Trinity College Choir Christmas Concert, St John's Smith Square

In the 1980s, the choir of Trinity College Cambridge made a decision unprecedented amongst the first rank of Oxbridge chapels – they admitted women. In doing so, they were propelled from the academic cloister and into the international musical limelight. When Gramophone compiled its list of the world’s twenty greatest choirs in 2001, they made the top five. Their annual appearance in the St. John’s Smith Square Christmas Festival is a sell-out highlight of the festive season.

This year, the choir will tackle the supreme masterpiece of the baroque choral repertoire, Bach’s colossal Mass in B Minor (1749). Written over the course of several years but only completed a year before his death, Bach’s missa tota draws in music composed throughout his career, demonstrating the complete variety of his practice while retaining a cohesive narrative. Over two hours and twenty-seven movements, there are moments of the greatest elation and the deepest reflection as we move from Christ’s birth on earth to his climatic resurrection. Choral maestro Stephen Layton, Polyphony founder and the Trinity College Choir director, will conduct.

Such a piece demands first-rate instrumental backing, which the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment will be sure to provide. And that’s not all – four esteemed solo vocalists will join the choir, all of whom have connections to Cambridge. Soprano Katherine Watson – dubbed “one to watch” by The Sunday Times – and rising tenor Gwilym Bowen were both choral scholars at Trinity. Baritone Neal Davies, formerly at King’s College, has a distinguished career in opera and lieder. And countertenor Iestyn Davies, who attended St. John’s College, is one of the pre-eminent vocalists in Britain today. With such a line-up, this is a must-see.