Christmas 2026 · New York
Carol services and Christmas concerts in New York, 2026
New York’s Christmas has a sound as well as a look: a boys’ choir under the Gothic vault of Fifth Avenue, Handel’s Messiah in the church at the head of Wall Street, carols by candlelight in St. Paul’s Chapel. Here are the services and concerts for Christmas 2026 that we could confirm on the churches’ and halls’ own pages on 12 November 2026.
Updated October 2026
Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, Lower Manhattan
Trinity Church, at 89 Broadway at the head of Wall Street, sings Handel’s Messiah complete on three nights: Wednesday 2, Thursday 3 and Friday 4 December at 7pm. The guest conductor is Nicholas McGegan, with the Trinity Choir, whose soloists come from its own ranks, and the period instruments of the Trinity Baroque Orchestra. Tickets sell quickly; the Friday performance is also streamed on YouTube.
Through Advent the church keeps its carols simple and open to all. A Ceremony of Carols is on Sunday 13 December at 7pm, and the Holiday Sing-Along, Sing, Choirs of Angels, on Saturday 19 December at 2pm and 3.30pm; both have free tickets, booked through the church. On Sunday 20 December at 7pm the Trinity Choir sings Christmas Compline by Candlelight in St. Paul’s Chapel on Broadway.
On Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December, Trinity Church holds a Family Eucharist and Christmas Pageant at 3pm, a Spanish-language Eucharist and pageant at 5pm, Holy Eucharist at 7pm and 9pm, and a Candlelight Eucharist at 11pm. On Christmas Day the Eucharist is at 11.15am.
Our advice: book the free carol tickets as soon as they open, and arrive early for Compline, when the chapel is lit only by candles.
Trinity Church: Messiah Trinity Church: Christmas
Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue
At Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, the choir of men and boys sings Messiah on Tuesday 8 and Thursday 10 December at 7.30pm, conducted by Richard Tanner, with New York Baroque Incorporated and the soloists Elisse Albian, Jay Carter, Andrew Bearden Brown and Enrico Lagasca.
Christmas on Fifth Avenue, a family concert by the Boys of the Saint Thomas Choir, mixes traditional carols, winter songs and hymns to sing along to; it lasts about an hour and is given on Thursday 17 December at 5.30pm and Saturday 19 December at noon. Tickets for both concerts, and livestream tickets, are sold through the church.
Our advice: the church’s Festival of Lessons and Carols and its Christmas Eve times were not yet on its calendar when we checked; look again in early December.
Saint Thomas: Messiah Saint Thomas: Christmas on Fifth Avenue Concerts at Saint Thomas
Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic
Carnegie Hall’s Christmas season, as listed by NYC Tourism, includes the Oratorio Society of New York’s 152nd consecutive Messiah, Sleigh Bells Ring with The New York Pops, the Vienna Boys Choir’s holiday concert and December performances by the New York String Orchestra.
At Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic plays Handel’s Messiah from 9 to 13 December, conducted by Jeannette Sorrell. Its family concerts, Sounds of the Season, are on 11 and 12 December in the Wu Tsai Theater of David Geffen Hall, with the performance shown live on the 50-foot Hauser Digital Wall in the hall.
Our advice: Messiah is everywhere in New York in December; for the period sound, choose Trinity, and for the grandest setting, Carnegie Hall.
New York Philharmonic: Sounds of the Season NYC Tourism: Holidays in NYC 2026
St. John the Divine and St. Patrick’s
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights holds an annual Christmas Concert, services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and its New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace, followed by a Watchnight service. Its own site would not open for us, so check its calendar for times and tickets.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue publishes its Christmas Mass times and its arrangements for Midnight Mass on its own site, which we could not read when we checked. Our advice: look there before you plan, as some Christmas services may need a ticket.
NYC Tourism: Holidays in NYC 2026 Christmas in New York
How to get a seat
The best-loved concerts sell out weeks ahead: book Messiah and Christmas on Fifth Avenue now. For free services, arrive at least 45 minutes early, and longer on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, so the carol services cluster on the weekend of 19 and 20 December.
Our advice: check each church’s own page in the week before you go, as times can change.
Questions and answers
Where can I hear Handel’s Messiah in New York in 2026?
Trinity Church on Wall Street (2, 3 and 4 December at 7pm, with the Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra), Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue (8 and 10 December at 7.30pm), the New York Philharmonic (9–13 December) and the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall.
Where are carols by candlelight in New York?
Trinity Church’s choir sings Christmas Compline by Candlelight at St. Paul’s Chapel on Sunday 20 December at 7pm, and Trinity Church holds a Candlelight Eucharist at 11pm on Christmas Eve.
When is the Saint Thomas boys’ choir Christmas concert in 2026?
Christmas on Fifth Avenue, sung by the Boys of the Saint Thomas Choir, is on Thursday 17 December at 5.30pm and Saturday 19 December at noon, and lasts about an hour. Tickets are sold through the church.
Times and dates from each church’s or hall’s own page (trinitychurchnyc.org, saintthomaschurch.org, nyphil.org) and NYC Tourism’s 2026 holiday release (business.nyctourism.com), checked 12 November 2026. Check before you go.