The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s annual 2022 iteration of Noël! Noël! for 2022 is an eclectic mix of traditional carols with some non-seasonal sacred songs, interspersed with popular and instrumental numbers, designed to entertain.

The concert features its 18-strong instrumental ensemble with the 22-member Brandenburg Choir, including several young mentorship participants, all led by its Artistic Director Paul Dyer. They are joined by First Nations singer and songwriter Marcus Corowa, performing on a stage illuminated by Trent Suidgeest’s lighting design.

Noël! Noël!, Australian Brandeburg Orchestra, 2022. Photo © Keith Saunders

As Limelight has previously observed Noël! Noël! offers the experience of Christmas without the ‘heavy stuff.’ It is shorter, secular and more populist than many of the other concerts on offer. Pretty lights, tinkling bells and cymbals, heraldic trumpets and trombones, thrumming timpani, soaring descants and songs with a humanitarian message are part of this formula. There are numerous family groups in the audience, children in tow.

The opening bracket of three pieces is a reprise of the 2021 program. Receiving its world premiere last year, Hugh Ronzani’s Fanfare, performed by four trumpeters from the loggia, builds arpeggiated declamations punctuated by...