The festive season is nearly at hand, heralding the advent of plenty of music-making with the University Music department.

We usher in the Advent season with a meditative combination of carols and antiphons with the University Cecilian Choir this week, on Friday 29 November. The choir visits St Michael’s and All Angels, near Faversham, for an atmospheric sequence of music and silence by candlelight in a fifteenth-century church as part of the church’s Breathing Space series. Admission is free, and the hour-long event promises to be a wonderfully contemplative way to begin the festive period.

The last of this term’s Lunchtime Concerts welcomes the choristers of Canterbury Cathedral to Colyer-Fergusson Hall, for a wide-ranging concert including seasonal works, on Wednesday 4 December at 1.10pm; admission free, with a suggested donation of £3.

The combined forces of the University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra trace the musical legacy of Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms in Passing the Baton on Saturday 7 December, ranging from Haydn’s boisterous Te Deum to Brahms’ profound Song of Destiny.

The season comes to a lively culmination on Wednesday 11 December with two events; the 1940’s dance orchestra, General Harding’s Tomfoolery, takes to the foyer-stage at 1.10pm for a mix of period classics and festive swing with guests vocalists Robbie Frederick and Elle Soo; and then the University Big Band’s annual Christmas Swingalong brings the term to its usual festive conclusion at 5.15pm with some of the cheesiest Christmas classics and star turns, followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

From medieval antiphons to Dean Martin, the Music department is getting ready for a seasonal finale to the term ranging across the centuries; come and join us to celebrate the festive season!

View all these events and more on the Music What’s On webpages.