Annual festive concert of carols and seasonal music by the Oxford Bach Choir, conducted by Benjamin Nicholas, with the Oxfordshire County Music Service.
The Oxford Bach Choir are back at the Sheldonian Theatre on Saturday 19 December for Carols for All, their annual festive concert. It's the final Saturday before Christmas, so it sits right in that window when you're probably looking for something to do with the family before the holiday break kicks in. The choir is led by principal conductor Benjamin Nicholas, with organist Andrew Lumsden on the keys, and they're joined on stage by young singers and instrumentalists from the Oxfordshire County Music Service.
The programme mixes carols and seasonal music old and new, familiar favourites and beautiful rarities. It's pitched at everyone from age five to 95 and over, and audience participation is part of the thing. If you've been to previous years, you'll know the drill: it's as much about singing along as it is about listening.
For a bit of context, the Oxford Bach Choir was founded in 1896 by Basil Harwood and is one of the UK's best large amateur choirs, with around 150 singing members. They usually perform major choral works in the Sheldonian alongside professional orchestras and soloists, and their repertoire runs from Bach's Mass in B Minor to Brahms's Requiem and Rachmaninov's All Night Vigil. Carols for All is their annual festive turn, and it's a bit of a different beast from those big choral pieces—more of a community sing than a formal concert.
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It starts at 7:30 pm and runs for about 90 minutes. Tickets are £20, £18, £14, and £12 for full price, with a £5 discount for full-time students and half price for under 18s.
