Sunday, December 11th
8:00pm - Big Band Boulevard: A Swinging Big Band Christmas
- Big Band and swing tunes for the holidays! Selections from Gene Krupa, Bob Crosby, Glenn Miller and more.
Thursday, December 15th
9:00am – Holiday Songs of Stage and Screen
10:00am – Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
Friday, December 16th
9:00am - Leroy Anderson Christmas Festival
8:00pm - The Thistle & Shamrock Presents ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales'
- Cerys Matthews is Welsh musician and patron of the Dylan Thomas Society. In this program she narrates excerpts from the Dylan Thomas holiday classic, set to music that she created and recorded with her collaborator Mason Neely. One reviewer wrote: "Dylan’s words are so deliciously descriptive to begin with, and Matthews’ lilting Welsh accent, and deep understanding of the culture illuminates them further. Her love of Dylan’s poetry shines throughout, and serves to make it accessible to a wide audience."
Saturday, December 17th
11:00am - Bluegrass Railroad Christmas
3:00pm - The Thistle & Shamrock Presents ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales'
Sunday, December 18th
2:00pm - Hanukkah Lights
- A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features Hanukkah stories. Read by hosts Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz. Our Hannukah Lights hosts looked back into the show's 30 year archive and picked their favorite stories: "Hanukkah Gelt" by Sholem Aleichem, "Gifts of the Last Night" by Rebecca Goldstein, "How To Spell The Name Of G-d" by Ellen Orleans, "Of Love and Latkes" by Lia Pripstein, and "Erev Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore, translated by Marie Jaffe.
3:00pm - Hanukkah in Story and Song
- Narrated by Leonard Nimoy and sung by the acclaimed vocal sextet The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, "Hanukkah in Story and Song" is a unique holiday program created especially for public radio listeners. This delightfully engaging program presents 25 eclectic selections, from the Ladino songs of the Spanish Jews and Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe to modern Israeli tunes and the ensemble's original version of "I Have a Little Dreydle."
6:00pm – Putumayo World Music Hour: World Holidays
7:00pm – Ratatat Man
- Every Christmas has a story. For Oliver Denton, a December night in 1969 is one he will never forget. Did the beat of his drum in his children’s choir create the perfect cover for the perfect crime? Now, in the nightclub scene of jazz and blues, Christmas again draws nigh. And a new friendship helps him finally unwrap the redeeming truth.
8:00pm – Jazz Piano Christmas
- Check out your favorite holiday classics as you’ve never heard them! This year, our annual sell-out event spotlights ferociously talented Japanese musical phenom Hiromi, Mountain Stage’s Bob Thompson, and Bolivian prodigy José André Montaño, chosen as one of the Kennedy Center’s “Next 50” leaders.
Monday, December 19th
9:00am - Hanukkah Lights
10:00am - Hanukkah in Story and Song
11:00am - Christmas with Cantus
- Christmas with Cantus is a Holiday Special from Center Stage from Wolf Trap. Included in this special is a narrative Christmas story, “The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree” mixed in with Holiday favorites arranged and performed by Cantus.
Tuesday, December 20th
9:00am - Because of Christmas Day, featuring Kelli O’Hara
- The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square present a Music & the Spoken Word special, featuring Kelli O’Hara. Music includes: “Mary’s Little Boy Child”, “The Birthday of a King”, “Cradle in Bethlehem”, “Hallelujah” from Messiah, and more.
10:00am - Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
- One of the great holiday traditions in America, the choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges -- two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation -- get together to present a spine-tingling concert program. This encore presentation features the best works of the last several years. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols. Korva Coleman hosts.
11:00am - A Mexican Christmas with Newberry Consort & EnsAmble Ad-Hoc
- The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A Mexican Christmas, an album of 17th century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion. Organ, harp, bassoon, and a variety of Mexican traditional instruments bring this exuberant and diverse music to life. Soprano Ellen Hargis, Director Emerita of The Newberry Consort, and soprano Francy Acosta, Director of EnsAmble Ad-Hoc, are your hosts.
Wednesday, December 21st
9:00am - The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays
- Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips is your host for The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays, an hour-long special devoted to holiday and wintertime movie music. In addition to beloved standards (“White Christmas” from “Holiday Inn” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St. Louis”), Michael shares an eclectic mix of wintry film scores, ranging from “It Happened in Sun Valley” (from “Sun Valley Serenade”) to Alexandre Desplat’s folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to Bernard Herrmann’s bracing sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Bundle up and enjoy The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays!
10:00am - The Christmas Revels: In Celebration Of The Winter Solstice 2022
- Christmas, the Solstice, Jonkonnu, New Year’s and Twelfth Night/Epiphany -- featuring traditional carols, wassails, hymns, spirituals, children’s game-songs, and folk dance-tunes excerpted from live Christmas Revels stage productions presented around the country.
Thursday, December 22nd
9:00am - The Ballad of the Brown King
- Dr. Louise Toppin, a preeminent performer and scholar specializing in the concert repertoire of African American composers, presents the world premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’s The Ballad of the Brown King (Avie Records, 2018). With a libretto by Langston Hughes, this Christmas cantata focuses on Balthazar, the dark-skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. This gorgeous work is beautifully interpreted by New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, soloists soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and tenor Noah Stewart, with Malcolm J. Merriweather at the podium.
10:00am - Music of the Baroque presents O Magnum Mysterium: The Brass & Choral Holiday Concert
- Music makes the holidays come alive, and through the centuries this special time of year inspired composers to new creative heights. Drawn from diverse cultures and various points in history, Music of the Baroque Conductor Andrew Megill has assembled a program inspired by O Magnum Mysterium, an ancient chant sung at midnight on Christmas in the medieval church. This concert, recorded in 2021, features the debut of Music of the Baroque’s new Chorus Director Andrew Megill. Hosted by celebrated WFMT host Candice Agree, tune in to the great works of composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Gabrieli, Roland de Lassus, Hans Leo Hassler, Diego José de Salazar, and many more.
Friday, December 23rd
9:00am - Christmas with Madrigalia 2022
- Christmas with Madrigalia celebrates the excitement and joy of the holiday season with traditional carols and anthems from the Medieval era through the 21st century. This one-hour program, recorded live in concert, features beautiful music for the winter holidays by Richard Wilder, Dennis Rosenbaum, Tomas Luis de Victoria, John Rutter, Franz Gruber and others.
10:00am - A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart
8:00pm - A Mountain Stage Holiday
- Join Mountain Stage host Larry Groce for an hour filled with beautiful music to mark the season. The show features special guests Holly Cole, Joan Baez, Bruce Cockburn, Loudon Wainwright III, The Roches, Kathy Mattea and more. All performances were recorded live on the Mountain Stage.
9:00pm - Odd Numbers Christmas Special
- Odd Christmas tunes for 2022..."One Christmas at a Time" by Jonathan Coulton and John Roderick, "Text Me Merry Christmas" by Straight No Chaser with Kristen Bell, "You Ain't Getting Diddly Squat" by Heywood Banks, and more!
Saturday, December 24th
3:00pm - A Mountain Stage Holiday
4:00pm - Odd Numbers Christmas Special
8:00pm - The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs Handel's Messiah
10:00pm – Festival of Lessons and Carols
Sunday, December 25th
10:00am - The Thistle & Shamrock Presents ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales'
11:00am - Bluegrass Sunday Christmas
2:00pm - Golden Age of Radio: A Christmas Carol
3:00pm - A Time For Tales: Holiday Stories
- Carolyn Franzini presents an hour of family stories for the holiday season
8:00pm - Jazz Night In America: A Holiday Celebration
- This year's Jazz Night in America holiday special will feature drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O; a ruckus band recorded at Jazz at Lincoln Center that flip seasonal songs on their head while inserting humor and joyful swing. and new takes on classics in this special episode. Christian McBride hosts.
Saturday, December 31st
8:00pm - Nothin' But The Blues: 2022 Year In Review
- Paul Hitchcock presents the best blues releases of 2022. Plus, a special tribute to musicians who passed away during the year, including Jimmy Johnson, Sam Lay, and Guitar Shorty.