For three weekends in December, Abbey Road Studios will host intimate festive concerts in Studio Two, a sacred space for music-lovers.
“Studio Two is special,” Sally Davies, managing director at Abbey Road Studios, tells Broadsheet. “The room is virtually unchanged from the 1950s and there’s an atmosphere in there which is impossible to describe. It’s given birth to some of the greatest recordings of all time, including music from Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, Oasis, Kate Bush and Massive Attack.”
Last year was the first time the studios hosted a Christmas concert. It feels like an obvious choice given the building’s festive credentials: “So many songs, either overtly Christmassy or those associated with the holiday season, have been created and captured here, so we wanted to bring this to life,” Davies says. “One day we got together and decided to create a new Christmas tradition. People were so blown away by the experience we knew we had to bring it back.”
Among the songs on the setlist is All You Need is Love by The Beatles, now closely associated with the 2003 classic, Love Actually. Howard Blake’s score for the 1982 animated film The Snowman was recorded here too, and Chris Rea wrote the song Driving Home for Christmas on his way back up north after spending a day recording at Abbey Road Studios.
At the concert, a string quartet made up of Abbey Road Studio regulars (Marianne Haynes, Braimah Kanneh-Mason, Triona Milne and Ashok Klouda) will play a selection of what Davies describes as “deep cuts” alongside more traditional carols, in a space sparkling with fairy lights. Warm drinks will be available.
Guests will also be invited to explore Studio Two, which showcases photography documenting the past 94 years of music recording, “all our most iconic instruments” and “gear made specifically for the studios by EMI engineers”.
As storied as its history may be, Studio Two remains a working recording studio, having more recently given birth to songs by Little Simz, Stormzy, Idles and more. “It’s so important to us to tell our story and share that with guests who wouldn’t have the chance to come in and see these things in person,” Davies says. “Putting a festive spin on the experience feels fitting to celebrate music that’s been bringing families together for decades.”
Abbey Road Studios will host its Christmas Concert on December 6 & 7, December 13 & 14 and December 20 & 21, with three sessions per day. Tickets are on sale now.
