Hearing and watching young people perform to the standards that have been reached at this Bermuda Festival does much more than provide an evening of elevating entertainment – they give us hope for our future. These young people have accomplished so much in their short lives, achieving high standards of excellence and reaching a deep understanding of their art, that it cannot help but make us optimistic.

Indeed, this year's Bermuda Festival has been a tribute to the talents and hard work of young people. Earlier in the month we'd already heard young choristers from Christ Church Cathedral Choir in Oxford, who thrilled the audience with their mastery of music and glorious voices.

At this Saturday's performance at the City Hall Theatre, Imani Anna Lorna Woodley opened an evening of music that would lift the heart of even the most curmudgeonly of concert-goers.

Imani is 12-years-old and she was the youngest performer of the evening.

With her family, she moved to New York in 2004 so for many of us this was the first time we had the opportunity to see her perform. Her programme began with Beethoven's 'Sonatina in F Minor', Chopin's 'Mazurka, Opus 67 No. 4', and she took on the legendary difficulty of Shostakovich, performing his 'Lyric Waltz'.

While these performances were a little insecure in places she certainly played with conviction, vitality and confidence – qualities from which each of these pieces, and typically of their composers, benefits. She managed the complex rhythms of Chopin's Mazurka admirably. Shostakovich is never easy, and this piece was challenging in that it called for two very distinct moods, one of which is heavily definitive – a style he famously relished – to exquisite, flowing impressionism, which she accomplished very well.

The pieces that followed showed her at her best: Erik Satie's 'Three Gymnopedies No. 1', is a well-known and rather moody piece, and this was a sensitive and confident interpretation.

A pretty impressionist-style piece, 'Etude, Opus 45 No. 9' by Stephen Heller was another high point in her performance. This style of music really did seem to suit the young pianist. She demonstrated a lovely sense of rhythm and sensitive phrasing too, resulting in a pleasing interpretation.

At 16-years-old, the violinist Leidy Sinclair is no stranger to the Bermuda stage, and local audiences have enjoyed watching this young musician's remarkable musicality develop and mature.

Her performance on Saturday evening showed that she has reached a new peak: superb technical ability has flowered into a real love of music and an extremely sensitive interpretative ability which she executes with finesse and gentle passion.

Accompanied by Robin Davis, she opened her programme with J.S. Bach's 'Sonata No. 2 in A Minor'. Accomplished technically, this performer is well suited to Bach, whose works so often call for a meticulous and austere approach, and this was an exquisite rendering of the piece.

Mozart's 'Sonata in E Minor' followed. Leidy told the audience that her violin with which she was performing that evening was crafted in 1775, just three years before this piece was composed. Her performance simply sang, and her accompanist, Robin Davis who stepped in at the last minute as her own accompanist was ill, was superb, providing the perfect foil for this young performer, while the two enjoyed a real musical empathy. Their timing was impeccable, and Leidy provided quite beautiful dynamics, performing with delicacy and beautiful definition.

Pablo de Sarasate is a Spanish composer and his 'Romanza Andaluza Opus 22 No. 1' is a dance of the Iberian variety, and another style for this young performer. Leidy told the audience that she felt it was a love story, and she was right; this is a piece that begins gently with the challenge of two very distinct voices, while ultimately they come together with firey Spanish passion.

The well-known march from the opera 'Love for Three Oranges' by Prokofiev – it was the theme song to the now-vintage television programme. 'The F.B.I.' – is rather quirky, light-hearted, and requires an unusually rigid execution in places. She gave a witty interpretation which was great fun for the audience

She concluded with an enduring favourite, the finale from Max Bruch's 'Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor'. This exuberant celebration is a dynamic and energetic piece and quite different again. Leidy performed it with real exuberance, concluding her programme in a thrilling way.

Kerri-Lynne Dietz is another young performer we have watched as she has grown and her talent has developed and evolved. Currently at the Royal Academy of Music in London, her voice immediately demonstrated a developing maturity and confidence. Always lovely, it has flowered into a gorgeously rich mezzo soprano, while her technical mastery is extremely impressive. In addition, her interpretative style is lively and interesting, and added much to the performance.

Handel's 'Guilio Cesare in Egitto', a powerful and dramatic piece quite typical of this composer, was the first opportunity of the evening to hear how her voice has developed in beauty and strength.

Perhaps the most ambitious section of the programme was Mahler's 'First Song Cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen', or 'Songs of a Travelling Journeyman', which tells the story of a man who cannot be with the woman he loves. This is darker, but certainly no less dramatic than the Handel, resonating with emotion as with each song she explored the full range of her vocal qualities. This gorgeous mezzo, who called into play her strong acting abilities, gave a beautiful and animated performance.

A lovely, light rendering of Mozart's famous 'Voi che sapete che cosa é amor' from 'The Marriage of Figaro' provided a complete change of mood, while Gerald Raphael Finz's dark and deeply felt 'To Joy' from 'Oh Fair to See' was different again – and Kerri-Lynne's interpretation was controlled, precise and beautiful.

In another change of mood, she performed two Broadway favourites, Cole Porter's highly amusing 'Miss Otis Regrets' from 'Hi Diddle Diddle' with a great sense of wit, and his stirring love song, 'So in Love' from 'Kiss Me Kate'.

She concluded the programme with folk songs from Benjamin Britten; the sentimental 'O Waly Waly', to the lilting rhythm of 'Come You Not from Newcastle', finishing with the delightful, light and uplifting Oliver Cromwell, of which she gave a charming and animated performance.

For this small Island to have produced these remarkable young people who have reached such extraordinary heights was the inescapable conclusion of the evening. Yes, with youth such as these there is promise for the future!