10 Christmas musical experiences you cannot miss

4 December 2025, 13:22

‘Christmas’ and ‘music’ go together like turkey and sprouts.

Make sure your Christmas musical experiences fill you with comfort and joy by seeking out one of our recommendations – or challenge yourself to a game of Christmas music bingo and see if you can tick off all ten.

1. Sing some carols

   The original Christmas music experience, and arguably the best – the earliest Christmas carol on record dates back to the second century. A rousing rendition of ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ will instantly make you feel festive. And it’s good for you too: a host of studies have shown that singing together promotes social cohesion, relieves loneliness and stress, and benefits our physical and mental health.

   Find a group that’s singing carols at your local market, residential home, or shopping centre, they’ll almost certainly welcome reinforcements. And there’s no need to confine your singing to the bleak midwinter – why not join a choir and keep the joy coming all year?

   Find a choir near you here.

   

   Joy to the World by the London Community Gospel Choir

2. Catch a concert

   Pretty much every orchestra and venue in the land will have at least one Christmas concert in their calendar, and some have dozens to choose from. With a selection of short, mostly familiar pieces, and a more relaxed, informal vibe than a standard overture-concerto-symphony concert, a Christmas concert is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family members to the excitement of hearing a full orchestra live. Concerts will be family-friendly, and many are planned specifically with young children in mind.

   Our partner orchestras have you covered, from Last Night of the Christmas Proms in the South West with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, to Spirit of Christmas in Liverpool with the RLPO and the Orchestra of Opera North’s Christmas Gala in Dewsbury.

   

   Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride // Simon Halsey & London Symphony Orchestra

3. Watch a Christmas film with live music

   What’s your go-to Christmas film? It’s a Wonderful Life, The Holiday, Die Hard (Oh no it isn’t! Oh yes it is!), Love Actually, The Muppet Christmas Carol? Every year you’ll find a selection box of Christmas classics being screened with the soundtrack played live (OK, probably not Die Hard). Like Christmas concerts, films are a great way to get friends who might not yet share your love of classical music to come and listen to a live orchestra with you, and you’ll get to watch your festive favourite on a huge screen.

   Your options this year include Home Alone with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and The Snowman with our partner orchestra the RSNO in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

   

   The Snowman - Film With Live Orchestra - York Barbican

4. Listen to a brass band

   Like singing in a choir, there’s no reason why enjoying brass band music should be just for Christmas. But there’s something about the joyful and triumphant sound of a brass band that makes it perfect for Christmas music. The shiny instruments twinkling under the lights seem made for celebration too. You might come across your local brass band out on the high street at this time of year, fundraising for a good cause. But they’ll be performing indoor concerts as well if you’d rather be warm while you listen.

   Look out for performances by brass quintets or the brass section of your nearest orchestra too – our partner orchestra the Philharmonia presents Philharmonia Brass at Christmas in London, Canterbury and Basingstoke this year.

   

   Merry Christmas from The Black Dyke Band

5. Go to church

   It could be a splendid cathedral with a bevy of choristers who’ve been training for the solo verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ for months, or the church down the road with a keyboard, a guitar and a projector. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a lifelong worshipper or setting foot inside a church for the first time – churches are used to welcoming newcomers at Christmas.

   There will be singing, you can join in if you want to (see no.1 above), and it’s a chance to sit calmly for a while and reflect on what the great glad tidings of the Christmas story mean to you. As well as services at midnight on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas morning, many churches have an afternoon or evening carol service a few days before Christmas.

   

   Sans Day Carol (Rutter) Ely Cathedral Choir

6. Watch The Nutcracker

   The ballet The Nutcracker, with its instantly recognisable music by Tchaikovsky, is a perennial Christmas treat. The story of a young girl whose Christmas Eve gift comes to life and takes her on a dreamlike journey to the Land of Sweets (home of the Sugar Plum Fairy and friends) is many people’s first experience of ballet.

   You’ll find classic productions with live orchestra by the Royal Opera and Ballet and English National Ballet in London, and around the country from Portsmouth to Leeds. To ring the changes, keep an eye out for an alternative take on the classic story, like Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! at Sadler’s Wells, or Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana, touring to Sheffield, Norwich, Inverness and more in January.

   

   Carlos Acosta's Nutcracker in Havana | UK Tour | ATG Tickets

7. Listen to Handel’s Messiah

   Handel’s great oratorio was a hit at its Dublin premiere in 1742, with gentlemen asked to leave their swords at home and ladies to forego hooped skirts so that more people could fit in the theatre. By the 1750s it was a fixture in London too, with annual performances in aid of the Foundling Hospital. As well as spectacular choruses, the Messiah is packed with vivid recitatives (solo storytelling) and moving arias (solo songs) and duets, and it’s well worth experiencing the whole thing live.

   This year you can hear Messiah from the Royal Northern Sinfonia in Gateshead and Kendal, and Manchester Camerata in Stoke-on-Trent. Top tip: if you’re going to a performance in a church with wooden pews, take a cushion – it’s over two and a half hours long.

   

   Handel: Messiah | Voces8 and Academy of Ancient Music [Full Concert]

8. Support a busker

   Whether it’s a Salvation Army band raising money to alleviate homelessness, or a teenager with a guitar hoping to earn enough to buy their mum a nice box of chocolates for Christmas, you’ll spot plenty of buskers around at this time of year. It’s taken many, many hours of practice for them to master their instruments, and a good dose of courage for them to set up their music stands in the street and perform for you. Plus, their toes and fingers are almost certainly freezing. Get in the Christmas spirit and give generously. Having no change in your pocket is no excuse – many buskers will have a card machine so you can tap to donate.

   

   Busker singing Very Merry Christmas

9. Discover some new Christmas music

   There’s something reassuring about the familiarity of a lot of Christmas music, from the carols you’ve been singing since your first primary school Nativity play to whichever Mariah Carey, Wham! or Bing Crosby banger tops your Christmas party playlist. But if you only stick to what you know you’re missing out – there’s so much more to discover.

   Listen to Christmas songs from another culture, like Finland, Venezuela or Ukraine. Persuade your choir to switch up their seasonal repertoire and explore more pieces by women or by Black composers. Swap your usual pop or classical fare for the whimsical indie sound of Sufjan Stevens, the sweet tones of Kate Rusby or folk royalty the McGarrigle family, or jazz things up with Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite.

   

   Ellington/Strayhorn: Nutcracker Suite (Overture)

10. Turn up the radio

    Don’t wait until you’re prepping the veg on Christmas morning to put Classic FM on full blast! Yes, on the big day itself we’ll be playing your Top 30 carols, and announcing the Nation’s Favourite Carol – cast your vote now before 14 December.

    But before that: our schedule is packed with more Christmas treats than a giant stocking, from Aled Jones narrating The Snowman to Zeb Soanes presenting a carol service from St Martin in the Fields. And if you need some music to make you feel more ‘Hallelujah’ than ‘Bah, Humbug’ while you wrap presents, decorate the tree, or get dressed up for a Christmas party, our Classic FM Christmas playlist is here for you 24/7 on Global Player.