SSO Christmas Concert 2026

Outside it will be 30 degrees. Inside, a children's choir will be singing about a winter wonderland.

Book it for children of five and up who can manage a 7.30pm start, or for any adult who needs Christmas to feel like more than a mall soundtrack. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Concert brings a full orchestra and four choirs to the Esplanade Concert Hall on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December. The compromise is the hour: it runs one hour 45 minutes including a 20-minute interval, so younger children will be up late, and toddlers and infants in arms are not admitted at all. Book early; if you miss out, it streams live on the SSO's YouTube channel and meWatch.

The first half is Tchaikovsky. The SSO's listing promises selections from The Nutcracker including the complete Act 2, the part with the tunes you know (the sugar plum fairy, the waltz of the flowers), narrated by Denise Tan from a script by the poet Theophilus Kwek. After the interval comes John Rutter's Gloria, in its first SSO performance, then the seasonal favourites: Rutter's 'Angels' Carol', 'Mary's Boy Child', 'O Holy Night', 'Joy to the World' and 'Winter Wonderland', with singalongs.

Associate conductor Nathanaël Iselin leads the orchestra alongside the Singapore Symphony Chorus, Youth Choir and Children's Choir, so the stage will be full, and there is a lighting designer on the credits, which suggests it will look as festive as it sounds.

Christmas in Singapore can feel like a theme without a season, all fake snow and air-conditioning. A children's choir singing 'Winter Wonderland' in a concert hall by the bay is about as close to the real thing as the season gets here, and closer than most of what the malls offer.

The SSO and Esplanade both recommend it for ages five and up. Dress up a little, and go for dinner by the bay afterwards.

Good to know Fri 11 and Sat 12 Dec 2026, 7.30pm, Esplanade Concert Hall. Tickets via SISTIC/Esplanade; SG Culture Pass credits accepted. Check the SSO page for concession pricing.

SSO Christmas Concert 2026 | Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore 038981 | Nearest MRT: Esplanade; City Hall