Tune in to WNIU this season for a hand picked selection of holiday specials.
Advent Voices, Sunday, December 7, 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 Lynne Warfel for an hour of the most beautiful vocal music inspired by and written for Advent.
Candles Burning Brightly, Sunday, December 14, 10:00 a.m.
Join hosts Mindy Ratner and Bill Morelock for a one-hour celebration of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. There's plenty of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus an exploration of holiday traditions, and a special story reading by the incomparable Theodore Bikel.
Welcome Christmas, Sunday, December 21, 10:00 a.m.
The best way to welcome Christmas is Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert from American Public Media.
It's an hour of joyful holiday music featuring one of the world's premiere choral groups, led by Philip Brunelle and hosted for the sixteenth year by APM's John Birge.
This year, a tribute to the late Dave Brubeck with his classical Christmas cantata "La Fiesta de la Posada". Plus, this year's winners of the annual carol contest with the American Composers Forum. Gramophone magazine called VocalEssence "excellent and vibrant." NEA Chairman Dana Gioia named them "one of the irreplaceable music ensembles of our time." Join us in December for holiday classics new and old, when Philip Brunelle and VocalEssence Welcome Christmas! from American Public Media.
A Chanticleer's Christmas, Monday, December 22, 9:00 a.m.
Nothing signals the beginning of the holiday season like 12 men singing in beautifully blended harmony. A Chanticleer Christmas is American Public Media's one-hour celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 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 to Chanticleer's popular Gospel medley of Christmas tunes.
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Tuesday, December 23, 9:00 a.m.
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, MN, 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
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 2014, Wednesday, December 24, 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.
New Year's Day from Vienna 2015, Thursday, January 1 , 10:00 a.m.
The 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. Presented by NPR Music and WGBH, Boston.