Concanenda is the recent creation of conductor and director Alexandra Schwinn, a chamber choir advertised in tonight’s notes as "focused on accessibility and cross-genre collaborations in the digitial market". This incoherently themed recital at one of Cambridge’s most choral-friendly churches served as the launch of their debut album, and as a modest demonstration of their (or rather, Schwinn’s) modus operandi.

Schwinn has training in music business and brand development, and it was clear upon arrival that ‘unadorned’ recitals are not the group’s preferred line of attack. ‘A Winter’s Rose’ was set up as an immersive, ambient event, combined with filming and photography from several technicians throughout. A worthy attempt at transmedial engagement and non-traditional staging, but one that quickly became tiresome. With the house lights off, the scene was lit by a mixture of candles and bright purple mood bulbs – a confused effect and harsh on the eye. The constant noise and motion from the cameramen was also at odds with the intended ‘meditative’ sounds of the choir, particularly within such an intimate space.

After an instantly forgettable organ prologue (‘Pari Intervallo’ by Arvo Pärt, who cements his position as the master of the forgettable every time I see him performed), a vaguely ‘thematic’ first half saw three contemporary British composers in neat counterpoint across five choral meditations on the figure of the rose. The title track of the group’s album, Alexander Campkin’s dense and strained ‘Bright Shadows’ was a suitably monochromatic highlight, as were the leaping, tumbling soprano breaks in Paul Mealor’s ‘A Spotless Rose’. Concanenda’s composer-in-residence is Welsh traditionalist Andrew Cupsworth; I did not know his work beforehand, and his deft dynamics – forgoing sudden shifts in favour of subtler textural bleeding of high and low parts – in part made up for a lack of harmonic imagination. 

The second half saw a selection of ‘Christmas favourites’ and another Cusworth première. If a workmanlike rendition of ‘Still Nacht’ was the evening’s needless John Lewis moment, then at least Schwinn ran to turn the lights on before beginning. This allowed us to see the soloists at work in the carols, a welcome touch of textural variety in an otherwise increasingly stultified procession. The programme just about held together, although if the group are to pursue this line in contemporary/traditional juxtaposition, then they will need to introduce some tonal distinction in their performances of the two styles, to ram home their versatility.

It is not impossible to combine technically adept choral work with innovative staging and experiments in media – Manchester-based group Re:sound, for instance, are an exciting prospect in this field. Concanenda needs to stick or twist on this issue of digital branding, a thorny subject for any choir trying to establish themselves in a hostile commercial environment: for now they seem at home in neither their contemporary nor their traditional modes.