Holiday Schedule November / December 1997
Holiday Schedule 2003
Saturday, Dec. 13th
10am A Car Talk Christmas Carol 1 hr This is the classic tale by Charles Dickens… with a Car Talk twist. Hear Tom and Ray Magliozzi as The Scroogiatzi Brothers, Bob Edwards as Bob Edwards-Cratchit, Ira Glass as Tiny Ira, Susan Stamberg as The Spirit of Public Radio Past, Scott Simon as The Spirit of Public Radio Present, Andrei Codrescu as The Spirit of Public Radio Future, Carl Kasell as Crusty the Mechanic and appearances by Robert Siegel, Bailey White, Daniel Schorr, Terry Gross and Tim Russell.
Sunday, Dec. 14th
4pm A Car Talk Christmas Carol – Repeat 1 hr This is the classic tale by Charles Dickens… with a Car Talk twist. Hear Tom and Ray Magliozzi as The Scroogiatzi Brothers, Bob Edwards as Bob Edwards-Cratchit, Ira Glass as Tiny Ira, Susan Stamberg as The Spirit of Public Radio Past, Scott Simon as The Spirit of Public Radio Present, Andrei Codrescu as The Spirit of Public Radio Future, Carl Kasell as Crusty the Mechanic and appearances by Robert Siegel, Bailey White, Daniel Schorr, Terry Gross and Tim Russell.
Friday, Dec. 19th
8pm A Toss the Feathers Christmas 2 hrs This show features legendary British folk-rock pioneers The Strawbs, along with two new seasonal songs and a Christmas reading from singer Dave Cousins. Also, for the first time on American radio, an historic holiday performance from the foremost family of British folk, The Watersons. And as if that weren’t enough, Loreena McKennitt, Richard Thompson and Maddy Prior return to round out this two-hour feast of the best in holiday Celtic and British Isles folk artistry.
10pm The Christmas Stocking 2 hrs How was Christmas celebrated in the Old West? What are some wacky Christmas traditions? Who sang Santa, I Want A Goat for Christmas? Get answers to those questions and more than you bargained for with this collection of stories, oddities, history, vignettes, readings, anecdotes, trivia and an eclectic selection of holiday music, featuring classical, folk, blues, pop, Cajun, country, rock 'n roll, soul and some items that just defy categorization!
Holiday Schedule 2003
Sunday, Dec. 21st
8pm Peace on Earth: A Holiday Folk Tour with Judy Collins 1 hr Judy Collins hosts an all-new hour-long tour around the nation featuring musical takes on the holiday season from folk artists. Including many new originals—some thoughtful, some delivered with tongues planted firmly in cheek—along with a few holiday favorites. Along the way, many of the artists reflect on the holidays and tell the stories behind their songs.
9pm A Christmas Celtic Sojourn 1 hr The Celtic countries are steeped in traditions of Winter Solstice and Christmas. Familiar songs such as The Little Drummer Boy; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; The Boar's Head; and The Wexford Carol are intermingled with extraordinary choral music from Brittany and traditional Celtic melodies from Canada. Maddy Prior, Ensemble Choral du Bout du Monde, Loreena McKennitt, Cherish the Ladies and The Boys of the Lough are among the artists featured.
10pm The Christmas Revels: A Celebration of the Winter Solstice 2 hrs An all-new compilation of carols, songs, processionals, and traditional and ritual dance tunes selected from the 12 live Christmas Revels performances that took place around the country last year. This is a combination of traditional music and folk dances with sacred and secular material from a variety of cultures and regions. Highlights include: a holiday celebration that begins in the streets of Victorian London and concludes amidst the faded but proud elegance of a West End Music Hall; a revel that captures the high spirits of the northern peoples of Finland, Norway and Sweden; and a typical holiday gathering in 19th-century Appalachia at the time of the Underground Railroad.
Tuesday, Dec 23rd
7pm Chanukah Lights 1 hr A collection of readings that explore Chanukah traditions in original stories including: The Miracle of the Oil by Simone Zelitch; The Two Menorahs by Daniel Mark Epstein; and Gifts of the Last Night by Rebecca Goldstein. Hosted by Murray Horwitz and Susan Stamberg.
Holiday Schedule 2003
Wednesday, Dec 24th
10am A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols – Live 1 ½ hrs The sound of one pure, solitary child's voice rings out each Christmas Eve at the Chapel of King's College in Cambridge. It heralds the beginning and the continuation of over 95 years of heartfelt tradition known as The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Each year, lessons are woven among great choral anthems that originate from deep inside the storied English choral tradition. The choir will also perform a newly commissioned work, rooting the service firmly in the present and the past.
7pm A Taste of Chanukah 1 hr This celebration of Chanukah features over 150 musicians from the New England Conservatory, the Boston Community Choir and other ensembles. The show is recorded live at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall in Boston. The music includes a special contribution from cantor Morton Shames, and humorist Chasia Segal demonstrates how to cook perfect potato latkes.
8pm St. Olaf Christmas Festival 1 ½ hrs An annual offering from St. Olaf College in Minnesota, this concert features a sequence of traditional and modern works created specifically for and premiered in this event. This year’s theme for the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, now in its 92nd year, is Awaken Our Souls, O God of Hope.
9:30pm A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols – Repeat 1 ½ hrs The sound of one pure, solitary child's voice rings out each Christmas Eve at the Chapel of King's College in Cambridge. It heralds the beginning and the continuation of over 95 years of heartfelt tradition known as The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Each year, lessons are woven among great choral anthems that originate from deep inside the storied English choral tradition. The choir will also perform a newly commissioned work, rooting the service firmly in the present and the past.
11pm Jonathan Winters: A Christmas Carol 1 hr A public radio tradition. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens' holiday classic, using a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Also featuring Mimi Kennedy.
Holiday Schedule 2003
Thursday, Dec. 25th
9am Holiday Pops – Keith Lockhardt and the Boston Pops 2 hrs Hear one of the world's most famous orchestras performing music for the holidays under the leadership of charismatic conductor Keith Lockhardt.
11am Echoes of Christmas (Dale Warland Singers) 1 hr The Dale Warland Singers is one of America's premiere mixed-voice choirs. The centerpiece of this year's program is Francis Poulenc's gorgeous Quatre Motets pour le Temps de Noel. You’ll also hear a blend of traditional carols, like Still, Still, Still, and new music.
12pm Carols For Christmas 1 hr This show focuses on Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, composed during World War II aboard ship on a return trip from North America to London. When his vessel stopped in Nova Scotia, the composer found by chance a collection of English medieval poetry, inspiring this song cycle. The carols are performed by the American Boy choir and are interspersed with poems from the English medieval period.
1pm Christmas with the Philadelphia Singers 1 hr This show features performances of carols and music by composers such as Ottorino Respighi, Elizabeth Poston and Gustav Holst. The show also includes two world premieres: Jennifer Higdon's O Magnum Mysterium and Bruce Montgomery's A Christmas Counter-Carol.
2pm Welcome Christmas 1 hr Philip Brunelle and VocalEssence showcase two brilliant new carols for chorus and percussion. “Each year we give composers a unique challenge in composing a carol,” Brunelle explains. “This year, it was to write for voices and percussion.”
3pm A Candlelight Christmas 1 hr Recorded in the beautiful and historic Heinz Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh featuring the Heinz Chapel Choir. This is a showcase of holiday choral favorites spanning many centuries and continents. Repertoire includes O Come, O Come Emmanuel, In the Bleak Midwinter and popular carols like The Christmas Song, as well as ethnic holiday music from Brazil.
7pm Chanukah: A Time for Miracles 1 hr A blend of whimsical celebration and serious thought on the observance of Chanukah and its meaning today. A bevy of modern-day traveling minstrels, word magicians and sages celebrate ancient wonders and modern miracles, including contributions from: Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, editor with Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul; Aimee Bender, acclaimed young author of The Girl in the Flammable Shirt; and Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, a leader of L.A.'s Sephardic Jewish Temple.