Join us for your holiday soundtrack! As always, we are happy to bring you rich and joyful music for the Christmas season from the WHRO-FM library, along with special programs from American Public Media, the WFMT Radio Network, WQXR, and more.

Here are some highlights of what’s in store:

Sunday, December 16:
4 p.m. – A Service of Advent Lessons and Carols
Recorded live at Norfolk’s Christ and St. Luke’s Church on Dec. 2, 2018.

Monday, December 17:

Noon – “An Old-Fashioned Christmas” with the London Symphony Brass and Festival Choir

9 p.m. – Slavic Wonders: Christmas with the Rose Ensemble
A stunning celebration of the season featuring some truly brilliant gems from the libraries and monasteries of Krakow, Prague, and Moscow. Hear everything from soaring soprano lines, to the signature Slavic sound of rumbling basses; Slavic Wonders is an engaging and curious mixture of chant, carols, and glorious polyphony.

Tuesday, December 18:

Noon – ¡Vamos a Belén! Christmas with the Rose Ensemble
This special features festive and evocative music from early Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and beyond. Colonial Latin america was a melting pot of ethnic diversity, when newcomers wrestled with local traditions, and cultural conflict was often reconciled through musical collaboration. Dances from the streets of Mother Spain mingle with African rhythms and indigenous languages, while celebration turns glorious in the pageantry of the Franciscan missions of California and New Mexico.

9 p.m. – All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas from American Public Media
Lynne Warfel hosts an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene. Featured artists include Cantus, Chanticleer, Cambridge Singers, Bryn Terfel, Emma Kirkby, Jessye Norman, and a variety of choirs.

Wednesday, December 19:

Noon – Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, from American Public Media
The world-renowned Tabernacle Choir continues its tradition of great artistry this holiday season, with touching arrangements of familiar carols, and lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics. Julie amacher hosts this annual favorite.

9 p.m. – A Local Touch with Raymond Jones: Holiday Edition
Join Raymond for holiday classics with a Virginia connection, featuring music from local Hampton Roads composers Stephen Melillo and Adolphus Hailstork, and seasonal selections from the Charlottesville-based ensemble Terra Voce.

Thursday, December 20:

Noon – Welcome Christmas! from American Public Media
A perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premier choral ensembles. Join host John Birge for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest.

9 p.m. – An Elizabethan Christmas with the Rose Ensemble
Grand candlelit halls, lavish feasts, and stately dances. Escape to the regal elegance of the Elizabethan era. The time and culture of Elizabeth I also contained tension and intrigue; dark and light. And it’s all evident in the music of their Christmas celebrations. The Rose Ensemble captures all of that in their popular holiday concert, as they reawaken the ancient with An Elizabethan Christmas.

Friday, December 21:

Noon – Winter Holidays Around the World with Bill McGlaughlin from the WFMT Radio Network
Winter holidays are celebrated around the world, and their music is wonderful to hear, regardless of which tradition you observe. Bill’s spirited selection starts in the 12th century with Nova Stella, medieval Italian Christmas music from Saint Francis of Assisi’s staging of the nativity; jazz pianist Dave Brubeck’s classical composition La Fiesta de la Posada, evoking a Mexican Christmas celebration; and Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols. We will enjoy this time of year in Paris with music from Debussy, and then travel to Polynesia for a traditional hymn, Anau Oia Ea, ending with an excerpt from Gian Carlo Menotti’s amahl and the Night Visitors from the original television production. Turn on your radio, pour a cup of tea, cozy up to a warm fire, and enjoy the music!

9 p.m. – A Winter Solstice Celebration hosted by Raymond Jones
Hear music from the Christmas Revels and other works marking the solstice and the beginning of winter.

Saturday, December 22:

6 a.m. – Harmonia: In Italia: A Renaissance Christmas from Venice, Naples, Milan and Beyond
Celebrate the holiday season with Nativity music from the late Renaissance to the early 17th century in Europe, performed by the musicians of the Historical Performance Institute at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University.

7 a.m. – Noon – Local WHRO-FM Holiday Programming

1-4:15 p.m. –Live Metropolitan Opera Broadcast: Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

4:15 p.m. – An Operavore Christmas from WQXR
Following the live Met broadcast, enjoy an hour of Christmas and holiday music from the world of opera and oratorio sung by some of the greatest singers past and present including Marilyn Horne, Leontyne Price, Bryn Terfel, Thomas Hampson, Joan Sutherland and more.

8-11 p.m. – This Just In with Raymond Jones: Holiday Edition
Enjoy a tour of new classical releases for the Christmas season.

11 p.m. – Harmonia: In Italia: A Renaissance Christmas from Venice, Naples, Milan and Beyond

Sunday, December 23:

7 a.m. – Noon – Local WHRO-FM Holiday Programming

Noon – 1p.m. – With Heart and Voice: A Christmas Celebration
As we prepare for the eve of Christmas, we’ll begin the festivities with music to celebrate the arrival of the Christ Child on this edition of With Heart and Voice. Tune in as Peter DuBois shares sacred choral and organ treasures of the season.

3 – 4 p.m. – From the Parlor with Dwight Davis: Christmas Edition

4 – 7 p.m. – Local WHRO-FM Holiday Programming

8 – 10 p.m. – Pipedreams: Christmas All Around
A multi-national celebration of the Nativity Festival with organ music old and new.

10 p.m. – Midnight – Local WHRO-FM Holiday Programming

Monday, December 24: Christmas Eve

10 a.m. – Noon – A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (live broadcast)
An annual and beloved Christmas tradition, “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” is an extraordinary and memorable live service of word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. Audiences will share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal music (anthems a cappella and with organ accompaniment, and congregational hymns), presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue.

7-9 p.m. – St. Olaf Christmas Festival from American Public Media
This service in song and word 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. Valerie Kahler shares the sights and sounds of this choral favorite.

11 p.m. – All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas from American Public Media

Tuesday, December 25: Christmas Day

As always, WHRO-FM will offer joyous and beautiful music for your celebrations throughout the day.
Here are a few highlights:

8 a.m. – Welcome Christmas! from American Public Media

10 a.m. – Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square from American Public Media

1 p.m. – St. Olaf Christmas Festival from American Public Media

3 p.m. – Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra

*program times may be subject to change

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