Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart Announce 2025 Holiday Pops Season, December 4–30

BOSTON — Holiday Pops returns this December with Keith Lockhart leading the Boston Pops in festive and family-friendly concerts. A beloved holiday tradition for over 50 years (the last 30 with Lockhart as conductor), this season offers 44 Holiday Pops performances at Boston’s Symphony Hall, including the annual Company Celebration at Pops gala with special guest Samara Joy, plus four more in venues throughout New England.  

To extend the holiday spirit between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Lockhart and the Pops offer two presentations of the classic holiday adventure Elf in Concert (Dec. 27 & 28) and a heartwarming live production of A Charlie Brown Christmas (Dec. 30).  

As always, Holiday Pops programs include David Chase's perennially popular arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," a festive sing-along, and, of course, a visit by Santa Claus. A centerpiece of the program is Don Sebesky's musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with narrators Will LeBow and Jeremiah Kissel reading excerpts from the classic novella against a backdrop of P.J. Lynch's illustrations and accompaniment by the Pops. 

Special Holiday Pops Performances: 

• A Sensory-Friendly Concert (Dec. 6 at 10:30 a.m.): Designed for people of any age with an autism spectrum disorder or sensory sensitivity and their families, with a more relaxed atmosphere, reduced volume and lighting levels, extra space for movement, available noise-reduction headphones, designated quiet rooms and support spaces, and modified food concessions.
• Six Kids' Matinees (Dec. 7, 13–14, and 20, 22, and 24 at 11 a.m.): Shorter programs with no intermissions designed for younger children, including a family-friendly food selection with special holiday treats, and an opportunity for photos with Santa Claus. For these six performances, tickets are free for children under 2.
• A Company Celebration at Pops (Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.): A unique holiday gala celebrating the extraordinary partnership between the corporate community and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Extraordinary jazz talent Samara Joy, whose EP A Joyful Holiday earned Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Jazz Performance in 2025 following her Grammy for Best New Artist in 2023, joins as special guest for the program.
• Two Holiday Pops Brunch Concerts (Dec. 21 & 23 at 11 a.m.): New this year, our special brunch edition of Holiday Pops includes a festive pre-concert buffet available in Higginson Hall for an additional purchase.  

Post-Christmas Programs: 

• Elf in Concert (Dec. 27 at 7:30 p.m. & 28 at 2:30 p.m.): Experience your favorite Christmas film transformed with the music of a live symphony orchestra in Elf in Concert. For the first time ever, audiences can rediscover the magic of this holiday classic with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops performing John Debney’s wonderful score. The film follows Buddy the elf as he travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. ELF and all related characters and elements © & ™ New Line Productions, Inc.   
• A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live at the Symphony (Dec. 30 at 2 p.m.): An homage to the original beloved TV special, this production blends the iconic animations with spirited theatrical performances and live music from the Boston Pops. The Emmy and Peabody award-winning story by Charles M. Schulz has delighted millions since it debuted in 1965 and continues to captivate the hearts of every generation.

Statement from Keith Lockhart, Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor:

“For families all around New England, gathering for Holiday Pops has become a treasured ritual. Each winter, I meet audience members who proudly tell me they haven't missed a year for decades, or parents who attended as children and now bring their own little ones. It is an honor to welcome back audiences like these for our classic Holiday Pops performances, and to offer new ways to enjoy the holidays with post-Christmas offerings, Elf in Concert and A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live at Symphony. As I celebrate my 30th anniversary as conductor of the Boston Pops, it brings me great joy to see this incredible tradition endure and expand.”