With Christmas fast approaching and more winter holidays on the horizon, it's the perfect time to settle in with some festive music. WFMT sorted through 2025’s classical music releases to highlight some of the best and most notable albums for the holidays, from soulful strings to bold brass and tasteful new arrangements.
Rose Ever Blooming
VOCES8 Foundation
A new 55-minute Christmas oratorio featuring SATB choir, violin solo, and orchestra from the Voces8 Foundation. Composers Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach weave together twelve poems inspired by Patricia Monaghan with original music, featuring traditional Christmas carols as touchstones along the way.
Songs of the Season
Christopher Bell, Grant Park Chorus
Under the direction of Christopher Bell, the Grant Park Chorus presents a heartfelt collection of carols and contemporary favorites. From the quiet reflection of “Silent Night” and “In The Bleak Midwinter” to the shimmering mystery of “O Magnum Mysterium", this album focuses especially on music of serenity and joy.
She Composed: The Holidays
Chloe Flowers, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, English National Opera Chorus, Jessica Cottis
After Chloe Flowers discovered that works by women represented less than 1% of music performed during the holiday season, she decided to highlight them in an exclusive holiday album. The resulting collaboration with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields includes a wintry composition by Florence Price, Byzantine Empire composer Kassiani, Flowers' original music, and much more.
Joy to the World
Chanticleer
Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer blends tradition with innovation, combining Renaissance motets with fresh arrangements of classic carols. Beautiful contemporary compositions are also found on this album, including two new commissions from Joanna Marsh.
Cuban Christmas
The Sarahbanda, Sarah Willis
Following the success of the popular Mozart y Mambo project, horn-player Sarah Willis (of the Berliner Philharmonic) and the Sarahbanda inject the colorful, contagious energy of Cuban music into a selection of timeless holiday classics. The album includes Bach and Tchaikovsky also reimagined with Cuban flair.
Hearth
Miró Quartet
For their debut holiday album, the Miró Quartet commissioned classical music’s top living composers to create arrangements of beloved holiday songs from Clarice Assad, to Reena Esmail, Kevin Puts, and more. Each participating composer was told to select a piece linked to their heritage and personal associations, yielding an eclectic mix that runs the gamut from Medieval melodies to merry holiday classics.
A Christmas Carol
Skylark Vocal Ensemble, Matthew Guard, Benedict Sheehan
Working from Dickens’ original 30,000-word manuscript, Artistic Director Matthew Guard and composer Benedict Sheehan combine elements of classical performance, storytelling, and theatrical presentation in this twist on a traditional story. Skylark Vocal Ensemble performs the 70-minute concert work, also featuring narration by acclaimed actor Christine Baranski.
On Christmas Night
On Christmas Night
London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron
One of the UK's foremost recording choirs celebrates its 10th anniversary with a collection of classic carols in new orchestrations. Owain Park, artistic director of Gesualdo Six, contributes seven of those arrangements. The London Choral Sinfonia also features star treble Malakai Bayoh as the soloist in the beloved wintry classic "Walking in the Air."
A Christmas Offering
Kristina Arakelyan, Joseph Fort, Choir of King's College London
Rising star Armenian-British composer and pianist Kristina Arekelyan unveils an album of brand new Christmas compositions: including a new companion piece to Britten's A Ceremony of Carols. Arekelyan's A Christmas Offering is a ten-movement work for choir and harp that was inspired by Britten's holiday classic.
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