The Luminescence Chamber Singers have two festive programs this December. The first, Christmas Classics, ranges from medieval carols, through Mouton, Sweelinck, Bach and Britten, to Yuletide favourites like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

The second, A Sunburnt Christmas, offers more of a Down Under perspective on seasonal music. Bringing together Luminescence Children’s Choir, pianist-composer Sally Whitwell, soprano Rachel Mink and the Ellery String Quartet, this very nearly-all-Aussie program celebrates summertime, family, the promise of new life, beach days and long summer nights. The music includes works by Ross Edwards, Andrew Ford and Elena Kats-Chernin among others.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

December feels different down under.  The air hums with cicadas and thunderstorms, gum leaves shimmer, the horizon wavers with heat. It is a season of long light, beach days and bush-fires alike, and of families gathered and scattered, of endings and new beginnings.

A Sunburnt Christmas brings together the shining of voices Luminescence Children’s Choir with pianist–composer Sally Whitwell, soprano Rachel Mink, and the Ellery String Quartet for a very-nearly-all-Aussie program about summertime, family, the fragile promise of new life, and the glowing heart of home. Forget snow and sleigh bells, A Sunburnt Christmas celebrates the festive season under Southern skies.