A quarter century after the first Christmas Music Day opened with music reflecting the ancient traditions of the Holy Land, recorded in churches in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, this popular Euroradio event will celebrate its 25^th anniversary on Sunday, 15 December.

In keeping with the Day’s original premise to bring as many live concerts as possible to Europe’s radio listeners, over half of this year’s 15 concerts are taking place live on the day.

That includes a special curtain raiser from Munich on the evening before the main Day, with the BR Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performing such Christmas classics as Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël and Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin, as well as a new choral work written especially for the occasion by the 24-year-old Austrian composer, conductor and pianist Patrick Hahn.

Among the many other highlights of the 2019 Day are “An English Christmas” with the Danish National Vocal Ensemble singing music by Tallis, Chilcott and Rutter, a programme of “festive favourites with a swing” for chorus and jazz band, featuring the BBC Singers, and, of course, the tune written by Sibelius for the bells of Helsinki’s Kallio Church, which has figured in every Christmas Music Day since the beginning.

Our web pages will feature more about the Day and the 25^th anniversary nearer to the event. The programme is available in MUSNew as EURO/2019-2020/N/.