WMRA Holiday Schedule
Saturday, Dec. 21:
12pm Acoustic Café Holiday Special
WMRA’s Tina Owens will spin holiday favorites from the acoustic folk music world. Join us to hear your favorite holiday music done acoustically.
3pm All Songs Considered for the Holidays
This year's ASC for the Holidays will be NEW and not a repeat as previously announced.
4pm The Big Tiny Desk Holiday Special
Celebrate the season with amazing holiday performances from The Tiny Desk Concert series. Hosted by NPR Music frenemies Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson.
8pm Blues Valley Holiday Special
Professah Blues will share holiday favorites from the blues music world. Join us to hear your favorite holiday music done with the blues.
Sunday, Dec. 22:
12pm Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
This year a radio tradition continues - stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk--these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season.
1pm A Paul Winter Solstice Concert Celebration
Celebrate the return of the sun with a performance recorded in the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. Musicians include gospel singer Theresa Thomason, multi-instrumentalist and singer Arto Tunçboyacıyan and double reed wizard Paul McCandless. Hear the American Performance Premiere of the Grammy-winning suite MIHO with The Paul Winter Consort. WNYC's John Schaefer hosts.
3pm With Good Reason Christmas Special
Whether it’s a traditional hymn or a holiday song from our childhood, many people say Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without the music that marks this season. We invited guests to handpick their favorites.
4pm Hollywood Holiday
Hooray for "Hollywood Holiday"! Join Saturday Cinema host Lynne Warfel for this one-hour musical retrospective of some of Hollywood's most cherished Christmas-themed movies. Whether your listeners are running holiday errands or trimming the tree, they're likely to sing and dance with these stars.
10pm Joy to the World 2019 with Paula Cole
From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and the producers of Mountain Stage w/ Larry Groce- pianist Bob Thompson's Joy to the World celebrates the season with jazz arrangements of holiday favorites new and old, featuring special guest vocalist Paula Cole.
Monday, December 23:
3pm Tinsel Tales 4: NPR Christmas Favorites
For many of us, Christmas is about family and traditions. For others it's a stressful or even a sad time. No matter how good or bad your holiday is, it’s quite likely to include music. This year, Tinsel Tales includes stories of the season told thru music with interviews from the NPR Archives. Kenny Rogers, Katie Melua, Sting, Amy Grant and Jon Batiste talk about the power of music at Christmas. Hosted by Lynn Neary
8pm Hungry for the Holidays, with Julia Child
Julia Child takes us back in time, presenting 2 stories -- "A Christmas Carol," read by the actor Peter Donat; and "I Was Really Very Hungry," written and performed by M.F.K. Fisher -- about an over-the-top French meal.
Tuesday, December 24:
3pm A Christmas Carol from KRCU
Hear the ghosts of Christmas come alive this holiday season with this special radio adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. Children and adults alike will love this rendition of this heart-warming Christmas favorite.
8pm An Afro Blue Christmas
Here's a very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. The a-cappela group performs a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions. Hosted by Michele Norris.
Wednesday, January 1, 2020:
3pm Capitol Steps: Politics Takes a Holiday New Year's Edition 2019
Has it been a rough year? Did you put all of your savings into Bill De Blasio's presidential campaign? Did you get a haircut from Boris Johnson's barber? Did you take a job as a public relations spokesperson for Rudy Guiliani? Then you may feel the need to laugh at 2019, and the Capitol Steps could not agree more! So tune in to the Capitol Steps’ New Year’s edition of “Politics Takes a Holiday,” featuring songs from their latest album, The Lyin' Kings.
WEMC Holiday Schedule
Sunday, December 15 and Tuesday, December 17:
7pm Airplay – Holiday Favorites from Area Musicians hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
Christmas Classical music performed by area musicians.
Thursday, December 19:
3pm Airplay – Holiday Favorites from Area Musicians hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
Sunday, December 22:
7pm The Christmas Story through Carols Old and New hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
This choral music show tells the Christmas story through a variety of carols. They range from medieval music to carols written in the last few decades. Each set focuses on a different part of the story, from the angels to Mary and the baby Jesus to the shepherds and how they spread their joyous message.
Monday, Dec. 23:
7pm Bob’s Record Shelf - The Christmas Program hosted by WEMC’s Bob Satterwhite
Join WEMC’s Bob Satterwhite for 3 hours of Classical Christmas favorites including Baroque Christmas Medleys, The Elizabethan Singers, Anonymous 4, and The Oscars Motet Choir of Sweden.
Tuesday, December 24:
9am Welcome Christmas
Welcome Christmas 2019 is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups. An hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest.
10am All Is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas
One hour of gorgeous, contemplative music related to the Christmas season and its symbolism. Hosted by Lynne Warfel.
11am Sing We Now of Christmas
Grammy-nominated True Concord Voices & Orchestra presents their holiday special, “Sing We Now of Christmas.” Independently produced by Classical Arizona PBS, the hour-long program features fresh arrangements of traditional favorites that your listeners will thank you for many times over this holiday season.
12pm A Chanticleer Christmas
This unique, one-hour program of holiday music is presented live in concert by Chanticleer. Hear why this superb 12-man ensemble is known as "an orchestra of voices," as they perform holiday classics and new favorites, with choral commentary by host Brian Newhouse.
1pm St. Olaf Christmas Festival
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, and orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians who are members of five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
3pm PSO: Messiah
Handel's much adored oratorio, Messiah, returns to Heinz Hall! Performed by The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Handel's celebration of the human response to the divine will lift spirits and provide the perfect Christmas Eve evening of music.
5pm A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Hosted by Michael Barone, this is a live, music and spoken-word broadcast from the chapel of King's College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music.
7pm The Christmas Story through Carols Old and New hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
This choral music show tells the Christmas story through a variety of carols. They range from medieval music to carols written in the last few decades. Each set focuses on a different part of the story, from the angels to Mary and the baby Jesus to the shepherds and how they spread their joyous message.
8pm Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir
The sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir floated into many homes during the holidays in the '60s & '70s on Goodyear and Firestone albums, bringing lush renditions of favorite Christmas carols. Those warm memories and feelings come right back again in this holiday special. The choir continues its tradition of great artistry with touching arrangements of familiar carols, and surprises with lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics.
9pm Christmas with Madrigalia 2019
The Rochester, NY chamber choir Madrigalia, and their Artistic Director Cary Ratcliff return to public radio for Christmas with Madrigalia 2019, a holiday concert that celebrates the excitement and joy of the holiday season. Once again this year, the Rochester Bach Children’s Chorus joins Madrigalia for traditional carols arranged by Cary Ratcliff.
10pm A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico
Celebrate Christmas with the sound of soaring voices. Stile Antico, the award-winning choir from London, pays a visit to St. Paul's Church on Harvard Square for a concert of radiant sacred music for the Christmas season by the most acclaimed composers of the renaissance. Hear the group's luminous blend of voices sing the intricately woven music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd. Hosted by Cathy Fuller of WGBH.
Wednesday, December 25:
(All Day) Holiday Classical Music from Classical 24
Thursday, December 26:
1pm The Christmas Story through Carols Old and New hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
This choral music show tells the Christmas story through a variety of carols. They range from medieval music to carols written in the last few decades. Each set focuses on a different part of the story, from the angels to Mary and the baby Jesus to the shepherds and how they spread their joyous message.
Sunday, December 29 and Tuesday, December 31:
7pm Airplay: Memorable Performances from 2019 Hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
Kimberlea Daggy from WEMC and WMRA highlights memorable classical music performances from 2019.
Thursday, January 2, 2020:
7pm Firsts for the First of the Year hosted by Kimberlea Daggy
Happy New Year! For the first show of 2020, here’s a program of famous firsts - from Johann Sebastian Bach, Igor Stravinsky and George Gershwin. These pieces are famous not just because they’re the first of their kind; they’re famous because they’re stunning pieces of music. Whether you know nothing about music, or if you’ve studied it your whole life, these pieces strike a chord. They inspire us, calm us, move us, and make life more meaningful because we get to hear them.
