'Tis the season

John Williams' score to Home Alone, all sleigh bells and mischief, gets played live under the screen by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by David Newman. It's the kind of tradition that works whether you've seen the film twenty times or you're bringing a kid to their first watch.

Composer John Debney conducts his own score live as Buddy trades the North Pole for New York, all syrup spaghetti and unshakeable cheer, projected above the orchestra. Same movie, same jokes, but a soundtrack that hits differently in a hall built for sound.

Members of the LA Phil trade the full orchestra for a brass-only lineup, running through holiday standards in an intimate, fireside-adjacent set. Arrive by 6:30pm for a complimentary glass of wine before the music starts.

Emmanuelle Haïm, whom the BBC dubbed the "Mrs. Dynamite of Baroque music," leads her own ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée alongside the Los Angeles Master Chorale for Handel's nearly 300-year-old holiday staple. However many times you've heard the "Hallelujah" chorus, hearing it live still lands differently.

The Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble Chanticleer moves through centuries of Christmas music in one program, opening with a candlelit chant procession and closing with a full gospel finale. No instruments, no orchestra, just twelve voices carrying the whole range.

Emmanuelle Haïm returns with her Le Concert d'Astrée choir to lead the LA Phil through Vivaldi's Gloria and his Concerti for Diverse Instruments, plus Corelli's 1690 "Christmas Concerto," written back when the church still banned dancing. It's Baroque holiday music with an actual sense of mischief in it.