The St John's Smith Square Christmas Festival returns for its 39th year.

9 December 2024, 19.30, £20.00-£45.00
A Pembroke Christmas

Anna Lapwood MBE is an associate artist of the Royal Albert Hall (London) and holds the position of Director of Music at Pembroke College (Cambridge). She was awarded an Associateship of the Royal Academy of Music and the prestigious Gamechanger Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2023. Anna regularly performs concertos with leading symphony orchestras and is heard playing recitals in concert halls and churches across Europe and the United States; she will make her debut appearance at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in 2024. Anna has also performed with Alison Balsom, Bonobo and Benedict Cumberbatch.

12 December 2024, 19.00, £15.00-£250.00
A Choral Christmas

On 12th December, two of the nation’s great musical ensembles join forces to celebrate the joy of Christmas. We’ll be hosting an evening of Christmas choral classics, so mark your calendars and come celebrate the sound of Christmas with us!

13 December 2024, 19.30, £25.00-£40.00
Christmas with London Mozart Players

Experience the magic of the festive season with the irresistibly Christmassy sound of the LMP brass ensemble. Be transported to a musical winter wonderland, where Smith Square Hall comes alive with dazzling lights and festive décor. Gather your loved ones, don your best seasonal outfit and embrace the Christmas cheer at this family-friendly concert.

14 December 2024, 19.30, £20.00-£45.00
Christmas with Eric Whitacre & The Eric Whitacre Singers

Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, is among today’s most popular musicians. A graduate of The Juilliard School (New York), his works are programmed worldwide, and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united well over 100,000 singers from more than 145 countries. Among his accolades and awards, in recent years Eric received the Richard D. Colburn Award from the Colburn School and an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Chapman University (CA).

15 December 2024, 14.00, 16.00, £15.00-£30.00
The Snowman and The Snowdog

Step into a world of enchantment and wonder as Sinfonia Smith Square perfoms a live orchestral soundtrack to the family-favourite film, ‘The Snowman and The Snowdog’, shown on the big screen. The sequel to the beloved 1982 classic ‘The Snowman’, ‘The Snowman and The Snowdog’ is a heartwarming animated short film, lively and joyful in nature. With festive introductions from members of the orchestra, the chance to meet the musicians and try out their instruments after the concert, plus a special visit from Santa himself, it’s an unmissable event for the whole family!

16 December 2024, 19.30, £15.00-£45.00
Bethlehem Star

Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge return to Sinfonia Smith Square with ‘Bethlehem Star’, a sumptuous festive programme of carols and motets including choral works by Rheinberger, Arvo Pärt, Reena Esmail, James Whitbourn, Cecilia McDowall, Jonathan Dove, and Christmas’s favourite choral composer, Clare College alumnus John Rutter.

17-18 December 2024, 18.30, £15.00-£75.00
A Christmas Carol

Join us for a seasonal celebration with a difference. Directed by Martin Duncan (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), eight of the company’s finest principals, including Victoria Simmonds, Julien Van Mellaerts and Paul Carey Jones, perform A Christmas Carol in a Victorian costumed semi-staging in the beautiful setting of Hawksmoor’s Smith Square masterpiece.

19 December 2024, 19.30, £20.00-£45.00
In Dulci Jubilo

The most traditional way to celebrate Christmas is to turn to Gregorian chant. The Tallis Scholars do this in three different styles: the interpretation of it by the 12th century abbess Hildegard of Bingen (these are her own compositions); the living Gregorian tradition as shown in settings of the Salve regina and Nunc dimittis, and as adapted in the medieval popular song In dulci jubilo; and Arvo Pärt’s reimagining of this tradition, partly in the Orthodox view. In particular there is his Da pacem, where the alto voice quotes a whole chant melody, running from start to finish of the piece. For a thousand years, chant represented all there was of ‘classical’ music. And it remains second to none in evoking the atmosphere of the great feast days.

21 December 2024, 19.30, £20.00-£45.00
Christmas Fantasia

This year the concert kicks off with a specially-commissioned Fanfare by Composer-in-Residence, Owain Park and Vaughan Williams’ beautiful ‘Fantasia on Christmas Carols’ with additional readings from the Christmas story. Audience carols including ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ and choral classics such as Holst’s ‘On Christmas Day’, Rutter’s ‘What Sweeter Music’ as well as our arrangement of ‘O Holy Night’ also feature. The concert also includes the winning piece from this year’s LCS Carol Competition.

22 December 2024, 19.30, £30.00-£70.00
Bach's Christmas Oratorio

Head into the festive weekend with an evening of Bach and Corelli as part of the Sinfonia Smith Square Christmas Festival. Expect vocal, choral and instrumental virtuosity as Polyphony & the OAE join forces under the direction of Stephen Layton, for Bach’s great retelling of the nativity story.

23 December 2024, 19.30, £30.00-£70.00
Handel's Messiah

Stephen Layton conducts Polyphony and the OAE in a very special festive performance of Handel’s Messiah. The soloists are Anna Dennis (soprano), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), James Gilchrist (tenor) and Neal Davies (bass).