Silent Night Sing-In & Swing-In is Friday, December 11, 2026!
Mark your holiday calendar for this year’s event because we have made it even bigger and better! In addition to the group singing of Silent Night that we do together each year with John Conahan, we will be swinging the night away with Josh Lee and the Extended Family playing holiday classics and favorites from great jazz bands like Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
This will all happen on the same night under the vaulted glass ceiling of The Kimmel Center with John T.K. Scherch as your host. It’s going to be an amazing time, so get ready to sing, and then swing to some of Philly’s best big band sounds.
As always, this free community event will be a powerful experience that you don’t want to miss, showing beyond a doubt that music connects us, inspires us, and elevates us – across genres and regardless of our differences.
We welcome singers and dancers of all ages and experience to participate, but you can also take it all in as a listener, soaking up the holiday sounds.
Planning to attend? Please register for Silent Night Sing-In and Swing-In 2026: we'll email you updates as the date approaches, and your registration will help us manage the event better!
Here's the planned schedule for the evening of Friday, December 11:
4:45 p.m. Participating singers and audience should arrive at Commonwealth Plaza at the Kimmel Center.
5:00 p.m. Opening remarks from the podium.
5:10 – 5:55 p.m. Silent Night Sing-In begins. Rehearsal and performance of “Silent Night” conducted by John Conahan.
6:00 – 6:55 p.m. The inaugural “Swing-In” big band party with Josh Lee and the Extended Family, featuring vocalist Chelsea Reed.
7:00 p.m. Closing remarks. Disperse and spread the joy!
Don't forget to register above. Still wondering what the night is like? Check out this video of Silent Night Sing-In 2025. We can’t wait to see you this year!
Produced by WRTI 90.1 with composer and conductor John Conahan and Ensemble Arts Philly, this event is free for singers and audience members. Everyone is invited to participate!
John Conahan is a composer, performer, conductor, and educator based in Philadelphia. His compositions have been premiered at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and other prestigious venues by conductors including Lorin Maazel, Marin Alsop, and Donald Nally. One of Conahan’s works was featured at the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony in Washington, DC.
Philadelphia’s own Josh Lee and the Extended Family swings with original arrangements of holiday classics, and also pays homage to history’s great jazz bands like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Jimmie Lunceford to name a few.
Ensemble Arts Philly
Ensemble Arts Philly represents a wide variety of genres, including Broadway, comedy, theater, jazz, dance, and family presentations across three venues: the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater. The organization also advances its mission through free community programming, educational initiatives, charitable ticket donations, digital rush opportunities, and partnerships that increase access to the arts throughout the region.
WRTI 90.1 is a member-supported, classical music and jazz public media station located in Philadelphia, with 14 frequencies serving listeners in PA, NJ, and DE. The mission of WRTI is to champion music as a vital cultural resource with core values of discovery, curation, performance, community, and preservation. Listen on the radio, online at WRTI.org, on the WRTI mobile App, and on your favorite smart speaker.
Notice: When you attend this event, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By entering and by your presence, you consent to be photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded.
Community events like Silent Night Sing-In & Swing-In are supported by the generous donations of the WRTI community. Join today or consider an additional gift. Thank you!