Mark Padmore [Marco Broggreve]

THESE are tough times to be setting up new ventures in the classical world, but thankfully there are people around with more nerve than I’d have; and among them are the folk at Hampstead’s JW3 cultural centre in the Finchley Road, who have bravely established a new, high-level concert series featuring star artists.

Mishka Rushdie Momen [Benjamin Ealovega]

On Dec 12 they have the illustrious tenor Mark Padmore singing a version of Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe that includes songs the composer discarded (rightly or wrongly: here’s an opportunity to decide), accompanied by a rising star of collaborative pianism, Mishka Rushdie Momen.
Booked for early next year are names like Steven Isserlis and Angela Hewitt. And though my memories of the hall in JW3 are that it’s a dry acoustic, having artists of this calibre play on your doorstep isn’t to be sniffed at. Details: jw3.org.uk

• Otherwise it’s Christmas with a vengeance in concert-land, with scarcely a venue that isn’t offering choral programmes. Two conspicuous offerings are The Sixteen at Cadogan Hall on Dec 14 & 15 (cadoganhall.com) and the Birmingham-based Ex Cathedra at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Dec 12 (stmartin-in-the-fields.org). But for something quirkier, also at St Martin’s, I Fagiolini sing baroque Christmas repertoire, including a Neapolitan period pantomime that promises the devil shooting into space on a rocket – metaphorically or literally I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t put it past this virtuoso group to throw in fireworks.

Meanwhile, the Union Chapel, Islington, Dec 10, 5pm, has Eclectic Voices recreating the kind of Christmas JS Bach might have supplied to his churches in Leipzig 1723 – and doing so with assistance from the celebrated soprano Dame Emma Kirkby (eclecticvoices.org.uk).

The Gesualdo Six – a super-elite ensemble although I always wish there were more than just the six of them – are at St John’s Smith Square on Dec 12 (sjss.org.uk). And the all-female voices of Gloriana are at Temple Church on Dec 8 with the clarinettist Emma Johnson, performing Advent repertoire (templechurch.com).

As for Messiahs, there’s no shortage; but an unusual one this week plays at the hidden gem that is the Artworkers Guild in Queen Sq WC1. A living monument to the Arts & Crafts movement, the building itself is a draw (you’d never know there was an atmospheric hall behind the street façade). But so is this Messiah, which is done with an element of theatre from stage director Tom Morris (responsible for Warhorse at the NT) in a gala performance by the touring opera group Wild Arts. I didn’t know much about them until I saw a scaled-down Elisir d’amore they played this summer at the Thaxted Festival, which proved unexpectedly accomplished. Their Messiah uses largely the same forces, so I’ve cleared my diary to be there. wildarts.org.uk

• The Nash Ensemble have been a benchmark chamber group for as long as I can remember, and age does not diminish them. They carry on, absorbing fresh talent, new repertoire. And their Wigmore Hall concert on Dec 4 is given over to Czech music from the early 20th century, including that of Erwin Schulhof: one of the composers of significance whose life ended prematurely in a Nazi prison camp. Also on the programme, Martinu and Janacek. wigmore-hall.org.uk