had performed The Music Of Ivor Novello in the first of two Summer Serenade concerts that marked their debut at the National Centre For Early Music in Walmgate.

Last night - for one night only - it was the turn of Sondheim, preceded from 6pm by pre-booked supper, thankfully not prepared by Mr Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street with his sideline in exceedingly fleshy pies.

With musical director John Parkes at the piano, narrator Richard Bainbridge set the tone for the evening, dressed in his dinner jacket in formal Michael Aspel mode to run through the life and musical achievements of Sondheim - and he still found time to nip over to the piano to turn over the songbook pages for the MD.

Bainbridge praised Sondheim for being "the most adventurous composer working in musicals", instantly laying down a challenge for the YAODS company of four men and four women. The show duly burst into life with Eric Daines, Graham Kay and Mick Liversidge's lively and amusing interpretation of You've Gotta Get A Gimmick, Sondheim's tribute to the days of burlesque and striptease in Gypsy, and they did resist the temptation to remove their clothes.

Carole Farrar's Everything's Coming Up Roses, from Gypsy, was another early highlight; Eric Daines excelled in his rendition of Small World; Jessa Marshall was all wide eyes, expressive movement and accumulative rhythm in Another Hundred People.

From Follies, Graham Kay's account of Beautiful Girls was suitably exuberant, and bang on the button on the final note, while Jill Pollard brought full meaning to every line of Could I Leave You, delivering the final twist with panache.

At the outset of the second half, Jessa Marshall was prominent, first in a lovely Green Finch from Sweeney Todd, then in her duet with Ann Spencer, A Boy Like That/I Have, in which Ann gave the most impassioned performance of the evening. Jill Pollard was as fruity as the glass of red in her hand when she circled the audience as she sang Ladies Who Lunch from Company; Mick Liversidge, by now wrapped in a duvet, bonded well with Jessa Marshall in the humorous Barcelona.

The evening concluded with a selection of personal favourites from the Sondheim canon, Barrie Elener's Send In The Clowns being his best contribution to the show.

Don't be at all surprised if these Summer Serenade concerts return next year, with another brace of 20th century composers in the spotlight.