YORK Brass Quintet will add to the fun when York Musical Society performs its Christmas concert on December 9 at St Lawrence Church, Lawrence Street, York.

Note the location for this 4pm event. In a change from past Christmases, YMS will make its debut at York's largest parish church, a Victorian building whose spire can be seen for miles around. What's more, the church is now fully heated after improvements.

Seasonal favourites Frosty The Snowman, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas will be played by York Brass Quintet, an ensemble formed at the University of York with Connor McLean and Sam Rees on trumpets, Peter Baumann on horn, Katherine Bradshaw on trombone and Brandon Cox on tuba.

The YMS chorus of 150 singers will perform well-known choruses from Handel’s Messiah, as well as traditional Christmas carols, and the audience will be invited to join in on some of the more familiar carols.

The choir will be accompanied by David Pipe, director of the organist training programme and cathedral organist for the Diocese of Leeds, who also will play seasonal organ music.

He is YMS's principal conductor, but for this festive concert, YMS will be conducted by associate conductor Richard Shephard, former headmaster of York Minster School, whose Corelli Christmas Cantata, a choral arrangement of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, will be sung too. At this summer’s Ryedale Festival, incidentally, York Brass Quintet premiered Shephard’s Brass Quintet.

Tickets cost £10, £5 for students and children over 12, free for children under 12 when accompanied by a paying adult, and all seats are unreserved. Bookings can be made on 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or in person at the Theatre Royal box office; alternatively, pay on the door.

A retiring collection and profits from next month's concert will be donated to ArcLight, a charity that serves homeless people in York. Refreshments after the event will be served in aid of church funds.