A golden doll of a Christmas Caroler with paper angel wings

Carols At the House

  • Classical Music
  • Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
  • Concert Hall
  • Run time - 140 minutes, 20 minute interval

Join us for this much-loved seasonal tradition

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs ‘really likes Christmas’ – the festivity, the magic, the message of peace and harmony. Above all, the Choirs love raising the roof of the Sydney Opera House with Carols at the House! Join us for this joyous and uplifting concert with all your favourite carols, some modern classics, and an irresistible Aussie twist. 

This family-friendly concert brings together hundreds of singers (with some audience participation, of course), a full symphony orchestra and guest soloists, all conducted by Brett Weymark. And in 2025 the centrepiece is The Many Moods of Christmas – stirring arrangements of all the great carols by that iconic figure of American choral music, Robert Shaw, and Broadway orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett. 

Sprinkled among the traditional favourites are modern classics, ranging from the sonorous simplicity of Henryk Górecki to the Bing Crosby standard I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Songs from Matilda the Musical and Into the Woods speak to the child inside, and the orchestra takes the spotlight in Humperdinck’s fairy-tale Dream Pantomime. There’s an Aussie summer vibe, with a new carol by Queensland composer Joseph Twist, and SPC favourite Capricorn bringing the celebration Down Under.

Join us for this much-loved seasonal tradition – because it simply isn’t Christmas without singing.

Presented by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Event details

Carols at The House returns to the Opera House… a program that is as varied as the fruit in Christmas puddings and the coloured baubles on Christmas trees.

Stage Whispers, 2023

Program

Robert SHAW & Robert Russell BENNETT The Many Moods of Christmas
featuring all your favourite carols, with
Henryk GÓRECKI Totus Tuus (Maria! Maria!)
Walter KENT I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Deborah CHEETHAM FRAILLON The Christmas Card
Luke BYRNE Capricorn
Joseph TWIST New work†
Tim MINCHIN When I Grow Up
Engelbert HUMPERDINCK Dream Pantomime from Hansel and Gretel

and more!

† Sydney Philharmonia Choirs commission

Artists

Brett Weymark conductor
Georgina Hopson
Alexander Lewis

Symphony Chorus
Chamber Singers
VOX
Christmas Choir
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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