Christmas concerts and church music in Milan, 2026

By the ULTIMATE Milan Editorial Team

Music in the Duomo

In the Duomo the First Sunday of Advent fell on 15 November 2026. The cathedral’s autumn music closes, as it traditionally does, with the last concert of Scintille di musica, a series by the Cameristi della Scala held with the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo.

Notte di luce, on Wednesday 9 December at 7.30pm, joins the Cameristi della Scala to the Coro del Collegio Ghislieri of Pavia under Giulio Prandi, in Corelli, Galuppi’s Dixit Dominus and Vivaldi’s Magnificat. Entry is free, but booking on the Duomo’s official website is required, while seats last; the concert is also streamed on the Duomo Milano TV YouTube channel.

The times of the Christmas night Mass and the Christmas Day celebrations had not yet been published for 2026 when we checked. Our advice: watch the Duomo’s calendar from early December, and book the concert the moment booking opens.

Intesa Sanpaolo: Scintille di musica in the Duomo →   Duomo di Milano: calendar of celebrations →

La Scala’s Christmas Concert

On Sunday 20 December at 8pm Myung-Whun Chung conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with Valentina Farcas, Fleuranne Brockway, Siyabonga Maqungo and Simon Lim as soloists and Alberto Malazzi as chorus master. When we checked, La Scala listed only its last seats.

Our advice: at Christmas La Scala also dances Nureyev’s The Nutcracker, from 17 December; see our guide to tickets before you book.

Teatro alla Scala: Christmas Concert →   Teatro alla Scala: The Nutcracker →   Tickets for La Scala and concerts in Milan →

A Christmas Carol at the Auditorium, and gospel at the Blue Note

For families, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano presents Il canto di Natale at the Auditorium di Milano on Largo Mahler on Saturday 19 December at 4pm: an hour of music by Nino Rota and Ottorino Respighi, conducted by Anna Bottani, in which two ghosts who haunt the Auditorium stage Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

The Harlem Gospel Choir returns to the Blue Note from Saturday 26 December, with two sets a night (8.30pm and 10.30pm or 11pm) until Wednesday 30 December and again on 1 and 2 January. Tickets for 26–30 December are €36 in advance and €41 at the door.

Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano: Il canto di Natale →   Blue Note Milano: Harlem Gospel Choir →

Sant’Ambrogio

The Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio, dedicated to Milan’s patron saint, is one of the city’s great early Christian churches. Its weekday Masses are at 9am and 6.30pm; its Christmas programme for 2026 had not yet been published when we checked, and its celebrations are streamed live on the basilica’s website.

Our advice: check the basilica’s calendar in December, and arrive early for any Christmas Mass in its ancient nave.

Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio →   Sant’Ambrogio: live streams →

Christmas in English: All Saints’ Anglican Church

All Saints’, Milan’s Anglican church, holds its Sunday Eucharist in English at 10.30am, including on 6, 13, 20 and 27 December 2026. Its December calendar did not yet list a carol service or Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services when we checked.

Our advice: Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday; check the church’s calendar in the week before you travel, as times can change.

All Saints’ Anglican Church, Milan →   All Saints’ Milan: December calendar →   Christmas in Milan →

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