St John's Smith Square's Christmas Festival is back

St John's Smith Square's Christmas Festival is back

Howard Blake's The Snowman, Salmone Rossi & A Baroque Hanukkah, Gabriel Jackson's The Christmas Story, Handel's Messiah, Bach's Christmas Oratorio and more: St John's Smith Square's Christmas Festival is back next month for the 38th festival, from 9 to 23 December 2023. 

As a prelude to the festival, London Concert Choir joins Southbank Sinfonia and conductor Mark Forkgen for a programme of Schubert and Mendelssohn ending with his unfinished oratorio Christus on 8 December 2023.

Gabriel Jackson's The Christmas Story is premiered by the Choir and Girl Choristers of Merton College, conducted by Benjamin Nicholas with an instrumental ensemble using a libretto devised by Simon Jones, Chaplain of Merton, and including Merton poets. (9/12/2023). There is a film screening of The Snowman with Howard Blake's score played live by Southbank Sinfonia (10/12/2023). Samuel Ali performs Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur (14/12/2023).

The Vache Baroque Singers and La Vaghezza will be celebrating the music of Salomone Rossi in A Baroque Hanukkah (13/12/2023). Other  wisitors include The Gesualdo Six (12/12/2023),  the choir of New College, Oxford (15/12/2023), the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (18/12/2023),  National Youth Music Theatre Chorus & Orchestra (16/12/2023), choir of Westminster Abbey (20/12/2023) and the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (20/12/2023).

The Tallis Scholars and Peter Philips celebrate their 50th anniversary with While Shepherd's Watched (21/12/2023). Polyphone and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment come together with conductor Stephen Layton to perform Bach's Christmas Oratorio, parts 1-3 (22/12/2023) and Handel's Messiah (23/12/2023).

Full details from the St John's Smith Square website.