As 2024 draws to a close and an uncertain New Year looms, you may feel that comfort and joy are in short supply.

This is why the choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, is preparing to offer a generous helping of what the Cathedral’s Director of Music, Daniel Justin, describes as “some very necessary Christmas cheer.”

The 2024 concert, Carols at the Cathedral, will be held on December 18 and will be the first under Justin’s leadership. After moving from the UK to take over the position vacated by New Zealander Thomas Wilson in 2022, Justin was appointed to the role in October 2023.

He was already a fan of St Mary’s Cathedral Choir. “I’ve been following it online, on YouTube, and via the live streams for a long time,” Justin tells Limelight. “I was always very impressed by what Thomas had achieved, so when the opportunity to come to Sydney and work with the choir arose, I wrote in straight away.”

Daniel Justin and members of St Mary’s Cathedral Choir. Photo © Giovanni Portelli

By the time his appointment was finalised, however, Justin had no time to prepare a Christmas concert for...