Glyndebourne’s Christmas concerts return for 2023

The concerts are on December 9, 3pm; December 10, 3pm; December 16, 3pm (chilled performance); and December 17, 3pm. Tickets £10-£58 via glyndebourne.com/autumn/.

Spokesman Luke Batchelor said: “From favourite carols to orchestral showpieces, our popular Christmas concerts shine a spotlight on the talents of the Glyndebourne Chorus and the Glyndebourne Sinfonia and provide a festive finale to the year.

“Plus there’s a chilled performance on Saturday, December 16. These performances are ideal for those who feel more at ease knowing they can move about during the show. During this performance, there’s a casual approach to noise and movement in the audience. It’s ideal for those who feel more at ease knowing they can go in and out of the auditorium during the show. Chilled performances mean, for example, that someone living with dementia is free to ask a companion what’s happening on stage or a parent with a baby-in-arms knows they can leave the auditorium and come back as they need. There will also be a large screen relay of the performance in a smaller room near the auditorium. As there aren’t any adaptations to the production itself, this chilled performance isn’t suitable for those with sensory sensitivities.”

Glyndebourne, situated on the edge of the South Downs National Park in East Sussex, is recognised internationally as one of the great opera houses, a reputation that stems from a passion for artistic excellence encapsulated in founder John Christie’s insistence on doing ‘not the best we can do but the best that can be done anywhere’.

John and his opera singer wife, Audrey Mildmay, founded the Glyndebourne Festival in 1934. Today the Festival runs from May to August with a programme of six operas in a 1,200-seat opera house. Glyndebourne also produces family open days, art and archive exhibitions, member events, and an autumn season of opera and concerts that puts rising stars centre stage.

Glyndebourne has been a pioneer in reaching new opera audiences, through touring, recordings, and streaming, as well as offering subsidised ticket prices for schools, families, under-30s and under-40s. An award-winning learning and engagement programme is active year-round, staging new work and delivering projects to enhance the understanding and enjoyment of opera among a diverse and broad audience.

Since its founding, Glyndebourne has remained financially independent and, whilst receiving valued Arts Council support for learning and engagement work, the festival receives no public subsidy.

As a registered charity, its work is funded by box office income, its members and its supporters.