Winter Festival
An eclectic winter celebration characterises this year’s Spitalfields Winter Festival under the Artistic Directorship of Diana Burrell.
This year’s Winter Festival offers chances to escape the cold and bustle for two very special series: John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists performing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio as six cantatas over six nights in the splendid surroundings of Hawksmoor’s Christ Church, and three soloists exploring contemporary repertoire for their instrument in the historic Toynbee Hall.
For those with a taste for adventure, wrap up warm and follow A Spitalfields Christmas Carol – part walk, part performance – exploring the local area. There’s plenty for the family too with Spitalfields Soundings – our outdoor event in Spitalfields Market – and our daytime concert and visit series.
Festival Highlights
In Residence: John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio as six cantatas placed on evening’s as close to their liturgical date as possible, alongside a Brandenberg Concerto and a Motet. This series in Christ Church completes the Bach pilgrimage which Gardiner and the group began in 2000. Alongside these concerts a range of talks, debates and insight events provide more for the audience and through the autumn term the group are participating in our learning programme involving local primary schools. This is a first residency at Spitalfields Winter Festival and the first learning programme the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists have been involved with.
Contemporary Explorations: extraordinary musicians explore recent works for solo instrument in the historic Toynbee Hall. The series features harpist Rhodri Davies, guitarist Craig Ogden and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze each programming music which stretches the capabilities of each instrument.
Spitalfields Soundings: Drawing musical inspiration from the extraordinary hustle and bustle of our neighbourhood, we are bringing together local city businesses, schools, raw energy from Tower Hamlets young bands and mellifluous music making from our Women Sing East Choir for a series of musical interventions in the market-place, including a chance for everyone to join in…… A celebration for the end of an extraordinary year.
A Spitalfields Christmas Carol: part walk, part re-creation of Dickens’s classic tale, the award-winning performers of Back Passage Walks, Alan Gilby and Steve Wells, lead this tour through the atmospheric Victorian East End to a very special mystery destination.
Families and younger children can indulge their musical passion in a variety of activities ranging from a musical fashion tour of the Museum of Childhood to the exploration of the mythical and monstrous world of Hercules in the lunchtime concert Monstrous Melodies.