Musical opening embraced by consort, nicely uplifting (5)
I believe the answer is:
intro
'musical opening' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'embraced by consort nicely uplifting' is the wordplay.
'embraced' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'uplifting' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'ortni' is hidden within 'by consort nicely'.
'ortni' backwards is 'INTRO'.
(Other definitions for intro that I've seen before include "Preliminary section (of music) (colloq.)" , "Opening instrumental passage of song" , "Musical opening" , "Launch" , "Preliminary part" .)