Our guide to Christmas carol concerts in Cambridge in 2024
Cambridge is famous for Carols from King’s, which is broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but there are plenty of other carol services and Christmas concerts to help you get into the festive spirit.
With the traditional carol service in mind, the new University of Cambridge choir Schola Cantorum will be singing at a candlelit service to celebrate Bridgemas at Great St Mary’s Church in the city centre and both town and gown are invited.
Graham Walker leads the choir, which features singers from the now-disbanded St John’s Voices.
He said: “Cambridge is really famous for its carol services, especially Carols from King’s, and if you’re lucky enough to work in one of the colleges you will be able to attend one of these very atmospheric services. It is always part of a lovely transition from work into the Christmas period.
“But the university can be quite excluding if you don’t have a direct connection, and many of these services are ticketed. So this year we wanted to create something that’s an opportunity for our singers to sing this wonderful repertoire of festive music, but also a chance to open up the service to anyone in the city and people at the university who don’t have a college connection.
“There will be plenty of congregational singing of many favourite carols and we are also singing a first performance of a new carol by student Alex Robson called There is No Rose. It’s a really smashing little piece, very beautifully crafted, a careful but strong emotional response to the text. And I think it’ll sound absolutely lovely.”
There will also be a piece by one of the choir’s patrons, John Rutter, and a poem by the choir’s other patron, Rowan Williams.
Cambridge Schola Cantorum also has another festive musical date on the calendar. The choir is holding its first Christmas concert.
Opening with Britten’s cheerful and heartfelt Ceremony of Carols, featuring choir alumna Eleanor Medcalf on harp, the concert continues with a world premiere (also for choir and harp) by composer in residence Tim Watts (Bethlehem-Star). The second half of the concert is Amahl & the Night Visitors, by Gian Carlo Menotti, the first opera ever written for TV. It tells of the Magi on their way to see the infant Jesus. They stop on the way in the house of a disabled child (Amahl) and his widowed mother, and receive the hospitality of the villagers.
Graham said: “Towards the end the child is miraculously cured and goes off to Bethlehem with the Magi. It contains some of the most touchingly sweet music, with a really beautiful portrayal of the mother/child relationship, and with some very funny interactions between the Magi and Amahl. We are particularly thrilled that Imogen Knight is bringing her students from Colours of Dance to take part in the performance.
“It’s sure to be a wonderfully uplifting beginning to the Christmas season! On a personal note I’m very much looking forward to working for the first time with my daughter, also called Imogen, who is singing the role of Amahl.”
Carol service: Monday, 2 December at Great St Mary’s Church in Cambridge from 8pm
No booking required.
Ceremony of Carols/Amahl & the Night Visitors: Saturday, 7 December at 8pm
Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Hills Road, Cambridge
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ceremony-of-carolsamahl-and-the-night-visitors-tickets-1009122852617
Other festive music highlights
New Cambridge Singers
This year the New Cambridge Singers are approaching the Nativity story through the eyes of the shepherds: at first baffled, then intrigued and excited to visit the Infant King. Bob Chilcott’s beautiful Shepherd’s Carol is told from their perspective while standing at the cribside and John Rutter’s lively Shepherd’s Pipe Carol tells of their journey. The pastoral scene from Handel’s Messiah brings in the angels singing ‘Glory to God’.
The choir’s conductor, James Potter is excited to be featuring the world premiere of a new carol, written for the choir by contemporary British composer Ben Ponniah, sitting alongside other reflective and moving music by John Tavener, Ben Rowarth, and more.
With opportunities for everyone to sing some favourite carols with Will Mason on the organ, this will be a festive treat of music and a wonderful way to begin your musical Christmas season.
There are two concerts:
Thursday, 12 December, 8pm (no interval)
St Giles Church, Castle Street, Cambridge, CB3 0AQ
Tickets £18, students £9, under 18s free from www.ticketsource.co.uk/new-cambridge-singers
Saturday, 14 December 7.30pm
St Bartholomew’s Church, Church Street, Great Gransden, SG19 3AF
Tickets £14, students £7 available from the Village Shop, 8 Fox Street, or at the door
Luminaria: A Ceremony of Light by the Girls’ Choir at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge
Bringing the wonder of Christmas to life, this annual outdoor concert is sponsored by Mills & Reeve. Tickets are free to the public and members of St Catharine's.
Gates open at 5.30pm on Tuesday 17 December, with a brass ensemble opening and mulled wine and mince pies to get you into the Christmas spirit. Luminaria begins at 6pm and lasts approximately 20 minutes.
Donations will be taken for the Cambridge Acorn Project.
Entrance to Main Court will be for ticket holders only; with limited space outside the college gates for spectators without tickets.
Children aged 3-plus will require their own ticket.
In the event of rain the Luminaria will have to be cancelled and no alternative dates will be offered.
Tuesday, 17 December, 5.30-6.20pm
St Catharine’s College, Trumpington Street, Cambridge
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/christmas-luminaria-tickets-1075495428779?aff=oddtdtcreator
Serenata Female Voices Christmas concert
Start your Christmas countdown with Serenata’s Musical Advent Calendar of carols, seasonal songs and poems.
Serenata, a vibrant chamber choir comprising 25 experienced female singers drawn from across East Anglia, is directed by Andrew Foxley, with accompaniment by Richard Carr.
Serenata performs music arranged for three or more female voice parts. Sharing a passion for the rich heritage of women’s vocal music, the choir enjoys a range of styles and musical eras.
Serenata Female Voices Christmas concert: Friday, 20 December, 6pm, Trinity College Chapel.
http://www.serenatafemalevoices.co.uk/
Tickets: wegottickets.com/event/634713
Granta Chorale
The Running of the Deer with Granta Chorale will bring Christmas to The Painted Church on Jesus Lane, with their annual concert of seasonal music featuring carols old and new, including music by Poulenc, Rutter, Warlock, Weir and many more.
The concert will première the winning entry in their carol competition, setting The Refugee Carol, a newly commissioned poem by Moyra Tourlamain.
Doors will open at 6.30pm, and the bar will have mulled wine and mince pies before the concert and during the half hour interval.
Saturday, 14 December, 7-9pm
www.grantachorale.org.uk
Tickets: http://www.thepaintedchurch.co.uk
