King's College Choir Christmas Concert, Royal Albert Hall

With their annual services broadcast on Christmas Eve, the choir of King’s College Cambridge is likely the most famous in the world. Comprised of sixteen boys and fourteen students, they maintain the English choral tradition from their college’s iconic late fifteenth century chapel. To see them perform is to witness the human voice at its most sublime.
For their Christmas 2015 London appearance, they will take to the gargantuan stage of the Royal Albert Hall for mid-week night of choral classics. The superb Philharmonia Orchestra –one of Britain’s finest – and the London Philharmonic Choir will join them. Two outstanding rising stars, soprano Louise Alder and mezzo Katie Bray, will serve as soloists, while King’s music director Stephen Cleobury conducts.
After the seasonal hymn Joy to the World, the amassed musicians will present excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, before the King’s College Choir alone embark on a selection of traditional choral music. Then, after an interval, comes Vivaldi’s Gloria, a twelve-part hymn setting of extraordinary beauty and a high point of the Italian baroque. The Agnus dei is amongst the most exquisite ever set.
A pair of movements from Corelli’s Christmas Concerto will give the singers time to rest, before they return for Bach’s Wachet Auf (often known as Sleepers Wake), one of the most popular church cantatas from the incomparable Kapellmeister. Like the Gloria, it expresses the full richness of the baroque tradition to blissful effect. The evening then draws to a close with a selection of popular carols – including Hark! The herald angels sing, Good King Wenceslas and O come all ye faithful – which the audience are welcome to join. With its diverse programme, winning soloists and gathering of world-class ensembles, this looks to be a true peak of the Christmas calendar. Book before it is too late.