National Concert Hall to celebrate Christmas with family-friendly festive Live Stream Programme

The National Concert Hall has announced an exciting and eclectic series of festive livestream concerts for all ages, from Saturday 12th to Sunday 20th December. The concerts will be available view online, and most livestreams are free and available to audiences worldwide from the NCH YouTube and Facebook Channels.

“The weeks leading up to Christmas normally see the NCH thronged with happy, excited people enjoying a wonderful array of festive and family concerts," said Simon Taylor, CEO of the National Concert Hall. "We all understand that this is not possible this year, and we are delighted to bring this special online programme to our audiences at home and around the world.

"In a year that has been difficult for all of us, particularly those involved in music and the arts, we hope we can bring a little respite, joy and Christmas cheer into homes around the country and further afield as we all look forward to a brighter and happier New Year.”

The series will begin on December 12 with perennial favourites Theatre Lovett, who will bring Mr. Fox and Friends to the NCH, to delight children and parents alike. Expect seasonal song, music, jokes and guests including Liam O Maonlaí, Keli Ann Masterson, Martin Brunsden, Simon Morgan, Conor Linehan, Olesya Zdorovetska, Nick Roth and of course Louis Lovett.

On December 13, Bell X1 frontman and NCH regular Paul Noonan gets festive with a special Christmas edition of his popular Electric Kazoo titled The Snowy Kazoo! This seasonal celebration will be an afternoon of Christmas tunes and goofs, coming at you from The Good Room. For this special instalment Paul, Sam, Aislinn and Ellie the Dog are asking children to send in drawings or pictures of their teddies at Christmas and a note saying what the teddies are looking forward to during the Christmas holidays. Paul and co. will turn them into songs! Please email [email protected]

The festive season would not be complete without a carol service, so on Friday December 18, a Christmas Carol Service with Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Choir live from the National Concert Hall will be in full swing. For this special concert they will perform a selection of rich and elaborate carols, and are joined with seasonal contributions by novelist Joseph O’Connor and broadcaster Olivia O’Leary.

The Irish Chamber Orchestra take to the stage on Saturday December 19 for A Christmas Celebration with leader Katherine Hunka and soprano Ava Dodd. This unique performance will feature much-loved festive songs and music from across Europe. The programme includes traditional pieces such as ‘Silent Night’, the inspirational ‘I Know That My Redeemer Liveth’ from Handel's Messiah, and Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. A little closer to home, the ICO serenade with the ‘Wexford Carol’ and a haunting rendition of ‘Don Oíche úd I mBeithil’ .

The festive series comes to a very exciting close on Sunday, December 20, with siblings Rufus, Martha and Lucy Wainwright’s beloved Christmas show 'A Not So Silent Night', this year ‘Virtually Together’. They will be joined by aunts, mothers, fathers, nieces, cousins, sons and daughters of the acclaimed musical clans of the Wainwrights, McGarrigles and Roches. First performed in 2005, this holiday celebration is equal parts concert and family reunion. The stream will come live from Rufus’ living room in Laurel Canyon, Martha’s arts and community center in Montreal and City Winery in New York for Lucy Wainwright Roche. The live stream will take this family tradition back to Rufus’ and Martha’s childhood where they would perform Christmas carols and songs with their extended family.