Take our renowned choir plus an iconic venue; mix with a sprinkling of festive songs; add a generous helping of celebrity performers, all topped off with a musical world premiere and you have this year’s magical Christmas with the Stars concert at the Royal Albert Hall, in aid of Bloodwise (8 December 2015).

The concert always marks the start of Christmas for students, staff and parents.  This year’s event provided possibly even more magical moments than last year – from the rousing fanfares of the British State Trumpeters to the clever harmonies of Cantabile and powerful and moving performances of the classic Feeling Good by Joseph and Casualty star Lee Mead and a beautiful new arrangement of O Holy Night from soprano Margaret Keys.

However one of the biggest moments of the night came when the choir had the honour of giving the world premiere of a new Patrick Doyle carol, Ring Out the Bells, written for Bloodwise by the celebrated and award winning composer.

They also sang a beautiful rendition of the Angel Carol and a fun arrangement of Sleigh Bells and the African Alleluia to huge applause.

Along with the many scheduled celebrity performers there were also a number of guest arrivals.  The one that took everyone by surprise, though, was the arrival of XFactor’s Che Chesterman who performed at the start of the second half of the concert.  He was introduced by another surprise guest – his mentor Radio One’s Nick Grimshaw.

The concert concluded with the audience, choir and stars joining together to raise the roof with two festive favourites – White Christmas and Hark the Herald Angel Sing.