“There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.” - Charles Dickens

LIVE From London’s fifth Christmas Festival featured world-class artists performing their favourite seasonal works from around the world.

Celebrating the group’s 100th anniversary this year, we were delighted to welcome debut guests the BBC Singers to perform a ‘Dicken’s Christmas’ featuring narrator Adrian Scarborough – carols old and new, interwoven with Christmas readings by favourite Victorian author, Charles Dickens. From a stage in Vilnius, and also making its festival debut, Swedish male voice choir Zero8 brought you its supersized barbershop energy with ‘Welcome Christmas’.

The VOCES8 Foundation ensembles offered three new and contrasting programmes: VOCES8 performed ‘O Magnum Mysterium’, featuring carols from the Renaissance to a world-premiere from Francis Pott - extraordinary treble Malakai Bayoh joined the group for a very special performance; APOLLO5 sang ‘The Snow it Melts the Soonest’ capturing the stillness of a Winter’s night alongside glimmers from the ensemble’s new album, ‘ANAM’; VOCES8 was joined by its VOCES8 Scholars and Rev. Tessa Bosworth for a Christmas ‘Festival Evensong’ filmed a stone’s throw from St Paul’s Cathedral at the church of St Anne and St Agnes, otherwise known as the VOCES8 Centre.

Returning artists included pianist Ralf Schnell performing American composer Morton Feldman’s late, great, work ‘For Bunita Marcus’. ‘Winter House’, the interactive family concert created and directed by Paul Smith, featuring narrator Stephen Fry and music by Mozart and Paul Smith. Back by popular demand, I Fagiolini, Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque asked you to ‘hold on to your halos’ as they brought an animated cast of Christmas characters to life in ‘Angels and Demons’ - foot-tapping music from Italy, Germany and Spain.

“O, the snow it melts the soonest when the winds begin to sing” – English folk song c.1821