Not having sung a Nativity-themed concert since ‘An Arctic Christmas’ way back in 2018, Viva Voce has once again warmed to the idea. But this time the acclaimed Auckland chamber choir will concentrate less on Yuletide’s chilly side and more on the characters, loving and unloved, who inhabit it.

Who are these? Mother, father and child naturally take centre stage, but their post-natal visitors – angelic, regal and sheep-herding – also feature, alongside a gallery of the saints, sinners, animals and instrumentalists who also pop up in the music of the season.

Our programme includes Lauridsen’s stunning ‘O magnum mysterium, Burton’s catchy arrangement of ‘The Virgin Mary had a baby boy’, Allain’s poignant ‘Coventry Carol’ Mouton’s 8-part masterpiece ‘Nesciens mater’ and David Hamilton’s jazzy ‘Carol of Joseph and Mary’. To these we add ‘Good King Wenceslas’, ‘The Angel Gabriel’ and ‘We three kings’, and will invite the audience to join us in a couple more favourites!

Perhaps the highlight will be Jack Body’s dramatic and brilliant ‘Carol to St Stephen’, generally acknowledged as one of New Zealand’s finest choral works.

A special Christmas choral celebration, in the warm atmosphere and beautiful acoustics of St Matthew-in-the-City.