Amid the hustle and bustle preceding Christmas, there remains an oasis of festive concerts to lift the spirit and soothe the soul. Programmes of beautiful music and much-loved carols fall, like manna in the wilderness of our hectic lives, to remind us to pause and reflect upon the real reason for the season, and a time of peace and goodwill.

Months in advance, conductors, musicians and singers begin preparing for that one night when an audience gathers to simply sit and enjoy their offerings. It matters not whether the scale of the event is grand or modest, it is their gifts which count.

The joint presentation at St. John's church of the Bermuda School of Music's Chamber Choir and Treble Choir was a gift indeed.

Known for the quality of its performances, the approximately 39 male and female voices of the Chamber Choir reveal time and again the benefits of Ryan Ellis' direction, and it is obvious that both he and the singers thoroughly enjoy what they do. That this is so well conveyed to the audience is due, in part, to the warmth and energy of Mr. Ellis, who has an engaging way of drawing his listeners in and making them feel particularly welcome.

The programme for 'Christmas from Around the World' embraced the familiar and the less familiar, and included audience participation, perhaps the most memorable instance of which was the director's potentially risky invitation for anyone who fancied singing the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's 'Messiah' to come forward and join the Chamber Choir. The response was enthusiastic, the augmentation seamless, and the result a pleasure — which just goes to show that, like the Christmas stocking, surprises are not always bad.

The Bermuda Treble Choir added a charming dimension to the concert. Founded in January 2006 by Mr. Ellis as part of the Bermuda School of Music's community outreach programme, its goal is to provide free, quality music training to Bermuda children in a group setting, where creativity and artistic expression are nurtured.

How well this is succeeding was clearly demonstrated by the aplomb with which the clear young voices sang their hearts out with equal facility in English, Latin and French.

The impeccable form of the Chamber Choir, whether singing a cappella, or to the fine accompaniment of Oliver Grant on organ or keyboards in English, German or Spanish, greatly enriched a memorable evening, and we look forward to hearing more of them in the 2009 Bermuda Festival.

Mr. Ellis was right when he said, "There is something very special about the power of Christmas music to bring us back to another time or place...the smells of the trees, the flavours of the food we give to us, the emotions we feel, giving, receiving, love."