Morehead State Public Radio has special programs planned for the holiday season, as we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, the Winter Solstice and more. Happy Holidays from Morehead State Public Radio!
Updated: 12/19/2025
Afternoon Blend Christmas Edition
December 5, 12, and 19
12:00pm - 3:00pm
Enjoy comforting and heartwarming music on the Afternoon Blend, with smooth jazz and contemporary vocals for the Christmas and winter holiday season.
A Time For Tales
(Sunday, December 14th @ 3:00pm)
In this special program of A Time For Tales, host Carolyn Franzini presents The Story of Raoul Wallenberg, told by Syd Lieberman. An acclaimed storyteller who passed away in 2015 at the age of 71, Lieberman created "One Righteous Man - The Story of Raoul Wallenberg," which tells the heroic tales of Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews in Hungary during the Holocaust.
A Hanukkah Celebration
(Sunday, December 14th @ 6:00pm / Monday, December 15th @ 9:00am)
Join Jonathan Miller, artistic director of Chicago a cappella and a longtime champion of Jewish choral music, for an inspiring and informative show featuring choral music set to Hanukkah texts. Heartfelt original compositions by American and British composers provide added depth of expression to celebrating the holiday.
Hanukkah in Story and Song
(Sunday, December 14th @ 7:00pm / Monday, December 15th @ 10:00am)
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.
Candles Burning Brightly
(Sunday, December 14th @ 8:00pm / Monday, December 15th @ 11:00am)
A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Hanukkah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.
Welcome Christmas
(Monday, December 15th @ 12:00pm)
Welcome Christmas is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world's premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz. Join host Bonnie North for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries.
American Landscapes: An American Christmas
(Tuesday, December 16th @ 9:00am)
Music by American composers in celebration of Christmas.
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
(Tuesday, December 16th @ 10:00am)
The complete ballet with Yuri Temirkanov and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Ballad of the Brown King
(Wednesday, December 17th @ 9:00am)
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.
A Leroy Anderson Christmas Festival
(Wednesday, December 17th @ 10:00am)
Hear classic Christmas arrangements and original music by Leroy Anderson. The program is hosted by conductor Leonard Slatkin and the composer's son Kurt Anderson, and features recorded performances of Leroy Anderson's Christmas Music with Leonard Slatkin conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra, and Leroy Anderson conducting his "Pops" Concert Orchestra. Listeners will also hear Leroy Anderson talking about how he wrote some of his famous Christmas music and what Christmas means to him.
A Chanticleer Christmas
(Wednesday, December 17th @ 11:00am / Tuesday, December 23rd @ 9:00am)
Grammy award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known as the “orchestra of voices” for its unparalleled range and abilities. This holiday season, the group brings its brand-new Christmas program including original arrangements of well-known tunes drawn from Classical, Jazz, and Popular traditions. They fluently weave between diverse musical styles to create an evening of wonder and joy.
St. Olaf Christmas Festival
(Thursday, December 18th @ 9:00am / Tuesday, December 23rd @ 10:00am)
A service in song and word that has become one of the nation’s most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
American Landscapes: Another American Christmas
(Thursday, December 18th @ 11:00am)
Part II of music by American composers in celebration of Christmas.
In Winter’s Glow
(Friday, December 19th @ 9:00am)
A winter solstice program, with modern classical sounds for the longest night of the year, chosen especially to complement the chilly, starry nights of the season.
The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice
(Friday, December 19th @ 10:00am / Sunday, December 21st @ 11:00am)
A musical celebration of the winter holidays – Advent, Chanukah, the Solstice, Las Posadas, Christmas, New Year’s, and Twelfth Night/Epiphany -- featuring traditional carols, wassails, pub songs, hymns, spirituals, children’s singing games, and folk dance-tunes excerpted from live Christmas and Midwinter Revels stage productions presented around the country.
Odd Numbers Christmas
(Friday, December 19th @ 8:00pm / Saturday, December 20th @ 3:00pm)
Join Doug Chatham for a collection of odd songs for the holiday season!
Carols, Customs and Candlelight: a Celtic Christmas Celebration
(Sunday, December 21st @ 10:00am)
The Celtic lands of Northwestern Europe have an especially rich musical heritage, and many Christmas songs and carols come from places like Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and other Celtic nations. Listen as host Andrea Blain explores music and customs that have roots in ancient winter celebrations and traditional Christmas festivals. The music features classical ensembles and soloists like Apollo’s Fire and Bryn Terfel, as well as traditional instruments like harp, fiddle and mandolin. Lots of well-known Christmas music comes from the Celtic tradition, and some very beautiful but lesser-known festive music.
A Time For Tales
(Sunday, December 21st @ 3:00pm)
Host Carolyn Franzini presents holiday tales for the Christmas season featuring acclaimed storytellers Donald Davis and Jay O'Callahan.
Golden Age of Radio - "A Christmas Carol"
(Monday, December 22nd @ 9:00am)
In this special presentation of The Golden Age of Radio, Orson Welles narrates the beloved holiday classic, "A Christmas Carol," starring Lionel Barrymore. Special music provided by the Gene Autry, Rosemary Clooney, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. The holiday classic was written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1843.
Holiday Songs of Stage and Screen
(Monday, December 22nd @ 10:00am)
Get ready for a classic collection of holiday cheer! Join host Genny Jenkins for Holiday Songs of Stage and Screen, a special broadcast celebrating the festive music that lit up Broadway and the silver screen.
This Holy Night
(Monday, December 22nd @ 11:00am)
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, with special guests Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough, perform “The Holly and the Ivy,” “O Holy Night,” and other carols for this Christmas Day special celebrating the light of the world.
Christmas with Madrigalia
(Wednesday, December 24th @ 9:00am)
Rochester, NY chamber choir Madrigalia and Artistic Director Cary Ratcliff present a concert of traditional carols, anthems and new arrangements to celebrate the winter solstice, Chanukah and Christmas around the world. Recorded live at Asbury United Methodist Church in Rochester, NY, this concert includes "The Fiddle Witch" Alyssa Rodriguez who accompanies some of the Scandanavian selections on her Swedish instrument, the Nyckleharpa, along with clarinetist Peggy Quackenbush and pianist Amanda von Rathonyi.
A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart
(Wednesday, December 24th @ 10:00am)
Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit and Ebenezer Scrooge come to marvelous life in Patrick Stewart's critically-acclaimed solo interpretation of A Christmas Carol. The star of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and The Royal Shakespeare Company, Stewart has performed his one-man stage production of A Christmas Carol to sell-out audiences. Now, in this studio recording of the dazzling achievement that has thrilled audiences in New York and Los Angeles, Stewart invites listeners to rediscover the timeless story at its source: Dickens' own, classic words, presented in a soaring, virtuoso solo performance in which Stewart plays all parts.
A Rochester Festival of Lessons and Carols
(Thursday, December 25th @ 9:00am)
This Christmas, treat your listeners to A Rochester Festival of Lessons and Carols! The program was recorded at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York under the direction of organist/choirmaster James Kealey, winner of the AGO 2022 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance and one of The Diapason’s 2021 “20 under 30” young artists. The one-hour program will consist of the traditional readings that were selected by King’s College Dean Eric Milner White in 1918, and music by Boris Ord, C V Stanford, Sir John Rutter, and Morten Lauridsen.
Pittsburgh Symphony Radio: Messiah
(Thursday, December 25th @ 10:00am)
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs Handel's Messiah.