Christmas Concerts and Parties in New York City 2026
Updated 6 min read Mary Kaynelidi
Christmas concerts in New York City run from candlelit string quartets in Gothic churches to a 9am electronic rave in Brooklyn, and Mood currently lists 75 of them between November 20th and December 27th, 2026. The spread covers choral music, jazz, gospel, soul, comedy and straightforward Christmas parties, and almost every pick below sits inside Manhattan or Brooklyn proper, with one exception called out plainly where it isn't. The picks here are grouped by the kind of night they make, not by neighborhood, since a Chanticleer choral concert and a Brooklyn Paramount house rave both carry the word "Christmas" in the title but have almost nothing else in common.
Carols, choirs and classical
A Chanticleer Christmas brings the twelve-voice men's ensemble to the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on December 6th for its annual holiday choral program, a booking it has kept for years because the building's acoustics suit a cappella voices better than most concert halls in the city.
A few blocks south, The Crossing @ Christmas puts a contemporary choral group through a mostly new-music Christmas set at Saint Peter's Church on December 19th.
Charpentier Christmas has the MACC Ensemble performing baroque-era holiday works by Marc-Antoine Charpentier at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph on December 11th, one of the few period-instrument bookings in this list.
The Candlelight series, which stages string-quartet sets lit only by candles, runs its "Christmas Carols on Strings" programme at three separate New York venues this December, including The Angel Orensanz Foundation on the Lower East Side - the other two dates are at Sony Hall and at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights. In Mood's enrichment data, the Brooklyn Heights date scores 0.1 on danceability, tied for the lowest of any event on this list, against an average of 0.4 across all 75 - a near-total stillness that candlelight and a church room produce almost by design, whatever carols happen to be on the setlist that night.
Across the river in Newark, not Manhattan, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center hosts Christmas with Canadian Brass on December 12th, worth the PATH train for brass-band holiday standards if the city's own churches are already booked solid that week.
Jazz clubs go seasonal
Birdland runs A Swinging Birdland Christmas on December 22th.
The same room follows it with Christmas with Champian Fulton on December 26th, a vocal-jazz set built around standards rather than carols.
Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club has Christian Sands Quartet: Christmas Stories on December 18th.
Back at Birdland, Daniel Reichard: It's a Birdland Christmas! brings Broadway-trained vocals to the same room earlier in the month, on December 8th, pairing show tunes with holiday standards rather than treating the two as separate repertoires.
Downtown, The Pocket Jazz Club books Allan Harris Sings a Nat King Cole Christmas on December 19th.
The same room follows two nights later with Jane Monheit Christmas on December 20th, another vocal-jazz bill built around classic American songbook material rather than new arrangements.
Blue Note takes the Charlie Brown route instead of the standards route: A Jazz Tribute to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas plays the Vince Guaraldi Trio's 1965 television score on December 12th, one of several Guaraldi tributes in Mood's December listings - a reminder that the most-covered Christmas jazz record in New York right now wasn't written as a Christmas record at all.
Gospel, soul and Motown
The World Famous Harlem Gospel Choir plays its Christmas Eve show at Sony Hall on December 25th itself, one of the only bookings on this list that falls on the day.
Sony Hall also hosts Soul Supper Christmas Ball on December 13th, a classic-soul and R&B holiday set in the same room.
Out on Long Island, the Motortown All-Stars and the Miracles play A Motown Christmas at Westbury Music Fair on December 17th.
Tribeca's City Vineyard rounds out the soul strand with A Pure Soul Christmas on December 20th.
In Brooklyn, SocaIZWe | The Christmas Concert brings Caribbean holiday anthems to the Tropical Paradise Ballroom with performances from Alison Hinds and Edwin Yearwood, the only soca and calypso booking in this list.
Gigs, parties and the odd ones out
Not every Christmas booking in Mood's data is a concert. Mariah's Christmas Time Bash at HUSH on December 7th is framed as a straightforward pop tribute party, but it carries a queerness score of 1.0 in Mood's data - the only perfect score on this list, against a 0.26 average across all 75 Christmas events - a signal the lineup and venue description alone don't make obvious.
Eugene presents Merry Christmas brings a charity DJ set to The Rose on December 22nd, benefiting veteran crisis prevention work rather than running as a standard club night.
At the other end of the mood spectrum, Christmas at 9am at Brooklyn Paramount on December 12th scores just 0.1 on organicness, the single lowest reading in the set, in a list where candlelit and choral bookings otherwise push the average to 0.8 - a fully electronic, fully produced house morning rave standing alone against a season dominated by strings and voices.
Comedian Matt Rogers plays Really Christmas at the Bowery Ballroom on December 19th.
Daddy Rabbit Christmas Party turns Libera into a speakeasy jazz-and-soul room on December 20th.
Emo Christmas takes over Purgatory on December 12th for a pop-punk and alternative take on the season that has little to do with carols.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do Christmas concerts start in New York City?
Mood's December 2026 listings for New York City run from late November through December 27th, with the heaviest concentration of shows in the two weeks before Christmas Day. Most dates cluster between December 11th and December 22nd.
Is there a free way to hear Christmas music in New York?
None of the events listed here are free - they're ticketed club, concert hall and jazz-room bookings. The city's well-known free Christmas programming, like department store windows and tree lightings, isn't part of Mood's music-event data and isn't covered in this guide.
What's a good classical option for Christmas in New York?
A Chanticleer Christmas at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola and the Candlelight series' string-quartet sets are the two most traditional choral and classical options in December's listings, both staged in church settings built for acoustic music.
Are any of these shows on Christmas Day itself?
The World Famous Harlem Gospel Choir's Christmas Eve Show at Sony Hall falls on December 25th. Most other bookings land in the two weeks before the holiday rather than on the day itself.
Where can I see all of New York City's upcoming live music, not just Christmas shows?
Mood's monthly New York City events guide covers concerts, parties and DJ sets across the year, not just the Christmas season.
New York City's December music calendar on Mood stretches well past these picks - the full set of 75 Christmas-tagged bookings, updated weekly through December, is on the city's event calendar.
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