Liebeck, in a performance of the Mendelssohn Violin concerto. “Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat “read the headline in the Huddersfield Examiner, and the reviewer commented “Clearly, members knew this piece but, to dust it down in one hour and give such a performance demonstrates the talent which the Huddersfield Philharmonic has in its ranks.” If this concert tested the abilities of the players, the plans for Mahler’s Third Symphony were to With the sudden unavailability of Rupert D’Cruze, Nicholas Cleobury stepped in to take on the task of performing Mahler’s Third Symphony and, following this success, he was appointed as Principal Guest Conductor within two years. He has attracted comments including: ‘Guest conductor Nicholas Cleobury paid the orchestra the supreme compliment of making no concession to its “amateur” status’ (Huddersfield Examiner 23 April 2001, review of Mahler concert). ‘Nicholas Cleobury turned what could have been a hairy experience into a convincing one, full of raw energy and glittering colour’ (Yorkshire Post, 22 April 2002, review of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast). The latter concert, featuring Huddersfield Choral Society, was dedicated to the memory of Maurice Wray, orchestral manager of the Phil for some eleven years and who had been the prime mover and shaker in bringing the two organisations together on stage. Sadly, Maurice had died just 2 months before the concert. Further memorable concerts conducted by Nicholas have included February 2005's Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra and Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time in November of the same year, as well as the closing concert of the Saddleworth Festival in June 2007. By autumn of 2002 the Phil was auditioning for a new Principal Conductor, a process which was to take almost two years, but which resulted in the appointment of Natalia Luis-Bassa, a prize-winner in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition of 2002 and the first person in Venezuela to receive the B Mus in orchestral conducting. Natalia’s audition concert (February 2004) included a performance of Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture and Elgar has remained at the heart of her continuing relationship with the orchestra. 2007 was the 150th anniversary of the birth of Elgar and the April performance of his second Symphony with the Phil won Natalia the Elgar prize. She followed this up by conducting the first performance of the work in Venezuela with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, with their principal conductor Gustavo Dudamel in the audience. February