Christmas is the most important time for concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields and this season features a packed programme of festive favourites.

3 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£38.00
Christmas with St Martin’s Voices
Mark the beginning of the Christmas season with an evening of carols sung by St Martin’s Voices. The first half of the concert features the contemporary British composer Bob Chilcott’s beautiful Christmas Oratorio. The second half of the concert includes choral and brass arrangements of favourites such as the Sussex Carol and Noël Nouvelet alongside a selection of audience carols including O come, all ye faithful and Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing.

5 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£38.00
A Trafalgar Square Christmas by Candlelight
On the evening of the lighting of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, join St Martin’s Voices and Strings in the beautiful candlelit church for an evening of carols from the UK and around the world.

Carols for all to sing include It Came Upon The Midnight Clear, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Joy to the World, alongside works for choir and strings by John Rutter, Lucy Walker and Ola Gjeilo.

6 December 2024, 19.00, £10.00-£65.00
The Sixteen: Messiah
“We heard a realisation of Handel’s work that suggested it was written yesterday” wrote Bachtrack when Harry Christophers’ legendary chamber choir The Sixteen performed Handel’s Messiah at St Martin-in-the-Fields in December 2022 – adding that “invigorating freshness was the hallmark of the whole performance”. Now, following another sell-out performance in December 2023, they’re bringing Messiah back again: an intimately-scaled, historically-informed interpretation, right here in the heart of the city that Handel called home. And with artists as fine as these (and a masterpiece as evergreen as Messiah) every note, every chorus and every beloved melody will sound more inspiring than ever.

7, 14, 21, 22, 23 December 2024, 11.00, 14.00, £10.00-£25.00
Festive Family Carols
Our Festive Family Carols concerts offer the chance for children and adults of all ages to come together in a short one hour programme of popular carols and music, including a few favourites for you to sing along with.

The choir will sing uplifting Christmas classics including Carol of the Bells, Jingle Bells, The Twelve Days of Christmas and We Wish You a Merry Christmas alongside children’s favourites Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Little Donkey. Audience carols for all to join in with include Once in Royal David’s City, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and We Three Kings.

7, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23 December 2024, 16.00, £10.00-£25.00
Carols for Christmas
Our Carols for Christmas concerts offer a short one-hour programme of music, carol singing and festive readings.

Captivating performances of festive music will put everyone in the Christmas spirit and will help you prepare for the season’s celebrations.

The choir will sing much loved classics Sussex Carol, O Holy Night and Candlelight Carol, alongside audience carols for all to join in with including O Little Town of Bethlehem, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

7 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£38.00
The Joys of Christmas by Candlelight
Join the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Martin’s Brass for a beautiful evening of carols and seasonal readings.

Carols for all to sing include Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem and Joy to the World, alongside beautiful choir carols including Warlock Bethlehem Down, Rutter Shepherd’s Pipe Carol and Humphris The Twelve Days of Christmas.

8, 19, 21, 22, 23 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£38.00
Carols by Candlelight
Our Carols by Candlelight concerts offer a full evening of music, carol singing, and festive readings, with enchanting performances of festive music including a few favourites for you to join in with. You’ll leave full of the joys of the season and ready to start your celebrations with family, friends and loved ones.

The choir will sing much loved classics O Holy Night, In dulci jubilo and Carol of the Bells alongside audience carols for brass and organ for all to join in with including O come, all ye faithful, In the Bleak Midwinter and Once in Royal David’s City.

10 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£38.00
Bach Christmas Oratorio
Johann Sebastian Bach saw himself merely as a craftsman serving God. But when the six cantatas he wrote for the Christmas season are combined into his monumental Christmas Oratorio, the result is something so joyous, so strong and so richly inspired that conventional belief becomes unnecessary.

Join St Martin’s Voices and Chamber Orchestra in an uplifting performance of Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Christmas Oratorio.

12 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£35.00
Christmas with the London Gay Men’s Chorus
The London Gay Men’s Chorus return to St Martin’s with a fun and festive performance of Christmas classics old and new!

Programme to include arrangements of carols and classic Christmas hits, and a host of other tunes from the stage and screen. Under the direction of their Artistic Director, Simon Sharp, the LGMC will get you set for the festive season with a selection of upbeat songs and stunning a cappella arrangements.

13, 16 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£40.00
Ex Cathedra: Christmas Music by Candlelight
Immerse yourself in the serene embrace of these popular, atmospheric concerts – where hushed anticipation and spellbinding seasonal music fills the air, and the choir is enveloped in the soft glow of candlelight. Ex Cathedra perform a seamless sequence of Christmas favourites, little-known gems and gorgeous new music, interspersed with a selection of readings, to explore the magic, mystery – and humour – of the season.

Ex Cathedra’s Christmas concerts are both an undiscovered secret and a cherished tradition, unmistakably seasonal but aimed – in these fast and noisy times – at the still, quiet heart of the season; the mystery as well as the merriment. The true, ancient magic of Christmas? We just know that once experienced, it’s never forgotten.

14 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£38.00
A Christmas Celebration by Candlelight
Join St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Choir and St Martin’s Brass for a beautiful evening of carols and seasonal readings.

Carols for all to sing include Hark! The Herald Angels’ Sing, Once in Royal David’s City, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and In the Bleak Midwinter, alongside beautiful choir carols including Lucy Walker The Christmas Life, Gardner Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

15 December 2024, 19.00, £10.00-£38.00
Handel Messiah by Candlelight
Join St Martin’s Voices and St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble for a Christmas performance of Handel’s Messiah. This masterful oratorio was first performed in Dublin in 1742, and is a tour-de-force of iconic choruses and arias reflecting on Christ’s life, death and resurrection – including the inimitable Hallelujah chorus and the sublime soprano aria I know that my redeemer liveth

17 December 2024, 19.30, £10.00-£80.00
Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists: Charpentier and Bach
Call it savoir-faire, call it je-ne-sais-quoi, but French music has always had a certain flair – a style that’s all its own. It was the tradition in 17th century Paris to celebrate Christmas Eve with old-fashioned carol tunes, and when the brilliant Marc-Antoine Charpentier incorporated ten of them into his Messe de Minuit, the result was a choral work of quite irresistible exuberance and charm.

Who better to perform it this Christmas than the world-class singers and period instrumentalists of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists – and what finer way to launch the festivities than with Bach at his jubilant best?

20 December 2024, 16.00, 19.30, £10.00-£25.00
Family Christmas with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Join St Martin’s Voices and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields for an afternoon of Christmas favourites for all the family. From the high-spirited escapades of Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, the sweetness of Little Donkey to the quiet stillness of Away in a Manger and Silent Night, this hour-long programme promises festive cheer for all ages! Audience carols will include Once in Royal David’s City and O little town of Bethlehem.

28 December 2024, 19.00, £10.00-£38.00
‘Tis the Season Four Seasons
The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi is a masterpiece of Baroque beauty and drama, still beloved by audiences three centuries later.

In this richly varied programme, St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble presents Vivaldi’s iconic work in its full splendour, together with a dazzling selection of musical gems by Handel, Corelli and Rowley.

30 December 2024, 19.00, £10.00-£38.00
A Viennese New Year by Candlelight
Join St Martin’s Chamber Orchestra and conductor Olivia Tait for a traditional New Year feast of waltzes and polkas composed by the Strauss family and their contemporaries, including the Blue Danube and Radetzky March, alongside works by Mozart and Tchaikovsky.