Whether you are baking, cleaning, or in your car headed to holiday events, WHRO Public Media has music for the occasion.

Enjoy music that celebrates Hanukkah, Las Posadas, the Winter Solstice, Christmas and more. WHRO FM has the soundtrack for your holiday season, Check out the lineup.

Friday, December 15:

9 PM – Miracle of Miracles: Music for Hanukkah
As Hanukkah ends, we’ll share a new recording called Miracle of Miracles, which features lovely choral arrangements of traditional and new Hanukkah songs performed by Chicago a cappella.

Saturday, December 16:

6 AM – Harmonia: Las Posadas
Get ready to burst open the piñata as Harmonia celebrates the traditional Latin American Christmas pageant, Las Posadas, with Renaissance- and Baroque- style music from Mexico. Plus, we’re featuring an album of Christmas music from Breslau, now Wrocław, Poland.

7 AM-Noon – Holiday Car Tunes

1-3 PM – The Metropolitan Opera’s holiday presentation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute
The Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee radio broadcasts continue with a treat for the holiday season: Mozart’s The Magic Flute. This classic operatic fairy tale, sung in English, is ideal for listeners of all ages.

3-6 PM – Holiday Intermezzo

8-11 PM – This Just In
Enjoy new releases for the holiday season! It’s also Beethoven’s birthday, so we’ll open the program with the Emerson Quartet playing Beethoven’s Great Fugue. We’ll then turn back the hands of time for Capella Romana and their new release A Byzantine Emperor at King Henry’s Court – Christmas, London, 1400. We’ll add to that the suite The Nativity from Patrick Hawes, and harpist Anna Pasetti plays Christmas selections by Alphone Hasselmans, Johannes Snoer, Marcel Grandjany and Henriette Renie.

11 PM – Harmonia: Las Posadas

Sunday, December 17:

7 AM-Noon – Holiday Musical Brunch

Noon-1 PM – With Heart and Voice
Sacred choral and organ music in celebration of the third Sunday in Advent.

3-4 PM – From the Parlor: A Children’s Christmas

4-7 PM – Holiday Sunday Classics

8-10 PM – Pipedreams: An English Christmas Festival
Choirs and organists in British chapels and cathedrals share the glad tidings.

10 PM-Midnight – Holiday Evening Classics

Monday, December 18:

Noon – Carols as Home with the Imani Winds (APM)

Carols as Home features a modern take on classic Christmas carols, hosted by Imani Winds founding oboist, Toyin Spellman-Diaz. Toyin coaxes intimate stories of Christmas memories from the members of the ensemble, and why these classic carols are still essential today. You’ll hear many of your favorite carols updated with the ensemble’s own imaginative take.

9 PM – Anticipation and Celebration: Advent with the Montserrat Boy Choir (APM)
Perched atop the mountains near Barcelona, the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat houses one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious boy choirs. For the first time in their 800-year history, the choir made its Midwest premiere. In this special the ensemble sings a wide range of works, from Gregorian Chant to pieces by contemporary Spanish composer Bernat Vivancos. Bringing with them a message of peace, the choristers will use music to transcend borders and speak directly to your heart.

Tuesday, December 19:

Noon – Welcome Christmas! (APM)
There’s no better way to welcome Christmas than Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert. It’s an hour of joyful, classic holiday music from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups, singing traditional carols and new discoveries.

9 PM – All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas (APM)
All Is Bright, with host Lynne Warfel, offers an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene.

Wednesday, December 20:

Noon – The Ballad of the Brown King & Other Music for Christmas by Black Composers (WFMT)
Dr. Louise Toppin, a noted performer and scholar who specializes in the concert repertoire of African American composers, presents the world premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’ The Ballad of the Brown King. With a libretto by Langston Hughes, this Christmas cantata which focuses on Balthazar, the dark-skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ, is beautifully interpreted by New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, with soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and tenor Noah Stewart, led by Malcolm J. Merriweather. The special will also include music for the season selected by Dr. Toppin.

9 PM – A Local Touch: Holiday Edition
Raymond Jones presents holiday music with a Virginia connection.

Thursday, December 21: Winter Solstice

Noon – Winter Holidays Around the World with Bill McGlaughlin (WFMT)
Winter holidays are celebrated around the world, and their music is wonderful to hear, regardless of which tradition you observe. Bill’s spirited selection takes you on a delightful, personal tour, including medieval Italian music, jazz, selections by Vaughan Williams and Debussy, a Polynesian hymn, and an excerpt from Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors from the original television production.

9 PM - In Winter's Glow (APM)
This new special from American Public Media features contemplative, modern classical sounds for the longest night of the year, chosen especially to complement the chilly, starry nights of the season. It will be followed by additional local programming celebrating the winter solstice.

Friday, December 22:

Noon – The Christmas Story through Carols Old and New
This choral music program 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, the shepherds and how they spread their joyous message.

9-11 PM – The Christmas Revels
A celebration of the winter holidays – Advent, Chanukah, the Solstice, Christmas, Dongzhi, New Year’s and Twelfth Night/Epiphany – featuring traditional carols, wassails, hymns, ballads, children’s game-songs, and folk dance-tunes excerpted from live Christmas Revels stage productions presented around the country.

Saturday, Dec. 23:

6 AM – Harmonia: Veni, Veni Emmanuel: A Medieval Christmas
This time of year, we are surrounded by Christmas music. This week on Harmonia, join us for something a little different, as we explore Christmas music of another age – the medieval! We’ll hear music from the Tallis Scholars, the Boston Camerata, and more.

7 AM-Noon – Holiday Car Tunes

8-11 PM – This Just In: Christmas New Releases

11 PM – Harmonia: Veni, Veni Emmanuel: A Medieval Christmas

Sunday, December 24: Christmas Eve

7-10 AM – Holiday Musical Brunch

10 AM-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 service of word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. Share in this live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal music, presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue.

Noon – With Heart and Voice: Christmas Special

1-3 PM – St Olaf Christmas Festival (APM)
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. Started in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf College Music Department, the festival includes hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity.

3 PM – From the Parlor: Christmas Edition

4-6 PM – Your Classical Christmas Favorites (APM)
Join us as we count down the top Christmas songs as voted by listeners across the country!

6 PM – Christmas with Madrigalia (WXXI)
Celebrate the excitement and joy of the holiday season with traditional carols and anthems from the medieval era through the 21st century in honor of the Winter Solstice, Chanukah, Christmas, and the New Year.

7 PM – Classical Guitar Alive: Christmas Music

8-10 PM – Pipedreams: Organ Music for Christmas Eve

10 PM – Anticipation and Celebration: Advent with the Montserrat Boy Choir

11 PM – All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas

Monday, Dec. 25: Christmas Day

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

8 AM – Welcome Christmas!

9 AM – St. Olaf Christmas Festival

11 AM – Christmas with Madrigalia

Noon – The Christmas Story through Carols Old and New

1 PM – Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra

2 PM – “Sing We Nowell” with the Virginia Chorale (2023 holiday concert)

3-5 PM – A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Rebroadcast)

7 PM – The Ballad of the Brown King & Other Music for Christmas by Black Composers

8 PM – All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas

9 PM-Midnight – Christmas Classics with Raymond Jones

December 26-January 1: Kwanzaa

Daily at 10 AM, Dec. 26-Jan. 1: The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa (WXXI)
Each segment focuses on the specific principle of the day, to introduce listeners to the celebration and to encourage an understanding of inclusion and diverse perspectives. Hosted by acclaimed soprano Kearstin Piper Brown and baritone Eric Logan.

Monday, January 1: New Year’s Day

11 AM-1 PM – New Year's Day from Vienna 2024 (Live Broadcast)
Ring in 2024 with this ever-popular annual New Year’s Day Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic.

*Program times and details may be subject to change

You can hear WHRO FM at 90.3 on the radio, stream it online, or listen through the WHRO app. Happy holidays!