Special Programs: Upcoming Community and Cultural Programs

Airs Monday, December 24 at 9:00 p.m. What makes a song last? Join host Philip Furia for an enduring body of holiday songs, performed generation after generation by musicians and singers in styles that range from jazz to blues, rock to country. Hear the stories behind the songs, and hear familiar artists singing them. The program shows how the Great American Songbook came into being during the first half of the 20th century through the interplay of the sheet-music publishing industry known as "Tin Pan Alley," the Broadway musical, the emergence of radio in the 1920s, the advent of sound movies, and the creation of a jazz.

Airs Sunday, December 23 at 8:00 p.m.  To celebrate the 10th anniversary of sold-out concerts around New England, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn host Brian O'Donovan has assembled some of the best musicians, singers, and dancers imaginable from around the Celtic world, and beyond! This year's live show is again led by music director Seamus Egan, leading his groundbreaking group Solas, along with harpist Catriona McKay, fiddlers Chris Stout and Winifred Horan on fiddle and cellist Natalie Haas. Singers include Chieftains vocalist Alyth McCormack from Scotland, the four-part harmonies of Navan, and the great vocals of Mick McAuley and Eamonn McElholm.

Airs Sunday, December 23 at 5:00 p.m. This program features 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. Hosted by Lynn Neary. 

Airs Saturday, December 22 at 8:00 p.m.  Once again on the darkest night of the year, NPR Music presents the illuminating tradition From New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine: the 32nd annual Paul Winter Solstice Celebration, featuring gospel singer Theresa Thomason, Mbira Master Chris Berry and The Paul Winter Consort with Paul McCandless, Eugene Friesen, Paul Sullivan, Eliot Wadopian, Jamey Haddad, Tim Brumfield and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. 

Airs Saturday, December 22 at 7:00 p.m.  Everyone is invited to laissez les bons temps rouler, let the good times roll! Each holiday season, join singer-songwriter Monty Brown for A Cajun Christmas. Brown offers up spicy reminiscences from some of the bayou folk, and draws out more poignant memories from others. But mostly it's the music that tells the story. You'll find yourself two-steppin' and waltzin' to "Joyeux Noël" as swamp fiddles, accordions, and singers cook up a holiday gumbo, a delicious feast for the spirit and the ears! The program features internationally known and locally prized music-makers. Some of the songs are familiar, like "Vive le vent" ("Jingle Bells") and the traditional French "Il est né." Artists include fiddler Michael Doucet, accordionist Paul Daigle and Cajun Gold, and Harrison Fontenot. These Cajun revelers' mirth is positively infectious, and their gift, compelling.