When conductor James “J.R.” Cassidy stood before his Northern Kentucky audience 10 years ago, he told them, “Welcome to our experiment.”

His experiment — now called the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra — has endured, and on Friday, there were balloons and birthday cake to prove it. The adrenalin was running high for Mr. Cassidy and the orchestra, who recreated the first concert they gave a decade ago in Greaves Concert Hall at Northern Kentucky University.

Mr. Cassidy has built the KSO from a community ensemble to a semi-pro orchestra, with some fine professional musicians playing alongside devoted amateurs. He's honed the group well over a decade, although the lack of continuity made for some unevenness during the splashy selections in Friday's program, dubbed “Feels Like the First Time.”

No one in the crowd of about 300 seemed to mind. The audience helped serenade the music director with “Happy Birthday,” munched on cupcakes with the musicians at intermission and enjoyed the Northern Kentucky ambiance on this warm fall evening.

The evening's highlight was Rachmaninoff's lush Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with Cincinnati pianist Michael Chertock as soloist. The Rhapsody's theme is from the last of Paganini's devilish violin Caprices, and the piano work is equally difficult. Mr. Chertock, who is one of Cincinnati's most versatile pianists, made it look easy. His brilliant figures sparkled, and he articulated fiendishly difficult double-octave passages, keyboard-spanning runs and staccato leaps with control and musicality.

The pianist struck a perfect tone in the magical 18th Variation, the heart of this piece. His phrasing was beautifully shaded, and the KSO strings complemented with fine playing.

Mr. Cassidy was an able partner. Only occasionally was the orchestra sluggish or an entrance messy. They and Mr. Chertock earned a deserved standing ovation.

Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol offered a chance for KSO principal players to shine. Concertmistress Mari Thomas tackled her bravura part securely and with wonderful expression, and there were fine contributions from brass and wind players.

Mr. Cassidy is a clear, if not subtle, conductor. Rimsky-Korsakov's “Russian Sailors Dance,” which opened the program, was breathless and a bit rough. But there were some nice moments in Borodin's Overture and Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor which followed, including a nuanced horn solo by Isaac Lindbloom.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com

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