Christmas Highlights
- Nicola Benedetti performs four solo concerts showcasing the sound world of the violin
- London Gay Men’s Chorus presents an uplifting programme including Christmas classics, pop hits, carols and numbers from musicals
- Paul Benney’s outdoor multimedia Night Paintings turns maltings buildings into giant canvases
- The Swingles present imaginative reworkings of Christmas classics and modern holiday favourites
- Alex Mendham [pictured] & His Orchestra transport the audience into the glamorous 1920s and 30s
- Conductor Dominic Ellis-Peckham directs the dynamic Chamber Choir of London in a celebration of Christmas carols created by composers over the last century
- The Solus Trumpet Ensemble performs music ranging from Giovanni Gabrielli to Mariah Carey
- Outdoor family films include OperaupClose’s Sammy & the Beanstalk
- The King’s Singers perform Christmas music from England, Europe and America
Live music-making will resume at Snape Maltings from 11 December with regular concerts for live audiences. Britten Pears Arts will continue to offer short concerts with outstanding performers, some of whom would have performed during this year’s Aldeburgh Festival and Snape Proms.
To give as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy the return of live music at Snape Maltings, Britten Pears Arts is offering an innovative pricing approach for its 12pm concerts. ‘Pay What You Can’ allows audiences to hear up to an hour of high-quality live music at a price they feel they can afford. All other performances are priced at £15 per ticket.
11 – 13 December
Nicola Benedetti performs unaccompanied pieces for violin that show the sound world of the instrument to its full potential. She pairs the free-flowing expressive virtuosity of 19th and 20th century pieces by Ysaÿe and Paganini with works from the 17th and 18th centuries by Biber and Bach.
Friday 11 December | 7pm
Saturday 12 December | 12pm & 4pm
Sunday 13 December | 12pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Bring the children for an hour of interactive storytelling and songs in Snape Maltings’ heated Tipi, with a visit from Father Christmas too. With presents for every child and hot drinks for all, this is the perfect Covid-safe Christmas experience.
Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 December | 9.30am & 11.30am
The Tipi
18 – 22 December
London Gay Men’s Chorus performs an hour of uplifting music including an array of Christmas classics, pop hits, carols and numbers from musicals.
Friday 18 December |12pm & 4pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Using the external facades of the buildings at Snape Maltings as giant canvases, Paul Benney‘s Night Paintings is an outdoor exhibition of hypnotic and meditative multimedia projections with soundscapes created by SALLIS, a musical collective led by Paul Benney and including Nitin Sawhney.
Friday 18 and Saturday 19 December |6.30pm – 8.30pm
Sunday 20 December | 5.15pm – 7pm
Snape Maltings
The Swingles return to Snape’s Britten Studio for three concerts featuring imaginative reworkings of Christmas classics and modern holiday favourites.
Friday 18 December | 7pm
Saturday 19 December | 2 & 7pm
Britten Studio
Alex Mendham & His Orchestra transport the audience into the glamorous 1920s and 30s with hot rhythms and sweet melodies. Joined by singer Hannah Dunlop they perform romantic Songbook standards of the era. Saturday 19 December | 12pm & 4pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Conductor Dominic Ellis-Peckham directs the dynamic Chamber Choir of London in a celebration of Christmas carols created by composers over the last century. Centred on Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, the programme also includes the Coventry Carol, Silent Night and many more.
Sunday 20 December |12pm & 4pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
The Solus Trumpet Ensemble shows the expressive range of the trumpet in an instrumental concert of seasonal music ranging from Giovanni Gabrielli and Benjamin Britten to Mariah Carey.
Monday 21 December |12pm & 4pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
OperaupClose presents Sammy & the Beanstalk, a fun, spooky and contemporary play with songs. Told from the perspective of 8-year-old Sammy, the story draws on inspiration from classic winter tales, as well as opera, theatre and film to create a thrilling story-telling experience. The performances will be projected onto a large screen on the lawn at Snape Maltings.
Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 December
Snape Maltings
The King’s Singers bring the beauty of blended voices and harmonies to everything the sing. Here they perform Christmas pieces from England, Europe and America, ranging from the glorious polyphony of Tomas Luis de Victoria’s O magnum mysterium, written more than 400 years ago, to carol arrangements and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.
Tuesday 22 December |12pm & 4pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
The safety of Britten Pears Arts’ visitors, artists and staff is its top priority, and this may mean that line-ups, capacity and pricing may change at short notice.
Full details to be announced soon.