Get festive with concerts by candlelight and more holiday classical music in St. Louis
St. Louis' bevy of organizations continue to make the winter holidays a great time for classical and classical-adjacent music in the region.
Bach Society of St. Louis' 'Christmas Candlelight Concert'
Perhaps the greatest holiday classical music tradition in St. Louis — the BBC named it among the Top 20 classical music holiday events in North America — the Bach Society's Christmas Candlelight Concert moves to 560 Music Center during the Powell Hall renovation. After the candlelight processional, soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg and mezzo-soprano Kate Tombaugh sing in the anchor work, Vivaldi's luminous "Gloria" RV 589.
'Christmas at the Cathedral'
Coming a week after the centennial of Giacomo Puccini's death, Cathedral concerts' "Christmas at the Cathedral", this year showcases the religious music of America's favorite Italian opera composer, with his "Messa di Gloria." Composer Julian Wachner conducts also his own arrangement of carols, "The Snow Lay on the Ground."
Opera Edwardsville
The east side's opera company brings back their winter holiday gala of classical carols and other "festive favorites" to downtown Edwardsville's historic Wildey Theatre. Headlined by stentorian dramatic tenor and Missouri native Limmie Pulliam, the concert also features sopranos Karen Kanakis and Ann Toomey, mezzo-soprano Emily Fons, and baritones Michael Kelly and Benjamin Moore.
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Though the mainstage classical series pauses in December, the SLSO busies themselves even more intensely in the yuletide season, with many guests collaborating.
The chamber series returns with a brass extravaganza "Fanfares and Festivals" (the Sheldon, 3648 Washington Avenue, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5) curated by Steven Franklin, trumpet, and Amanda Stewart, trombone, featuring Gabrieli, Poulenc, Stravinsky, and other composers. Also in the chamber department, "Symphony Shabbat" (United Hebrew Congregation, 13788 Conway Road, Chesterfield, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6) combines a Shabbat service with Pavel Haas' String Quartet No. 3.
Baroque music and Christmas pair like cookies and milk, and in "A Baroque Christmas" (10:30 a.m. Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 560 Center, 560 Trinity Avenue, University City), Ann Choomack plays a Vivaldi concerto for piccolo, and Alejandro Valdepeñas one for viola by Telemann.
The quartet Celtic Woman visits the Stifel Center (1400 Market Street) for "Christmas Symphony," (7 p.m. Dec. 8), with their array of Irish instrumentation including bagpipes, bodhran, tin whistle, bouzouki, and — best of all — Uilleann pipes.
Maestro Kevin McBeth's In Unison Chorus celebrates its 30th anniversary this year during a Christmas concert at Stifel Theatre (7:30 Dec. 13) with a mix of classical, holiday favorites and spirituals. Basses Reginald Davis and Charles Stancil will be featured along with the a cappella group Take 6. McBeth also leads the SLSO chorus, with conductor Norman Huyhn and Broadway singer Capathia Jenkins in "Mercy Holiday Celebration" at Lindenwood University (Scheidegger Center, 2300 West Clay Street, St. Charles, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17-18) and at Stifel (2 p.m. Dec. 21-22).
Also at Stifel, the SLSO offers two live-to-film soundtracks, one beloved to Gen X and millennials, "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (7 p.m. Dec. 14, 2 p.m. Dec. 15) and one to Gen Z, "How to Train Your Dragon" (7 p.m. Dec. 28, 2 p.m. Dec. 29).
Finally, the SLSO reprises its annual New Years Eve Gala (7:30 p.m. Dec. 31, do dress fancy), this time at the Stifel, with erstwhile Assistant Conductor Stephanie Childress. She's now the principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Symphony and returns for a festive gala with a varied slate of American and European composers to ring in 2025.
More Classical Concerts
Ambassadors of Harmony, "Sounds of the Season" 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14, and 2 p.m Dec. 15, Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 Touhill Circle, Bellerive Acres, $22-$45, aoh.org
American Chamber Chorale and Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14, Salem United Methodist Church, 1200 South Lindbergh, Frontenac, free, acchorale.com .
Benedetta Orsiand Friends, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13, Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, 209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, free-$25, eventbrite.com
Chamber Music Society of St. Louis "D Bach L" with maestro Leonard Slatkin, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 25, 560 Music Center, $42. "Yuletide Flicks" live-to-silent-film, 7:30 p.m. December 9, Hi-Pointe Theater, 1005 McCausland Boulevard, $26-$42, chambermusicstl.org .
Gateway Men's Chorus, "This Holiday Concert Is No Joke," 8 p.m. Dec. 14 and 3 p.m. Dec 15, Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Avenue, $20, gmcstl.org .
Gateway Festival Orchestra, "Winter Wonderland," 6 p.m. Dec. 12, St. Louis Public Library Buder Branch, 4401 Hampton Boulevard, free, gatewayfestivalorchestra.org
Meridian Clarinet Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10, Grace United Methodist Church, 6199 Waterman Boulevard, free, arielconcertseries.org . 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12, World Chess Hall of Fame, 4652 Maryland Ave #1, $20-$25, worldchesshof.regfox.com
St. Louis Chamber Chorus "Holiday Works," 3 p.m. December 22, All Saints Catholic Church, 7 McMenamy Road, St. Peters, $10-$30, chamberchorus.org
St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, "Holiday Pops Concert" 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6, Purser Auditorium, 1851 Schoettler Road, Chesterfield, $10-$30, stlphilharmonic.org
