2022 Schedule of Holiday Programs on PRE
In addition to the specials mentioned below, PRE will broadcast holiday music throughout our usual classical programs and on The Sound, Jazz with Dee Alexander, Choral Tradition, and inside our regular News and Ideas music programs like American Routes, Folk Alley, Beale Street Caravan, Alt Latino and All Songs Considered. Holiday programming on PRE is made possible by membership support.
[Click HERE to print your holiday schedule]
Every Good Thing - Wednesday 3 pm - 4 pm 11/23 on PRE CLASSICAL
On Thanksgiving, join Andrea Blain as she takes some time to give thanks and celebrate one of life's most meaningful gifts: music. It's "Every Good Thing" — an hour of stories and music to celebrate Thanksgiving. APM
Giving Thanks - Thursday 2 pm – 4 pm 11/24 on PRE CLASSICAL
Giving Thanks sounds the way Thanksgiving feels: inviting, warm, and festive. No clichés about pilgrims and pumpkin pies. Instead, it’s a contemporary, thoughtful celebration of spirit of the holiday. For listeners, whether they're up early in the kitchen, on the road to a family gathering, or relaxing after the feast, Giving Thanks provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving: the warmth of great music, and truly memorable words. APM
Music of the Baroque presents O Magnum Mysterium: The Brass & Choral Holiday Concert - Thursday 7 pm 12/15 on PRE Classical
Music makes the holidays come alive, and through the centuries this special time of year inspired composers to new creative heights. Drawn from diverse cultures and various points in history, Music of the Baroque Conductor and Chorus Director Andrew Megill has assembled a program inspired by O Magnum Mysterium, an ancient chant sung at midnight on Christmas in the medieval church. This concert, recorded in 2021, is hosted by celebrated WFMT host Candice Agree. Tune in to hear the great works of composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Gabrieli, Roland de Lassus, Hans Leo Hassler, Diego José de Salazar, and many more. WFMT
Mountain Stage HOLIDAY – Friday 7 pm 12/16 on PRE News & Ideas
Join Mountain Stage host Larry Groce for an hour filled with beautiful music to mark the season. The show features special guests Holly Cole, Joan Baez, Bruce Cockburn, Loudon Wainwright III, The Roches, Kathy Mattea and more. All performances were recorded live on the Mountain Stage. NPR
A Mexican Christmas w/ Newberry Consort & Ensemble - Sunday 2 pm 12/18 on PRE Classical
The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A Mexican Christmas, an album of 17th-century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion. Organ, harp, bassoon, and a variety of Mexican traditional instruments bring this exuberant and diverse music to life. A Mexican Christmas is hosted by soprano Ellen Hargis, Director Emerita of The Newberry Consort, and soprano Francy Acosta, Co-Director of EnsAmble Ad-Hoc. The special is produced by Oliver Camacho and Rebecca Nystedt. WFMT
Candles Burning Brightly - Sunday 7 pm 12/18 on PRE Classical
A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Chanukah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home. APM
A Choral Christmas With Stile Antico - Monday 7 pm 12/19 on PRE Classical
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 of WGBH. NPR
A Paul Winter Solstice - Wednesday 3pm 12/21 on PRE Classical
Celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart with Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear a performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. John Schaefer hosts. NPR
A Chanticleer Christmas - Thursday 12/22 7 pm on PRE Classical
This one-hour program of holiday favorites, new and old, will be presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices." Chanticleer is one of the premiere vocal ensembles in the nation. The ensemble has won two Grammys and is a member of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. APM
A World Cafe Holiday - Friday 7 pm 12/23 on PRE News & Ideas
World Cafe celebrated 30 years by revisiting special holiday performances from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Los Lobos, Andrew Bird, The Bird and The Bee, Pink Martini, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and more. Hosted by Raina Douris, this musical gift will provide a full hour of hip holiday cheer. NPR
The Ballad of the Brown King and Other Music for Christmas by Black Composers - Friday 12/23 7 pm on PRE Classical
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’s 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, soloists 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, who also serves as the host of the show. WFMT
A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols Christmas Eve LIVE - Saturday 10 am -12 pm 12/24 on PRE Classical
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. APM
Jazz Piano Christmas - Saturday 5 pm 12/24 on PRE Classical
This year, our annual sell-out event spotlights ferociously talented Japanese musical phenom Hiromi, Mountain Stage’s Bob Thompson, and Bolivian prodigy José André Montaño, chosen as one of the Kennedy Center’s “Next 50” leaders. NPR
Apollo’s Fire presents Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Rediscovered - Monday 12/26 7 pm on PRE Classical
GRAMMY® Award-winning early music ensemble Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell team up with Spanish violin virtuoso Francisco Fullana and his 1735 Guarneri violin for this joyous romp through the baroque countryside. Through many tour performances in the past decade, Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire are known for bringing Vivaldi’s masterpiece to life as the revolutionary acts of musical storytelling the composer intended. From a lonely shepherd-boy on a hillside to a delightfully drunken harvest party… from a thrilling fox-hunt to the icy freeze of winter… the musician-storytellers revel in the joys and sorrows of a time when people lived very close to nature. The concert comes to a climactic finish with Sorrell’s arrangement of Vivaldi’s La Folia (“Madness”). Jeannette Sorrell, Artistic Director of Apollo’s Fire, is your host. WFMT
[Click HERE to print your holiday schedule]
Every Good Thing - Wednesday 3 pm - 4 pm 11/23 on PRE CLASSICAL
On Thanksgiving, join Andrea Blain as she takes some time to give thanks and celebrate one of life's most meaningful gifts: music. It's "Every Good Thing" — an hour of stories and music to celebrate Thanksgiving. APM
Giving Thanks - Thursday 2 pm – 4 pm 11/24 on PRE CLASSICAL
Giving Thanks sounds the way Thanksgiving feels: inviting, warm, and festive. No clichés about pilgrims and pumpkin pies. Instead, it’s a contemporary, thoughtful celebration of spirit of the holiday. For listeners, whether they're up early in the kitchen, on the road to a family gathering, or relaxing after the feast, Giving Thanks provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving: the warmth of great music, and truly memorable words. APM
Music of the Baroque presents O Magnum Mysterium: The Brass & Choral Holiday Concert - Thursday 7 pm 12/15 on PRE Classical
Music makes the holidays come alive, and through the centuries this special time of year inspired composers to new creative heights. Drawn from diverse cultures and various points in history, Music of the Baroque Conductor and Chorus Director Andrew Megill has assembled a program inspired by O Magnum Mysterium, an ancient chant sung at midnight on Christmas in the medieval church. This concert, recorded in 2021, is hosted by celebrated WFMT host Candice Agree. Tune in to hear the great works of composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Gabrieli, Roland de Lassus, Hans Leo Hassler, Diego José de Salazar, and many more. WFMT
Mountain Stage HOLIDAY – Friday 7 pm 12/16 on PRE News & Ideas
Join Mountain Stage host Larry Groce for an hour filled with beautiful music to mark the season. The show features special guests Holly Cole, Joan Baez, Bruce Cockburn, Loudon Wainwright III, The Roches, Kathy Mattea and more. All performances were recorded live on the Mountain Stage. NPR
A Mexican Christmas w/ Newberry Consort & Ensemble - Sunday 2 pm 12/18 on PRE Classical
The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A Mexican Christmas, an album of 17th-century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion. Organ, harp, bassoon, and a variety of Mexican traditional instruments bring this exuberant and diverse music to life. A Mexican Christmas is hosted by soprano Ellen Hargis, Director Emerita of The Newberry Consort, and soprano Francy Acosta, Co-Director of EnsAmble Ad-Hoc. The special is produced by Oliver Camacho and Rebecca Nystedt. WFMT
Candles Burning Brightly - Sunday 7 pm 12/18 on PRE Classical
A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Chanukah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home. APM
A Choral Christmas With Stile Antico - Monday 7 pm 12/19 on PRE Classical
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 of WGBH. NPR
A Paul Winter Solstice - Wednesday 3pm 12/21 on PRE Classical
Celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart with Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear a performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. John Schaefer hosts. NPR
A Chanticleer Christmas - Thursday 12/22 7 pm on PRE Classical
This one-hour program of holiday favorites, new and old, will be presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices." Chanticleer is one of the premiere vocal ensembles in the nation. The ensemble has won two Grammys and is a member of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. APM
A World Cafe Holiday - Friday 7 pm 12/23 on PRE News & Ideas
World Cafe celebrated 30 years by revisiting special holiday performances from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Los Lobos, Andrew Bird, The Bird and The Bee, Pink Martini, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and more. Hosted by Raina Douris, this musical gift will provide a full hour of hip holiday cheer. NPR
The Ballad of the Brown King and Other Music for Christmas by Black Composers - Friday 12/23 7 pm on PRE Classical
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’s 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, soloists 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, who also serves as the host of the show. WFMT
A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols Christmas Eve LIVE - Saturday 10 am -12 pm 12/24 on PRE Classical
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. APM
Jazz Piano Christmas - Saturday 5 pm 12/24 on PRE Classical
This year, our annual sell-out event spotlights ferociously talented Japanese musical phenom Hiromi, Mountain Stage’s Bob Thompson, and Bolivian prodigy José André Montaño, chosen as one of the Kennedy Center’s “Next 50” leaders. NPR
Apollo’s Fire presents Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Rediscovered - Monday 12/26 7 pm on PRE Classical
GRAMMY® Award-winning early music ensemble Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell team up with Spanish violin virtuoso Francisco Fullana and his 1735 Guarneri violin for this joyous romp through the baroque countryside. Through many tour performances in the past decade, Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire are known for bringing Vivaldi’s masterpiece to life as the revolutionary acts of musical storytelling the composer intended. From a lonely shepherd-boy on a hillside to a delightfully drunken harvest party… from a thrilling fox-hunt to the icy freeze of winter… the musician-storytellers revel in the joys and sorrows of a time when people lived very close to nature. The concert comes to a climactic finish with Sorrell’s arrangement of Vivaldi’s La Folia (“Madness”). Jeannette Sorrell, Artistic Director of Apollo’s Fire, is your host. WFMT