Look out for an underwater concert, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Rembrandt Live, and US satirist Randy Rainbow.

Wesley Enoch has announced the programme for his second Sydney Festival, which opens on January 6. The opening night honours are shared by Wayne McGregor’s dazzlingly staged dance piece Tree of Codes, an underwater concert by Danish Group Between Music called Aquasonic, and the return of “boylesque” group Briefs in their new show Close Encounters.

On top of those, the latest Circus Oz show Model Citizens will already be playing in Parramatta, as will the play My Name is Jimi at Belvoir. With the Meriton Festival Village in Hyde Park also in full swing, the Festival will get off to a flying start.

Tree of Codes has just had a season at the Melbourne Festival. Read the Limelight review here. A collaboration between British choreographer Wayne McGregor, Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and UK musician Jamie xx, there’s not a lot to connect with emotionally but the staging is stunning and the dancing is sensational.

^{Between Music’s Aquasonic. Photograph © Charlotta de Miranda}

Aquasonic, which will be performed at Carriageworks, features five musicians who submerge...