The Christmas period brings a wide selection of music that’s sure to have you tapping your feet and jingling all the way. Here to get you into the spirit this December are a number of concerts in Manchester featuring classic Christmas carols, music from your favourite festive films and multiple genres aiming to make your month merry. We’ve rounded up some of the best concerts taking place in Manchester to ensure you have a holly, jolly Christmas. After all, it’s the best time of the year.
1. Chetham’s Festive Favourites, December 9
This concert will include beautiful Christmas classics and festive favourites starring some of the UK’s most remarkable young musicians, who will also be joined on stage by a special guest. The performance brings together musicians from Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir, plus vocalists and brass musicians to really get you in the festive spirit. It promises to be a wonderful concert for the whole family to enjoy and you can expect to hear classics like Away in a Manger, Carol of the Bells and The Nutcracker.
You’ll find Cheetham’s Festive Favourites at Cheetham’s School of Music,
Tickets are available here.
2. A Dickensian Christmas, December 11
Toast the Christmas spirit with Charles Dickens and celebrate the very best of Victorian carols, classics and a selection of readings from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Go back in time to the Dickensian era and hear festive favourites like Joy to the World and Good King Wenceslas, it goes without saying but like all these Christmas concerts in Manchester no Scrooges are allowed.
You’ll find A Dickensian Christmas at The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS.
Tickets start from £43 and are available here.
3. Manchester Camerata & AMC Gospel Choir: Festive Happening, December 11
If traditional carols and classical music aren’t quite your thing but you still want to warm your soul with festive music this Christmas then this concert is worth booking up. To close out the year, Manchester Camerata and AMC Gospel Choir are getting together for what has become a festive tradition in order to host a Christmas celebration. Head to Albert Hall to hear uplifting Christmas classics sung with great power, guts and feeling by the incredible AMC Gospel Choir and performed by the critically acclaimed Manchester Camerata.
You’ll find Manchester Camerata & AMC Gospel Choir: Festive Happening at Albert Hall, 27 Peter Street, M2 5QR.
Adult tickets start from £4.30 and £3 for Gorton residents, and are available here.
4. Candlelight Christmas, December 13
While watching Christmas films over a cup of hot chocolate may seem like the best option, the truth is that reliving them while a string quartet plays your Christmas film songs surrounded by hundreds of candles is unparalleled. Let yourself be swept away by an intimate evening in Manchester’s iconic Stoller Hall as candlelight illuminates all of its corners. The enchanting Candlelight concert will feature some of your favourite movies’ scores like Home Alone, Love Actually, Elf, The Holiday, and many, many more.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, M3 1DA.
Tickets are available here.
5. Love Actually Live in Concert, December 14
Love Actually, the star-studded rom-com that has become a Christmas classic, returns to The Bridgewater Hall with a full orchestra performing its soundtrack live alongside the film being projected on a huge screen. Directed by Richard Curtis and originally released in cinemas in 2003, Love Actually tells ten separate, yet interweaving stories of love around Christmas time. The film features an all-star ensemble cast, including Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley Rowan Atkinson, Martin Freeman, and many more.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS.
Tickets start from £43 and are available here.
6. Hallé Carol Concert, December 17 & 18
Stephen Bell conducts and presents the Hallé’s annual traditional celebration of Christmas, which is a treat for all ages. At these Christmas concerts at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester there will be carols for choir and audience, as well as a stocking full of the most beautiful and magical music performed by the Hallé in seasonal mood. Hear classic carols like Once in Royal David’s City; Silent Night; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; O Holy Night; O Come, All Ye Faithful and the Hallé Children’s Choir singing There Is a Santa Claus from Elf.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS.
Tickets start from £20.90 and are available here.
7. Carols from Kantos, December 18
Kantos Chamber Choir are returning to Stoller Hall with their annual, sell-out, festive concert, featuring a ceremony of carols old and new. Performing both world premieres and well-known Christmas favourites to add your voice to, this cosy choral afternoon is the perfect way to kickstart your festivities.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, M3 1DA.
Tickets for adults over 25 years old start from £19 and available here.
8. The Muppets Christmas Carol Live in Concert, December 21
Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol will be presented live in concert this winter at The Bridgewater Hall, featuring its musical score performed live alongside the film. The Muppet Christmas Carol sees The Muppets perform the classic Charles Dickens holiday tale, with Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, the put-upon clerk of stingy Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine). Scrooge receives visits from spirits of three Christmases – past, present and future. They show him the error of his self-serving ways, but the miserable old man seems to be past any hope of redemption and happiness.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS.
Tickets start from £31.50 and are available here.
9. Swing into Christmas, December 22
Celebrate the festive season in style with the vocalists and instrumentalists of Down for the Count Concert Orchestra, as they too swing into Christmas recreating the music of Nat ‘King’ Cole, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and many more in a luscious 25-piece orchestral setting evoking the sounds of the great Capitol Studios recordings. Expect to hear faithful recreations of the best music of the swing era including I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Let’s Face The Music and Dance and ‘S Wonderful, alongside original arrangements of jazz and festive standards written by the Orchestra’s principal conductor Mike Paul-Smith and featured on their new album Swing Into Christmas, including Winter Wonderland and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting).
You’ll find Swing into Christmas at Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, M3 1DA.
Tickets start from £20 and are available here.
10. The Hallé- The Snowman, December 22
Bring the whole family to the Hallé’s screening of Raymond Briggs’s classic animated film, The Snowman – an essential part of Christmas. The film is accompanied by the Hallé performing Howard Blake’s magical score live. In the first half of the concert, ‘Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!’ with Tom Redmond and the Hallé in Dinosaurumpus, an animated, interactive orchestral adventure, and enjoy Lorna Gibson’s heart-warming, Mr Bear’s Christmas.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS.
Adult tickets start from £27.50 and are available here.
11. Christmas Carol Sing-along, December 24
Fancy joining in on all the festive fun of Christmas carols? Sing your way into Christmas as Jonathan Cohen leads you through the very best Christmas songs and seasonal classics in one irresistibly family friendly extravaganza at The Bridgewater Hall. From Frosty the Snowman to Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Away in a Manger to Winter Wonderland, it’ll be hard to resist the temptation to sing along, making this an immersive, festive concert to enjoy on Christmas Eve.
You’ll find Christmas Carol Sing-along at The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS.
Tickets start from £25 and are available here.
12. Viennese Christmas Spectacular by Candlelight, December 29
With Christmas and Boxing Day over and presents opened, why not prolong the cheerful festivities with this special concert at Manchester Cathedral. The London Concertante takes to the stage to perform a special programme of iconic works. The night culminates in Strauss’ famous Blue Danube Waltz, serving as the crowning jewel of a fabulous night of music. If you’re looking for the perfect evening of Viennese melodies to give you goosebumps or a Christmas celebration to enjoy with family and friends, all within a gorgeous setting then this is the concert for you.
You’ll find Viennese Christmas Spectacular by Candlelight at Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street, M3 1SX
Tickets are available here.
13. The Piccadilly New Year’s Candlelight Concert, December 30
Celebrate the end of the year in style with the Piccadilly Sinfonietta at Manchester Cathedral. This dynamic orchestra features some of the UK’s most outstanding young professional musicians who will be performing a selection of the greatest classical music ever written. If you don’t consider yourself ‘in the know’ about Vivaldi, Corelli or Chopin, fear not as this Christmas time performance in Manchester is a great choice for first-time goers of classical concerts.
You’ll find Candlelight Christmas at Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street, M3 1SX
Tickets are available here.