As part of the celebrations marking their 30th anniversary the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s latest tour introduces three rising stars who weren’t even born when Paul Dyer first brought his band of original instruments together. Where will they take us?

Dyer has an impressive track record for finding new talent: the annual Noel! Noel! concert, which regularly features new faces, has given an early career showcase to Taryn Fiebig, Jane Sheldon and Max Reibl, among others, and in 2016 featured young New Zealand soprano Madison Nonoa. Three years on, Nonoa has moved to London, where she is beginning to build a solid repertoire of operatic roles, and from the evidence of her performances in Sydney last night, singing four Handel arias, her future looks very bright indeed.

Madison Nonoa and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Photograph © Keith Saunders

Her ‘Da tempeste’ from Julius Caesar revealed a rich and rangy voice under the control of a rock solid technique which made impossible leaps and flourishes seem effortless, while in ‘Let the bright Seraphim’ she had the fire and edge to match Leanne Sullivan’s blazing trumpet obbligato. Nonoa has also mastered that most...