Newport Classical Celebrates the Holiday Season with Six December Concerts over Two Festive Weekends
Clockwise: Photos of Frisson by Lisette Rooney, Cantus by Nate Ryan, Messiah at the Mansion by Lisette Rooney. Available in high resolution here.
Newport Classical Celebrates the Holiday Season with Six December Concerts
Christmas with Cantus
Saturday, December 5, 2026 | 1pm and 3:30pm
Newport Classical Recital Hall | Newport, RI
Messiah at the Mansion
Sunday, December 6, 2026 | 1pm and 3:30pm
Rosecliff | 548 Bellevue Ave. | Newport, RI
Classical Christmas with Frisson
Saturday, December 12, 2026 | 1pm and 3:30pm
Emmanuel Church | 42 Dearborn St. | Newport, RI
Tickets On Sale October 6: www.newportclassical.org
Newport, RI – Newport Classical celebrates the holiday season with six performances across two festive weekends in December – Christmas with Cantus on Saturday, December 5, 2026 at 1pm and 3:30pm at the Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.); Messiah at the Mansion on Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 1pm and 3:30pm at Rosecliff (548 Bellevue Ave.); and Classical Christmas with Frisson on Saturday, December 12, 2026 at 1pm and 3:30pm at Emmanuel Church (42 Dearborn St.). Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at www.newportclassical.org.
After two sold-out performances in 2024, Cantus returns to Newport on December 5 for an afternoon of beloved Christmas carols and contemporary choral works. This premier low-voice ensemble is known worldwide for its incomparably rich and resonant blend. With music ranging from Silent Night and O Come, All Ye Faithful to fresh, new works from today’s acclaimed composers including Zanaida Robles and Eric Whitacre, Christmas with Cantus will be a warm and moving celebration of the season. Set in the intimate and acoustically exceptional Newport Classical Recital Hall, these two festive one-hour performances at 1pm and 3:30pm offer a beautiful mix of familiar traditions and new perspectives on the season.
Set in the stunning Rosecliff Mansion, Newport Classical invites you to experience Handel’s legendary oratorio Messiah on December 6, a cherished tradition during Newport’s holiday season, featuring Rhode Island’s acclaimed vocal ensemble Ensemble Altera and the Professional Choristers of The Choir School of Newport County conducted by Christopher Lowrey. A bold reimagining of a beloved masterpiece, this one-hour chamber version (to be performed at 1pm and 3:30pm) brings together some of the most moving moments of Handel's timeless oratorio, including the iconic Hallelujah Chorus – perfect for longtime Messiah lovers and first-time listeners alike. These performances are made possible through Cynthia Sinclair’s generous philanthropic support of The Choir School of Newport County.
Hailed as “the classical group that does it all,” the dynamic 11-piece chamber orchestra Frisson returns to Newport on December 12 for two holiday concerts at 1pm and 3:30pm in the stunning English Gothic Revival setting of Emmanuel Church. Featuring selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Vivaldi’s Winter, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, Carol of the Bells, and a Christmas sing-along, this festive program brings together classical favorites and seasonal traditions for a joyful afternoon of music audiences of all ages will enjoy.
Up next on October 9 as part of Newport Classical’s Chamber Series at the Newport Classical Recital Hall, the rising Trio Azura, a recent Grand Prize and Gold Medal winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition that has been praised by Gramophone for “intelligence and imagination,” invites audiences to explore the world of the piano trio across eras from the Impressionist and Romantic works of Maurice Ravel and Felix Mendelssohn to the contemporary voice of Jennifer Higdon.
On October 18, Newport Classical presents two free concerts at 1pm and 3:30pm as part of its Community Concerts Series presented by BankNewport, performed by Ensemble Mélange at Newport Classical Recital Hall. Ensemble Mélange puts the audience in the driver's seat for a pair of interactive concerts unlike any other. With a menu of more than 30 selections spanning classical favorites, jazz, Latin, Broadway, and beyond, audience members are randomly chosen to select what the ensemble performs next. The result is an engaging, high-energy concert where no two performances are ever the same, offering an exciting musical adventure for concertgoers of all ages.
The Chamber Series continues on October 23 when the Boston-based Rasa String Quartet makes its Newport Classical debut with "Portraits of an American Patchwork," a musical quilt that weaves together the cultural traditions that have shaped the nation’s identity, spanning jazz, bluegrass, Latin pop, Indigenous traditions, global folk music, and classical favorites, including music by Billy Strayhorn, Shelley Washington, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, William Grant Still, Hong Nan-pa, and Bad Bunny. Pianist Michael Leonardo Davidman, winner of the 2025 American Piano Awards and praised by Upstage for his “thunderous authority and loads of interpretive nuance,” makes his Newport debut on November 6 with a program of J.S. Bach, Franz Schubert, César Franck, and Franz Liszt. On November 20, Raphaël Feuillâtre, hailed as one of the leading classical guitarists of his generation, performs “Latin Passions,” a vibrant survey of Spanish and Latin American repertoire by Francisco Tárrega, Isaac Albéniz, Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and more.
The Newport Classical Chamber Series continues in 2027 with cellist Sterling Elliott and pianist Elliot Wuu on January 29, in the sonatas of Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Elliott, a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, has been described by The Millbrook Independent as a cellist who has "risen beyond hopeful promise," while Wuu, a 2018 Gilmore Young Artist, is recognized for his “power, speed and finesse” (Tribune Star). On February 19, flutist Anna Urrey and harpist Kristi Shade perform a program of Nino Rota, Lili Boulanger, Jules Mouquet, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, and Astor Piazzolla, exploring the coloristic possibilities of flute and harp across centuries and styles. Urrey has appeared at leading venues including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, and National Sawdust. A sought-after collaborator, Shade has appeared with artists ranging from Andrea Bocelli and John Legend to Florence + The Machine. The Dorian Wind Quintet, praised by the Los Angeles Times for delivering “chamber music as it was meant to be,” performs on March 12 in “Preludes and Variations,” pairing J.S. Bach chorale arrangements with Antonín Dvořák's Wind Quintet, Op. 105 and a set of Anniversary Variations by Richard Rodney Bennett, George Perle, Billy Childs, Bruce Adolphe, and Lee Hoiby on a theme from a wind quintet by Antonin Reicha written specifically for the Dorian Wind Quintet to celebrate the ensemble’s 40th anniversary. Versatile artist Chelsea Guo, the first musician to win the Young Concert Artists auditions in both voice and piano, and hailed by Gramophone as “clearly a special talent,” takes the stage on April 9 in a program of Frédéric Chopin, Pauline Viardot, Johannes Brahms, and Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe, singing while accompanying herself on piano.
On April 23, Newport Classical presents violinist Rubén Rengel and Friends, with pianist Gabriel Chakarji and percussionist Juan Diego Villalobos, who come together for an evening celebrating the music of Latin America, from their native Venezuela to the vibrant traditions displayed throughout the region. Rengel was the winner of the Robert F. Smith Prize at the 2018 Sphinx Competition, and has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and more. Accordionist Radu Ratoi, winner of the 2024 Young Concert Artists “Susan Wadsworth” International Auditions and recipient of Denmark’s prestigious Léonie Sonning Talent Prize, has established himself as a pioneer in expanding the accordion’s repertoire. He is joined by violinist Alexandra Tirsu, a 2021 ARD Competition prizewinner, on May 7 for a program of J.S. Bach, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Antonio Vivaldi, Astor Piazzolla, and more. The 2026-2027 Chamber Series concludes on June 4 with violinist Njioma Grevious, a Juilliard graduate and founding member of the Abeo Quartet, who appears regularly at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Concertgebouw. In Newport, she presents a program featuring the music of J.S. Bach, Johannes Brahms, W.A. Mozart, Oliver Messiaen, Edvard Grieg, and Clarence Cameron White. Grevious has been praised for her “violin pyrotechnics” and “sheer intensity” by the Washington Classical Review.
The 2027 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 1-18, 2027.
Newport Classical 2026-2027 Chamber Series Schedule At-A-Glance:
September 18: Opening Night: Invoke performs "American Voices"
October 9: Trio Azura performs "Piano Trio Through Time"
October 23: Rasa String Quartet performs “Portraits of an American Patchwork”
November 6: Michael Leonardo Davidman, Winner of the American Piano Awards
November 20: Guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre performs "Latin Passions"
January 29: Cello Sonatas with Sterling Elliott and Elliot Wuu
February 19: Anna Urrey & Kristi Shade perform Works for Flute and Harp
March 12: Dorian Wind Quintet performs "Preludes and Variations"
April 9: Voice and Piano with Chelsea Guo
April 23: Rubén Rengel and Friends
May 7: Radu Ratoi & Alexandra Tirsu perform Vivaldi, Piazzolla, and more
June 4: Chamber Series Finale: Violinist Njioma Grevious
Complete concert details can be found at www.newportclassical.org/concerts. All Chamber Series concerts are held on select Fridays at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn Street).
About Newport Classical
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of live performing arts on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.
Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Enrichment and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools and community organizations to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, Clarice Assad, and Cris Derksen.
After a year-long community-driven process, and rooted in the organization’s mission “to celebrate the living art form of classical music in intimate and iconic locations,” Newport Classical released its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, presenting a clear roadmap to become a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant organization that enhances its programs and community engagement, promotes responsible financial growth and sustainability, and centers artistic excellence in every decision, as the organization aspires to open its doors even wider.