Will Todd: The Promise
Jazz inspired music for Advent and Christmas

The Promise: Jazz Inspired Music for Advent and Christmas brings together two distinct programmes by English composer Will Todd, performed by St Martin’s Voices and the Will Todd Ensemble under director Andrew Earis.

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The centrepiece is The Promise, Todd’s third large-scale jazz oratorio, commissioned by the Soochow University Alumni Choir and premiered in Taiwan in December 2025. Combining Advent and Christmas texts with an original lyric by Todd, the work continues his distinctive fusion of jazz, blues and the English choral tradition, following the success of Mass in Blue.

 

We were thrilled to join Will and his ensemble in the recording studio for this new album, released on Signum Classics on 16 October 2026. Alongside Will’s piano, the recording features a fantastic group of jazz musicians, with Bethany Halliday returning as soprano soloist.

 

The album also includes a new recording of Will’s much-loved Jazz Carols, originally commissioned by St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2012 and reissued here in updated editions, featuring St Martin’s Brass. Together, these works make a vibrant collection of music for the Advent and Christmas season.

 

We’ll be celebrating these jazz-infused carols with a special concert on Monday 7 December 2026, while The Promise itself will receive its UK premiere in January 2027.

 

The album is available to buy now from Signum Classics, with sheet music for The Promise released by Boosey & Hawkes on 11 November 2026.