{"id":17941,"date":"2015-01-06T00:45:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T13:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941"},"modified":"2015-01-06T00:45:53","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T13:45:53","slug":"review-songs-of-christmasthe-idea-of-north-with-the-choir-of-st-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941","title":{"rendered":"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17942\" alt=\"TION-325x151\" src=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151.jpg\" width=\"325\" height=\"151\" \/><em>The Idea of North with the Choir of St James\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Saturday, December 6, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Choir of St James\u2019 concluded their highly successful 2014 season this Saturday gone with <i>Songs of Christmas<\/i>, a melange of popular tunes and Christmas favourites featuring guest artists and world-renowned a capella superstars\u00a0 the Idea of North.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0I\u2019ve never heard a group who sing quite as effortlessly at the Idea of North. This is the second time I\u2019ve sung with them, and again I was struck speechless by the consistency, fluidity and vibrant colour of their sound. As any choristers reading will know, one of the most challenging aspects of good singing is maintaining control over the sound you produce (anyone can belt out ugly, unrestrained high notes \u2013 I\u2019m looking at you, <i>X Factor<\/i>). True musicianship is creating a sonorous blend when singing softly as well as forcefully, and the Idea of North have this down to a fine art.<\/p>\n<p>We in the Choir of St James\u2019 are no stranger to this dichotomy \u2013 for every brutally loud Howells or Leighton <i>Amen<\/i>, there\u2019s a Byrd or Rheinberger <i>Dona nobis pacem <\/i>that requires that barely-there-control. <i>Songs of Christmas<\/i> leapt from the gates with an example of each, performed by the Choir alone; \u2018Jingle Bells\u2019, in a joyously raucous and romping arrangement by the mysterious KR, and \u2018My Lord Has Come\u2019, a poignant new carol from the pen of young English composer Will Todd.<\/p>\n<p>The selections in TION\u2019s first bracket ranged from Christmas stalwarts <i>God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen<\/i> and <i>Mary\u2019s Boy Child<\/i> to the Beatles\u2019 <i>In My Life<\/i>, a varied set to be sure but always unified by the group\u2019s trademark sound, which glows, pops and grooves in equal measures. Bass Andrew Piper\u2019s inventive mix of bass and vocal percussion underpins this sound, with tenor Nick Begbie and alto Joy Hague\u2019s syrupy voices filling out the middle while soprano Sally Cameron\u2019s voice floats above like a zephyr &#8211; bell-like, seductive and never harsh. Their ensemble skills are second-to-none, with key changes and complex rhythmic patterns turning on a dime. Highlights included Joy Hague\u2019s moving performance of <i>In My Life<\/i>, the festive and spot-on Christmas arrangements of Naomi Crellin (TION\u2019s founding alto, currently on maternity leave), and <i>\u2018What\u2019s in the Spam?\u2019<\/i>, a psalm chant which I do not recall ever having sung at St James\u2019 (we\u2019re pretty sure they were having a go at us).<\/p>\n<p>The Choir returned after intermission with erstwhile St James tenor Joe Twist\u2019s haunting arrangement of <i>Silent Night<\/i>, featuring the dulcet tones of soprano soloist Liza Lilli, and Philip Stopford\u2019s\u00a0 sweet, if slightly nauseating, <i>A Christmas Blessin<\/i>g, which has since been given the epithet \u2018I Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Not Rutter\u2019 by certain parties who shall remain nameless. Memorable moments of TION\u2019s second bracket included songs by Bette Midler,\u00a0 Joni Mitchell, an immersive arrangement of <i>The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)<\/i>, and a combined item with the Choir, the Australian favourite <i>The Silver Bells are in the Sky<\/i>. Credit must once again go to Naomi Crellin for the arrangement, which brought out the gentle pastoral and naturalistic elements of the carol.<\/p>\n<p>It is always an absolute pleasure to share the stage with such consummate musicians, and I\u2019m sure I speak for the rest of the Choir when I say that we enjoyed this festive capstone to 2014 just as much as the audience. We look forward to working with the Idea of North again in the future, hopefully to deliver concerts as full of pure musical joy and expression as this one.<\/p>\n<p><em>Luke Iredale for SoundsLikeSydney\u00a9\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>Luke iredale is a tenor with the Choir of St James\u2019. He is also a\u00a0<\/i><em>clarinetist and writer, and earns a crust working in Arts Management with UNSW&#8217;s Music Performance Unit. He enjoys the music of Schubert, Howells, Dylan and Hetfield.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Idea of North with the Choir of St James\u2019 Saturday, December 6, 2014 The Choir of St James\u2019 concluded their highly&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-17941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#039; - Sounds Like Sydney<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#039; - Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Idea of North with the Choir of St James\u2019 Saturday, December 6, 2014 The Choir of St James\u2019 concluded their highly&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-05T13:45:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"325\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"151\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Songs Of Christmas\\\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#8217;\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-05T13:45:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941\"},\"wordCount\":663,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/TION-325x151-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941\",\"name\":\"Review: Songs Of Christmas\\\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James' - Sounds Like Sydney\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/TION-325x151-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-05T13:45:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/TION-325x151-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/TION-325x151-1.jpg\",\"width\":325,\"height\":151},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=17941#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Review: Songs Of Christmas\\\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"description\":\"Connecting with Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":361,\"caption\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James' - Sounds Like Sydney","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James' - Sounds Like Sydney","og_description":"The Idea of North with the Choir of St James\u2019 Saturday, December 6, 2014 The Choir of St James\u2019 concluded their highly&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941","og_site_name":"Sounds Like Sydney","article_published_time":"2015-01-05T13:45:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":325,"height":151,"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e"},"headline":"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#8217;","datePublished":"2015-01-05T13:45:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941"},"wordCount":663,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151-1.jpg","articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941","name":"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James' - Sounds Like Sydney","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151-1.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-05T13:45:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/TION-325x151-1.jpg","width":325,"height":151},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=17941#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Review: Songs Of Christmas\/The Idea Of North With The Choir Of St James&#8217;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","description":"Connecting with Music","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","width":1000,"height":361,"caption":"Sounds Like Sydney"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au"],"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17941"},{"taxonomy":"sls_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fsls_format&post=17941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}