Holiday Specials on Red River Radio 2012

Harmonia: Harvest Season
Airs Wednesday, November 21 at 11:00 a.m.
Harmonia rings in the harvest season with a cornucopia of early music delights!  We'll hear merchant cries from long-ago London, witness the marriage of music and ritual, and dine at Johann Hermann Schein's musical Banquet.  For dessert, our featured release Amor Vincit Omnia or "Love Conquers All"

The Splendid Table’s Turkey Confidential
Airs Thursday, November 22 at 10:00 a.m.
This annual, live call-in program has become a national favorite. Lynne Rossetto Kasper is available to take calls from frantic cooks as they prepare  their Thanksgiving feasts. Turkey Confidential is a live, two-hour, call-in program on Thanksgiving Day for public radio listeners across the nation. On Thursday, November 22, help is on the way for Thanksgiving cooks, kitchen helpers and dinner guests on this, the biggest cooking day of the year. Lynne Rossetto Kasper, award-winning host of public radio's national food show The Splendid Table, will be available to answer listener questions throughout the live, two-hour program. Quickly becoming a Thanksgiving morning tradition, past shows have included everything from a cross-country trucker cooking his Thanksgiving dinner on the manifold to a panicked first-time cook who didn't realize a turkey needs to be thawed. Lynne handles all questions with wit, expertise and laughter. Phone lines (800-537-5252) will be open nationwide from 10 a.m. to 12 noon CT

Giving Thanks with John Birge
Airs Thursday, November 22 at 12:00 noon
New for 2012: With music and stories for Thanksgiving, host John Birge creates a thoughtful, contemporary reflection on the meaning of the holiday.  This year, a grateful tribute to the great writer Nora Ephron, with a warm and funny highlight of her Giving Thanks visit last year. Original Thanksgiving music in the studio with pianist Jacqueline Schwab, heard by millions for her piano music for Ken Burns' "The Civil War." A Thanksgiving blessing from Baxter Black and a visit from poet and former NEA chairman Dana Gioia. For listeners in the kitchen, on the road, or relaxing after the feast, Giving Thanks provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving: the warmth of great music, and truly memorable words.

Thanksgiving with Cantus
Airs Thursday, November 22 at 1:00 p.m.
Described by the Washington Post as "a boatload of talent," Cantus bring their distinguished voices to a national audience for a vocal celebration of gratitude on Thanksgiving Day. Alison Young joins Cantus, one of America's best all-male ensembles, for singing and storytelling about gratitude and what it is to be thankful.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: Thanksgiving Blessings & Songs of Thanksgiving
Airs Thursday, November 22 at 2:00 p.m.
Join the renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir as they celebrate Thanksgiving in song and spoken word with Gently Raise the Sacred Strain, For the Beauty of the Earth, the Shaker Song Simple Gifts, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, As the Dew from Heaven Distilling, Thanks be to God, Look at the World, We Gather Together, Because I Have Been Given Much, and Come Ye Thankful People.

Harvest Home
Airs Thursday, November 22 at 8:00 p.m.
Festive, thoughtful and fun, HARVEST HOME is hosted by renowned folk duo Jay Ungar & Molly Mason and celebrates Thanksgiving, autumn and the Harvest Season with a spicy offering of American Roots Music simmered to perfection. This program has become something of a tradition for many stations across the country for the Thanksgiving season.  The songs featured are “hand picked” by Jay and Molly from their vast archive of traditional and historical American recordings from a wide range of artists.  The songs all have a theme of autumn, Thanksgiving, and of course food!  This year’s show features performances by Robert Johnson, Chet Atkins, Vassar Clements, The Duhks, Bill Monroe, Pete Seeger, Robin and Linda Williams, Merle Haggard, Jay & Molly themselves, and others.  All hosted with the “down home” flavor for which the couple are famous.

Advent Voices
Airs Sunday, December 2 at 10:00 a.m.
Advent is a time of quiet contemplation and waiting. It's waiting for darkness to become light and for hopes to be realized. Throughout the centuries Advent has been observed musically in sacred and secular ways. Join us for an hour of the most beautiful vocal music inspired by and written for Advent.

A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico
Airs Wednesday, December 5 at 2:00 p.m.
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.

Chanukah in Story and Song
Airs Thursday, December 6 at 1:00 p.m
This hour-long Chanukah favorite returns: A celebration by The Western Wind performing Ladino songs of Spanish Jews, Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe and modern Israeli tunes. Chanukah in 2012 will start on Sunday, December 9 and will continue for 8 days until Sunday, December 16. 

Candles Burning Brightly
Airs Sunday, December 9 at 6:00 p.m.
More than two thousand years ago, in the days of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the religious life of the Jews was brought almost to a halt by the ancient Greeks. But rather than give in to the pressure to assimilate, a band of Jews who practiced their faith in secret returned to their holy city and rededicated the Temple. Their courageous act and its aftermath form the focus of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Mindy Ratner and Bill Morelock offer a program which explores the customs and music of the holiday.

Hanukkah A Great Miracle Happened There
Airs Monday, December 10 at 8:00 p.m.
"A Great Miracle Happened There: A Hanukkah Special," is a conversation between Rabbi Ismar Schorsch and Host Larry Josephson about the history, rituals and meaning of Hanukkah--and its importance in our time. Cantors David Lefkowitz and Elisheva Dienstfrey sing the music of Hanukkah. Rabbi Ismar Schorsch explains that Hanukkah is really about a Jewish civil war, a war between assimilated, Hellenized Jews and a pious band of zealots, the Maccabees. The well-known "miracle of the oil," occurs at the end of the story--after the Temple has been retaken by the Maccabees, and rededicated and cleansed. Rabbi Schorsch also talks about Hanukkah as "the Jewish Christmas." Dr. Ismar Schorsch is Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Larry Josephson is a veteran public radio host and interviewer, whose programs have been heard in New York, and nationwide for over 35 years. Glorious music of Hanukkah is sung by Cantor David Lefkowitz of The Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, and by Cantor Elisheva Dienstfrey, now of Congregation Agudas Achim in Alexandria, Virginia. Both are graduates of the Seminary. Additional music from "Voice of the Turtle" and the Zamir Chorale of Boston.

Hanukkah Lights 2012
Airs Thursday, December 13 at 8:00 p.m.
A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features Hanukkah stories and memoirs written by acclaimed authors expressly for the show, as read by NPR's Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.

St. Olaf Christmas Festival
Airs Monday, December 17 at 1:00 p.m.
One of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations originates at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. More than 500 talented students perform hymns, carols and choral works. A service in song and word that has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. Tickets to the event, which takes place at St. Olaf College in Northfield are always gone months in advance. 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.

Noel: Christmas In Paris
Airs Monday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m.
Setting the standard for choral excellence for 90 years, the Westminster Choir is composed of students at Westminster Choir College, a division of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts, in Princeton, N.J.  It has been the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival USA since 1977, performing both in concert and as the opera chorus. The Choir has recorded Noël, a collection of French Christmas music and sacred works with Maestro Joe Miller and organist Ken Cowan. This recording is the centerpiece of Noël: A Christmas from Paris, hosted by Bill McGlaughlin.

Echoes of Christmas
Airs Tuesday, December 18 at 11:00 a.m.
Celebrate the holiday with the finest moments in the rich Dale Warland Singers' Christmas tradition with vocal gems that bring joy to the holidays. The Dale Warland Singers provided magical performances to listeners across the country for over 30 years and were acclaimed as America's premier choir. Their signature holiday concert, beloved by public radio listeners nationwide, was the annual Echoes of Christmas program.  Drawing upon the archive of their live performances, Dale Warland and host Brian Newhouse create a very special Christmas musical treat.

A Chanticleer Christmas
Airs Tuesday, December 18 at 1:00 p.m.
The 12-man San Francisco vocal ensemble brings their special seasonal glee to traditional carols and newer works. A Chanticleer Christmas is American Public Media's one-hour celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 12-voice San Francisco-based men's choir. The program spans the globe and the centuries, from England in the 1300s to new arrangements of classic and contemporary carols.

Christmas with Madrigalia
Airs Tuesday, December 18 at 2:00 p.m.
This holiday season, Madrigalia returns to public radio for Christmas with Madrigalia: A Time to Rejoice. This program of holiday cheer fills the season with joy, and features many Madrigalia favorites along with some new seasonal tunes to brighten the darkest of winter's days. The program features settings of familiar tunes and texts by some of today's most brilliant young composers along with some less familiar, yet captivating melodies. Christmas with Madrigalia was conducted by Lee Wright and recorded live in concert at Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY. The special includes music by David Hogan, Eric Whitacre, Roger Wilhelm, Cary Ratcliff, Libby Larsen and others.

Music Of The Baroque Brass & Choral Holiday Concert
Airs Wednesday, December 19 at 11:00 a.m.
Please join host Peter Van De Graaff as he guides you through music of the 16th and 17th centuries by composers such as Michael Praetorius, Thomas Ravenscroft, Elizabeth Poston, Stephen Paulus, Herbert Howells, J Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi and Peter Cornelius, among others. Brass instruments have long been associated with ceremony and celebration. Ubiquitous in Renaissance court pageantry, their connection to royalty and wealth lent an air of respectability to any occasion. Courts and churches capitalized upon the exalted status of brass instruments, flaunting their virtuoso players and composers in order to enhance their reputations. Diverse in nationality, temporality and musical style, the stories the pieces in this program tell are nonetheless similar in their message. Many are related to the Christmas narrative, shedding light on different facets of the tale, while others offer a timely reminder that the wonder and awe the season inspires can last the entire year. Although the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ is the dominant theme, it isn’t the only one at work in this program. Different nationalities, perspectives and styles are reconciled through the power of music, and glorious harmony is clearly the result. What better way to celebrate the holiday season?

Welcome Christmas!
Airs Wednesday, December 19 at 1:00 p.m.
Bring a Torch! This year's program puts the focus on old French carols, alongside two world premieres in the annual VocalEssence/American Composers Forum Christmas carol contest. The new carols call for the intriguing combination of men's chorus with English horn. Long a favorite from their appearances on A Prairie Home Companion, VocalEssence rings in the season with an all-new Welcome Christmas! It's an hour of joyful holiday music featuring the Minneapolis-based chorus, VocalEssence, and hosted for the fourteenth year by APM's John Birge.
 

Heaven and Nature Sing!
Airs Wednesday, December 19 at 2:00 p.m.
Heaven and Nature Sing! is an artistic exploration of the joy of Christmas manifest through music. Recorded live at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, the message and mystery of Christmas are celebrated with anthems and carols by Winston Castler, John Rutter, Mack Wilberg, Deborah Lutz and F. Melius Christiansen, and a traditional Nigerian Carol arranged by Wendell Whalum.  Nearly 200 musicians from the ensembles of Houghton College's Greatbatch School of Music in Houghton, New York bring a sense of wonder and enchantment to this festive season. We'll hear the Houghton College Choir, Men's Choir, Women's Choir and Philharmonia coming together under the direction of Brandon Johnson.  You'll feel moved to sing along with the musicians of Heaven and Nature Sing!

A Traditional Lessons and Carols from Dallas
Airs Thursday, December 20 at 1:00 p.m.
The Dallas Christmas Lessons & Carols has emerged as one of the most distinctive holiday events in Texas. Taking its British forebear as a starting point, it has made the rhythm of the familiar service its own in both song and text. The artistic director, Scott Dettra, is widely regarded as one of the finest concert organists of his generation, whose career has taken him from major appointments in Philadelphia and Washington, where he was associate director at National Cathedral.

The Story of Christmas: A Pageant from Washington National Cathedral
Airs Thursday, December 20 at 2:00 p.m.
This year's annual special Christmas broadcast from the Washington National Cathedral with the Cathedral Girls' Choir brings a unique performance of Benjamin Britten's much-loved Ceremony of Carols, marking 70 years from its first performance in England in 1942. Often performed by boys and harp, its first performance was in London with women's voices and the celebrated Welsh harpist Osian Ellis. The girls are joined by young actors from Princeton Day School in Princeton, NJ, who present the biblical narrative in their own words and commentary.

Regional Symphony Broadcast
Shreveport Symphony Holiday Pops
Michael Butterman, conductor
Airs Friday, December 21 at 12:00 noon
A long-standing holiday tradition, this year's concert promises to be the best yet. Come celebrate the season and our community with beloved treasures as well as classics in the making.  Shreveport native Timothy Jones returns to join the SSO, our Children's Chorus and great dancers for a celebration like no other. You'll need to act quickly to reserve the best seats!

Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
Airs Friday, December 21 at 7:00 p.m.
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.

Austin Music Unlimited Holiday Special
Airs Friday, December 21 at 9:00 p.m.
An hour of rare, exclusive and fun seasonal music from deep in the heart of you-know-where...!  Willie Nelson, Kelly Willis, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Asleep at the Wheel, Ruthie Foster, the Rev. Horton Heat and many more are among the featured artists in this hour-long seasonal music showcase.  There are inventive reworkings of some holiday classics, surprising originals, and exclusive live music recorded in KUT's legendary 'Studio 1A'.  Hosted by David Brown of KUT's Texas Music Matters with minimal interruption.

Leroy Anderson Christmas
Airs Saturday, December 21 at 3:00 p.m.
This Leroy Anderson Tribute is co-hosted and produced by the composer's son Kurt Anderson, who is also General Manager of public radio station WMNR Fine Arts Radio in Monroe, CT. He has produced a number of radio programs about his father including an NPR special concert in 1999. He also created the PBS website on Leroy Anderson and produced the DVD release of the PBS documentary, Once Upon a Sleigh Ride.

A Cajun Christmas
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. Monty Brown has long been involved in regional folk activities, working as music director for the Louisiana Folklife Center and the Natchitoches Folk Life Festival. He is a performer and songwriter, a favorite at clubs and festivals throughout Louisiana. His Songs "Cajun Christmas" and "Would You Fly" were in the soundtrack for the film "Steel Magnolias."

A Paul Winter Solstice Concert
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.

Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
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.

A Christmas Celtic Sojourn - Live in Concert!
Airs Sunday, December 23 at 9:00 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.

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Airs Monday, December 24 at 9:00 a.m.
Hosted by Michael Barone, this is a live stereo 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.

Handel's Messiah from Boston
Airs Monday, December 24 at 11:00 a.m.  
No holiday season is complete without Handel's stunning oratorio, and one of Boston's most cherished holiday traditions: Music Director Harry Christophers leads the Handel & Haydn Society Period Instrument Orchestra, Chorus, and internationally-acclaimed soloists in Handel's complete dramatic masterwork, in the acoustic splendor of Boston's Symphony Hall. Canadian superstars soprano Karina Gauvin and countertenor Daniel Taylor, British tenor extraordinaire James Gilchrist, and Boston's own premier baritone Sumner Thompson offer this season's unique rendition of this Boston tradition, hosted by longtime Boston broadcast voice Ron Della Chiesa.

Advent Voices
Airs Monday, December 24 at 2:00 p.m.
Advent is a time of quiet contemplation and waiting. It's waiting for darkness to become light and for hopes to be realized. Throughout the centuries Advent has been observed musically in sacred and secular ways. Join Lynne for an hour of the most beautiful vocal music inspired by and written for Advent.

Jonathan Winters' A Christmas Carol
Airs Monday, December 24 at 8:00 p.m.
An updated version of a public radio tradition hosted by NPR's Susan Stamberg. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens' holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Also featuring Mimi Kennedy.

The Great American Songbook
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.

Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
Airs, Monday, December 24 at 10:00 p.m.
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.

Jazz Piano Christmas XXI
Airs, Tuesday December 24 at 11:00 p.m.
A smooth evening of holiday fare with a jazz mood to set off your wait for St. Nick.

St. Olaf Christmas Festival
Airs Tuesday December  25 at 11:00 a.m.
One of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations originates at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. More than 500 talented students perform hymns, carols and choral works. A service in song and word that has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. Tickets to the event, which takes place at St. Olaf College in Northfield are always gone months in advance. 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.

Echoes of Christmas
Airs Tuesday, December 25 at 1:00 p.m.
Celebrate the holiday with the finest moments in the rich Dale Warland Singers' Christmas tradition -- vocal gems that bring joy to the holidays. The Dale Warland Singers provided magical performances to listeners across the country for over 30 years and were acclaimed as America's premier choir. Their signature holiday concert—beloved by public radio listeners nationwide—was the annual Echoes of Christmas program. Drawing upon the archive of their live performances, Dale Warland and host Brian Newhouse create a very special Christmas musical treat.

Welcome Christmas!
Airs Tuesday, December 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Bring a Torch! This year's program puts the focus on old French carols, alongside two world premieres in the annual VocalEssence/American Composers Forum Christmas carol contest. The new carols call for the intriguing combination of men's chorus with English horn. Long a favorite from their appearances on A Prairie Home Companion, VocalEssence rings in the season with an all-new Welcome Christmas! It's an hour of joyful holiday music featuring the Minneapolis-based chorus, VocalEssence, and hosted for the fourteenth year by APM's John Birge.

Tinsel Tales
Airs, Tuesday, December 25 at 7:00 p.m.
NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

Jazz Piano Christmas XXIII
Airs, Tuesday December 25 at 9:00 p.m.
NPR Music brings you another great concert from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. NEA Jazz Master Ellis Marsalis, Jason Moran, Geri Allen, and Taylor Eigsti, and other artists perform their favorite holiday songs.

The New Jazz Archive Holiday Special
Airs Tuesday, December 25 at 10:00 p.m.
It's a very merry jazz Christmas with an hour of some of the best holiday jazz. We’ll talk with jazz historian Bill Sears about some of the off-the-beaten path jazz takes on your favorite holiday classics, and chat with our producer Lou Blouin about the Christmas duet that brought jazz icon Bing Crosby and rocker David Bowie together. That plus a conversation with pianist Eugene Marlow about his recent jazz reworking of some classic Hanukkah music, and tunes from Duke Ellington, Hammond B3 pioneer Jimmy Smith, Vince Guaraldi, and the Squirrel Nut Zippers, are all coming up on this Special.

Roll Credits: "A Hollywood Holiday"
Airs Tuesday December 25 at 11:00 p.m.
During the holidays we unpack, dust off and polish up countless traditions. Some are surrounded by festive foods, others involve preparing and decorating for family, friends and homecomings. Many of these special times include classic movies that take us back to wonderful Christmases past. Lynne Warfel shares music that made great films from "A Christmas Carol" to "Polar Express" come alive with the warmth and sparkle of the season.

Yo-Yo Ma: Songs of Joy and Peace
Airs Wednesday, December 26 at 11:00 a.m.
Imagine a musical party that celebrates the hopes, dreams and joy that animates seasonal festivals the world over. That is what inspired Yo-Yo Ma to create "Songs of Joy and Peace: The Yo-Yo Ma Holiday Party" with a remarkable group of friends. Hosted by John Schaefer, this one-hour holiday special combines the joy of music with the gift of discovery as shared and performed by friends old and new. James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, Renee Fleming, The Silk Road Ensemble, Jake Shimabukuro and others discuss the collaborations they recorded with Ma.

A Season's Griot 2012
Airs Wednesday, December 26 at 8:00 p.m.
An hour-long Kwanzaa celebration in story and song, again hosted by Madafo Lloyd Wilson. This year's program features youth as the special guest griots, reading their own original and traditional stories. Familiar and favorite elements of Griot will also be in place with plenty of music, and an original composition by the show's poet laureate, Beverly Fields Burnette.

Music Of The Baroque Brass & Choral Holiday Concert
Airs Friday, December 28 at 12:00 noon
Please join host Peter Van De Graaff as he guides you through music of the 16th and 17th centuries by composers such as Michael Praetorius, Thomas Ravenscroft, Elizabeth Poston, Stephen Paulus, Herbert Howells, J Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi and Peter Cornelius, among others. Brass instruments have long been associated with ceremony and celebration. Ubiquitous in Renaissance court pageantry, their connection to royalty and wealth lent an air of respectability to any occasion. Courts and churches capitalized upon the exalted status of brass instruments, flaunting their virtuoso players and composers in order to enhance their reputations. Diverse in nationality, temporality and musical style, the stories the pieces in this program tell are nonetheless similar in their message. Many are related to the Christmas narrative, shedding light on different facets of the tale, while others offer a timely reminder that the wonder and awe the season inspires can last the entire year. Although the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ is the dominant theme, it isn’t the only one at work in this program. Different nationalities, perspectives and styles are reconciled through the power of music, and glorious harmony is clearly the result. What better way to celebrate the holiday season?

Toast of the Nation
Airs Monday, December 31 at 8:00 p.m.
Count down, sing along, and dance to live music all night long. Travel from coast to coast with four celebrations of midnight from time zone to time zone. It's the perfect holiday special for any New Year's event. Spirited, improvised, grooving, and swinging, with strings, horns, voices and drums, each segment is a stop in a sequence of parties, each one contributing something new to the musical feast. WBGO's Rhonda Hamilton anchors, with additional voices along the way.

New Year's Day from Vienna 2013
Airs Tuesday, January 1 at 10:00 a.m.
The Vienna Philharmonic presents its ever popular annual New Year's Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. You'll hear your favorite waltzes, polkas and more -- a festive way to start off the New Year.

Capitol Steps: Politics Takes a Holiday New Year's Edition 2012
Airs Tuesday, January 1 at 6:00 p.m.
Help us roast 2012 to a crisp with The Capitol Steps and their annual year-in-review awards ceremony called "Politics Takes a Holiday!"  This year will feature all new awards, such as:
"Best Use of $3 billion Dollars to Run for President,"
"Worst Place in Public to Admit You Had a Binder Full of Women,"
"Most Prostitutes to Ever Fit into the Secret Service's Hotel," and
"Worst Hair Cut Ever to Demand to See Anyone's Birth Certificate."
Go ahead, post on Facebook (hopefully you didn't invest in it) and tell your friends all about it!  If there is anything Congress can agree on, it is The Capitol Steps' one hour long special will have you laughing harder than Joe Biden at a Vice Presidential debate. So laugh away at 2012, because unlike any Presidential election, laughter is free.