The voices of the Brandenburg Choir drifted into City Recital Hall from the wings before the choir assembled onstage, opening the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s enduringly popular annual Noël! Noël! concert with Michael Praetorius’ arrangement of Philipp Nicolai’s Wachet auf!

The tinkle of chimes sustained the atmosphere created by the choir – forestalling any applause – as the orchestra followed with the 17th-century Sonata à 9, a fanfare featuring the period brass instruments and timpani. New Zealand soprano Madison Nonoa joined the ABO for Once in Royal David’s City. “Discovered” by the orchestra’s Artistic Director and harpsichordist Paul Dyer, Nonoa was the highlight of the concert, her exquisitely contained soprano, delicately spun with vibrato, shimmering over the sound of the choir.

^{Madison Nonoa and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, photo © Steven Godbee}

Noël! Noël! taps into the nostalgia and mysticism of the Christmas period, without stooping to the bland homogeneity of the standard carols concert, the concert continuing with a mixture of old favourites and rare treasures.

A particular highlight was Ola Gjeilo’s The Spheres – the Kyrie from his Sunrise Mass – a spacious and ethereal series of vocal halos, lightly touched...