Three of Tasmania's best young resident musicians formed the Eden trio a year ago [sorry, Elizabeth! This is Eden's third Christmas concert!] to welcome in Christmas without the craziness.

Word has spread and this year the cathedral was packed.

Eden arranges works to accommodate its combination of instruments, often giving traditional Christmas songs a modern flavour.

While all three are vocally trained, their performance combined their other musical skills including soprano Christina Sonnemann's harp talents and baritone Christopher Richardson on cello. Soprano Amy Richardson's voice sat somewhere between the popular and the classical, matching the mix of repertoire the group performed.

A sweet rendition of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Pie Jesu rubbed shoulders with a simple version of the ancient O, Come, Emmanuel.

Displaying dexterity playing instruments and singing, the trio briefly turned into the equivalent of a magically sounding quintet for What Child Is This?

Handel's The Plane Tree finally gave the audience a taste of Christopher Richardson's rich baritone at full throttle

The passion in Eden's performances made its belief in the real reason for the season obvious and the audience was left with a sense of calm belief.

It was a perfect spiritual antidote to the commercial side of the silly season."