byo's christmas on the strand
Tuesday 17 December 2024
7pm
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St Clement Danes Church
Strand
WC2R 1DH
Share music, laughter, a glass of champagne and the magic of the season with the UK’s national opera training company.
It’s a week before Christmas, and you’ve spent the afternoon buying last-minute gifts in Covent Garden. You warmed your hands on a cup of mulled wine while you soaked in the atmosphere of the capital’s unofficial Christmas quarter – the giant tree, the hustle and bustle of the market, and the inexplicable wafts of gingerbread, cinnamon and roasted nuts. You joined a handful of other brave bundles of hats, scarves and coats for a couple of laps of Somerset House’s ice rink. But what next? Where to dry off, warm up and fully launch yourself into the festive season?
Nestled in the stunning black and gold interior of one of Christopher Wren’s most enchanting churches (it even made a guest appearance in Bridget Jones Diary), BYO brings you a candlelit blend of music, readings and champagne that really capture the essence of the season. Joanna Scanlan, the BAFTA-wining star of After Love, The Thick of It and this year’s A Very Royal Scandal will sprinkle her signature charm over a selection of secular Christmas literature. And some of the brightest stars of UK opera and BYO alumni will serenade you with the perfect blend of Christmas classics, popular opera favourites and a handful of winter curiosities.
a sneak peek
Check out two of our alumni perfoming pieces they’ll be doing on the night below – Angelina Dorlin-Barlow and Claire Barnett-Jones, both BYO alumni.